We are going to cover 3 important questions during this webinar:

What is the goal of cosmetic procedures?

Why the psychological issue is important?

What do patients want?

We all agree that the demand for cosmetic procedures is becoming mainstream now. Everyone wants to look younger, fresher, better, and healthier that’s why cosmetic procedures are becoming more popular. 56% of American women and 43% of American men are dissatisfied with their overall appearance and The American society for plastic surgeons estimated that nearly 17.7 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States in 2018.

Patient satisfaction is achieved not only from a good aesthetic result but also by meeting the patient’s psychosocial goals. This is something that we need to understand very well. Some psychological conditions, behavioral patterns, or life situations predispose to dissatisfactions with the outcome and no matter what you do from a technical point of view, this patient is going to be unsatisfied. Patients look for more than an improvement of physical appearance and combined psychological technique with the cosmetic procedure could help. Patients look for cosmetic procedures because of external motivations (interpersonal agendas, social agendas), internal motivations (long-standing feelings about deficiencies, strong commitment to change), or psychological disorders (depression, narcissism, perfectionism, dysmorphophobia). For example, dysmorphophobia is defined as the self detested body image in a fancied deformity that no mirror and no surgeon can correct.

Different patients want different things from you, some of them have an undetermined goal, some want to look younger, be more attractive, and even look like celebrities. Sometimes they want specific demands like eliminating wrinkles, improving skin texture, decreasing signs of aging, or correcting certain problems. Proper patient selection is very important. Good candidates hope to boost their self-image and their self-esteem. Dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons should attempt to distinguish patients as emotionally appropriate or inappropriate. During the interview process, you should be able to identify unrealistic expectations, discuss the most appropriate way to achieve the required goal, and explain benefits & side effects. In the end, patients must be led to a mutual contract of responsibility.

Every cosmetic Dermatologist should develop a screening method to review clients for emotional and psychological stability.