Your Guide to Cosmetic Treatment — Which Clinic?

So, you’re probably reading this because you’re interested in seeking out a clinic for some kind of cosmetic treatment.

Well, you’re in the right place!

Let Consulting Room, guide you through the process of gathering information about surgical and non-surgical cosmetic treatments and products, as well as cosmetic dental services, hair loss solutions and laser eye surgery, and help you towards making the best decision on purchasing such services through a UK or Ireland based clinic.

Our guides will give you suggestions about how you may approach selecting a clinic or practitioner who provides any cosmetic procedure that you decide to undertake, the questions you need to think about asking and the things you need to consider to make sure that you make the right decision and choice for you, and you alone.

Let’s get started… Knowledge is power, so educate yourself.

Learn about your treatment options, their limitations, risks and likely results.

Do your own research on ConsultingRoom.com and explore the available options for surgical and non-surgical cosmetic treatments and products, as well as cosmetic dental services, hair loss solutions and laser eye surgery procedures.

• Read detailed information about what to expect and how they work.
• Compare recovery times, costs and your suitability for treatment — Do you have the budget for it?
• Can you take time off work if required?
• Will it address the concerns that you have?

This may take you some time, but it is well worth informing yourself about what is available — this will help you to ask the right questions if you decide to go further and book an appointment for a consultation with a treatment provider.

Read reviews and experiences left by other members of our Cosmetic Community.

You can always leave a comment to ask them more about how the treatment worked for them or what it felt like.

Remember, seeking proper medical advice is paramount so if you think of any particular questions, note them down ready for those all-important consultations before treatment.

You may also wish to ask friends and family, especially those that may have undergone any cosmetic procedures before. They may be able to tell you more about what they experienced and give you any recommendations on clinics and practitioners to contact based on their good experiences. (Of course, if they had a bad or disappointing experience, as well as asking them why, you may also wish to avoid the clinic that they visited).

Look through the Clinic Search directory for those practitioners providing the treatment that you’re interested in within your local area, or further afield if you’re prepared to travel for your treatment(s) and follow-up appointments.

Draw up a shortlist of clinics or practitioners to contact.

Many different types and specialities of practitioners are able to offer cosmetic treatments for the face, body, teeth, hair and eyes, so it’s important to know more about which qualifications you should be looking for when considering a practitioner for treatment.

Looking for practitioners who are listed with medical regulators and who belong to various speciality organisations can help you to verify the credibility of those who you are considering seeking treatment. It cannot prove, endorse or accredit their skills and qualifications, however, but we’ll come to that later on when we look at questions to ask.

Ensure that any doctors, nurses or dentists are registered with their regulating bodies — the General Medical Council (GMC), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) or the General Dental Council (GDC), as well as the Irish Medical Council for Doctors practising in Ireland.

Plastic and cosmetic surgeons ought to have the FRCS (Plast) acronym appended to the end of their name to denote their training in plastic surgery and fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS).

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCO) recommends that doctors performing laser eye surgery should be registered ophthalmologists with specialist training in laser refractive surgery.

A trichologist, who can diagnose and treat diseases and disorders of the hair and scalp, may not be medically qualified, but is a specialist in the scalp and hair and should be registered with the Institute of Trichologists. Those performing hair transplant surgery should be GMC-registered doctors with specialist training.

There is no government-backed regulator for beauty therapists, but you can at least check if they belong to any trade associations such as BABTAC or HABIA which carry some assurances.

Other places to look include medical speciality organisations such as:

• British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS),
• British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS)
• Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons (IAPS),
• British College of Aesthetic Medicine (BCAM)
• British Association of Cosmetic Nurses (BACN)
• British Association of Dermatologists (BAD)
• British Association of Cosmetic Dentistry (BACD).

Can’t I just use Google™?

Searching for cosmetic treatment providers using words such as ‘cosmetic surgery’ in a search engine like Google™ can bring up a confusing plethora of websites from clinics and practitioners around the country. In some cases, the results shown may be from paid for, sponsored or advertised links. This can make it difficult to screen for a local clinic or practitioner, or find those who don’t actually have much web presence. Picking the result for the clinic that has paid the most to highlight its services in search engines such as Google may not be the right choice for you.

Similarly, it’s important to highlight the dangers of just relying on a flashy website or social media pages as a way of picking a provider.

Checking credentials, accreditation and regulatory compliance are paramount.

Seeking out price-based deals, such as Groupon or Wowcher style offers, may simply not get you the service or treatment result that you’re expecting so should generally be avoided. The same can be said for bargain deals often advertised on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In such cases the practitioner may be lacking in training and qualifications and simply be after a ‘fast buck’.

• For example, you should be wary of a clinic or practitioner offering ‘Botox’ (botulinum toxin) for £50, this is far too cheap for the genuine treatment, (below the actual cost price of the toxin itself) — so what could the reason be?
• Are they lacking in training so pitching it at a very low price?
• Are they watering down the strength of the dose that you get so the treatment is less effective?
• Are they buying counterfeit, fake or generic products via the Internet?

As you can see the potential dangers are evident!

Therefore, choosing a low price or deal as your priority is not the best way to go about buying a cosmetic treatment.

Do not be tempted to have any kind of treatment in an unsuitable environment — for example at your home or someone else’s, for example in a kitchen or in a ‘party’ style setting or at an event or on an exhibition stand — even if the price is considerably cheaper.

Similarly, having something surgical performed in a room that doesn’t seem adequately equipped or sterile is ill-advised. Be advised that any offer that recommends sharing treatment with others, such as half a syringe of a dermal filler product, is very dangerous and risks infection with blood-borne diseases.

Depending upon the number of local clinics available in your area, and the sort of treatment that you are seeking, you should draw up a shortlist of at least 3 potential providers to contact initially.

Things to remember when thinking about cosmetic treatment…

• Do it for you
• Don’t feel rushed or under pressure
• Cheap is not always the best option
• Do your own research about the treatment and learn as much as you can
• Speak to more than one clinic or practitioner
• Ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable in your decision
• If it doesn’t feel right, or you don’t fully understand what you have been told, then don’t do it!

Want to read more in our guide to cosmetic treatment series?

Guide to Cosmetic Treatment — Which Treatment?

Your Guide to Cosmetic Treatment — Which Questions to Ask

Your Guide to Cosmetic Treatment Abroad

Your Guide to Cosmetic First Clinic Visit

Take a look at our full Guide to Safe Cosmetic Treatment here.