Choosing the right clinic for you

Taking the first step can be daunting, if you are planning to have a cosmetic treatment. We have listed a few points for you to consider that will make that journey safe.

Even before you step out of your house, you can use the information available on the World Wide Web to get a mental picture about the clinic. Most established clinics will have their own websites with varying amounts of information, ranging from a single page to astronomical amount of details. But it should give you some essential details like the location of the clinic, the team members, their qualifications, list of treatments they provide etc. They may also have reviews or testimonials, price list and provide different ways to contact the clinic.

Clinic

Location: A clinic which is local and easily accessible will be convenient, practical and should give some reassurance. If the practitioner doesn’t have a clinic and is mobile, offering services in your own home, there is always a possibility that you may find it difficult to contact them if you have any doubts or worse, if you develop a complication.

Premises: If the clinic offers a free consultation, it would give you an opportunity to get acquainted with the condition of the premises, the facilities available, the staff and their customer service.

Insurance: A reputable clinic run by professionals is likely to have indemnity insurance to give their clients peace of mind that they have the backing of an insurance company if things didn’t go according to plan.

Payment: The clinic should be able to offer different methods of payments including the ability to pay using credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers etc.

Practitioner

It is vital to gather information about the practitioner who will be treating you. Even if the clinic is well-known and highly regarded, the practitioner who is looking after you might not be the one with the highest qualification or most experience.

Qualification: The qualifications of the practitioner are significant. Although it is not mandatory that all the cosmetic treatments should only be done by professionals like doctors or nurse prescribers, treatments using prescription only medications need to be performed only by those who have the prescribing rights and other cosmetic treatments should ideally be performed or at least be medically led.

Experience: Experience is vital. The longer the practitioner has been doing the procedure; the likelihood is that they are more skilled in performing them.

Reviews: Reviews are available on different sources like Google, Facebook, web directories like yell.com, whatclinic.com and they may be on the clinics website as well. The reliability of the reviewer may vary but you might be able to get a broad picture.

Once you have done your research, you should be able to have enough confidence in the clinic and the practitioner to make an appointment. They should be able to assess you, check you medical history, ask your concerns and give their professional opinion. If they don’t push you to undergo any treatments or buy any products, you will be able to decide what is right for you without feeling harassed, using all the information you have gathered .