If you are thinking of getting a cosmetic procedure, whether it’s a nose job, brow lamination, Botox, fillers, or anything else that will affect your appearance, it’s important to do research beforehand. Luckily for you, we have done all the guess work for you. Ahead, we have 4 expert tips to follow that you should think about before making an appointment.

1. Go in with an open mind

In your initial consultation, ask your doctor what they think you need. Their answer is unlikely to be the hot new treatment you read about online, saw on Instagram, or your best friend/favorite celebrity has raved about.

People can be very blinkered in what they think they want, or reactive to the latest thing they have read about, and it’s the job of a good doctor to assess what they really need. Often, someone books in for something specific, such as Botox, but what they ultimately have is not what they originally came in for. It’s about having a very open mind and a broad discussion.

2. Book a consultation

This is one thing that too many clinics fail to offer and too few patients ask for, but, a detailed consultation appointment is where you put the time in to discuss what a patient wants—and how the doctor feels that’s best achieved. A doctor needs to look at your face and assess it from every angle. It’s also about building up trust, because the best results come from a long-term relationship.

As with any successful relationship, that includes being faithful—and not nipping off to someone else for a touch-up of filler. It certainly doesn’t help. Subtle changes make such a difference to a face but, if the work is slightly off, you can see it as soon as that person walks into the room.

3. Think long-term

If you want to change or improve something—whether that’s your skin tone, texture or firmness—accept that it takes time, and usually not a quick, one-off shot of filler. We have the quick fixes, like Botox, and some strategic fillers that you can maintain when needed.

But when you’re tackling something like pigmentation or skin firmness, then you need to think long-term and invest in a rollout of ultrasound and laser treatments that will treat collagen and skin quality over time. It’s then the professional’s job to devise the right strategy and program of treatments to get you to where you want to be, and the patient’s to maintain it.

Within about one to three months, you should be seeing results. But faces change and age differently, and no doctor can predict this beyond a couple of years, so we need to fine-tune and reassess over time.

4. Trust your provider

No matter how tempting something new can sound, this is one area where it’s the ever-evolving tried-and-trusted treatments that safely deliver. Technologies constantly advance, and brand names may differ, so, for the majority of people, it is the same treatments and machines that matter.

These are the mainstays of excellent medicine, and you want to ensure any clinic is offering them all. There’s no one miracle that does it all, and most people need a menu of treatments to get the best outcome. For instance, there are the injectables, the toxins (including Botox) and the fillers; plus lasers (to treat the skin and the skin’s surface), as well as ultrasound and radio-frequency (often combined with needling) machines, which work deeper to repair damage and boost collagen for the future.

With these, we can work deeper, or more superficially, on the skin—whatever is needed. And we know they work. Don’t be swayed by what sounds very “of the moment”—and never be the first person to be treated with something completely new.

For smaller things you can take care of yourself at home, learn how to get rid of blackheads and prevent pimples inside your nose.

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