Finding your person

Finding your person – how to identify the best injectors for natural results.

The injectables marketplace is saturated, made twice as hard by the bewildering array of social media platforms. Word of mouth recommendations are best, but if you’re discreetly seeking out a first-time experience, what should you look for?

Qualifications and safety

To practice independently in non-surgical aesthetics (injectables and medical grade procedures) you must be a doctor, a dentist or registered nurse prescriber. If you can’t prescribe you can’t manage potential complications. Antibiotics for an infection or hyaluronidase to dissolve filler. There is also the question of insurance if you are not permitted to prescribe.

Skills and experience

As important is how long has your non-surgical professional been practicing. There is a steep learning curve to injecting. As with anything, it is not a case of completing a course and flying off fully formed, you learn from experience with continued practice and development over the years. Seeing thousands of patients means exposure to learning how to safely push the boundaries for exceptional and consistent results.

Environment

You want an environment where you feel comfortable and relaxed but is appropriate to the procedures administered. Hygiene (a sterile environment) and safety must be a priority.

Consultation

There should be a thorough consultation looking at medical history, lifestyle and life-stage, with ample opportunity to ask any questions about products, procedures and outcome. This should also be the time when a transparent treatment plan can be plotted, detailing procedure(s), fees and maintenance. This should include skin quality, etched lines and wrinkles and as well as volume deficits, shadows and lines. If you feel unsure or under pressure trust your gut and return, if you want to, as and when you have had a chance to distil the information and feelings around the practitioner.

Time

You should never feel rushed or “a number”. There are many components to the process. As a practitioner you must observe and consider the nuances of an individual’s anatomy, at rest and when they are communicating, balanced with your patient’s desired aesthetic outcome. The practitioner should consider your unique aesthetic, how present to and interact with the world. There is also the choice of product relating to your skin and soft tissues. comfort and the artistic process of injecting itself.

Cost

If you are paying for the service described, it’s not achievable as a bargain. At the other end of the scale, if the cost is exorbitant, you must ask why, really, is it so much more as it may limit best outcome and maintenance. Trust your gut on this one. It’s your face and it’s your investment.

Relationship and collaboration

There’s a significant amount of trust that goes into putting your face in somebody else’s hands. Once you have developed that trust, and your practitioner knows your face, your desired outcome and how you respond to treatments, it is worth sticking with them. Naturally everybody has a different style of treating and “clinic hopping” may result in an unsatisfactory and inconsistent outcome, with an unclear record of treatment and product history.

If you are moving away it is well worth getting a word of mouth referral from your practitioner for a safe and satisfactory onward injectables journey.

Lucy Banks Recommendations