The TLJ Guide to the Consultation Process from Start to Finish

A professional, thorough skin consultation can be one of the best ways to understand how to improve the health and appearance of your skin. 

The problem is, the insight and experience you receive from a skin consultation can widely vary depending on where you book your appointment!

At TLJ Aesthetics MD, we’re more than a med spa—we’re a professional medical aesthetics practice dedicated to providing our community with expertise to help them look and feel like the very best version of themselves.

Today, we’re discussing how to prepare for your first appointment—and how to get the most out of your skin consultation.

Finding the right aesthetic doctor

Before you get a skin consultation near you, it’s important to find the right provider. 

Often, you can find a wide variety of clinics offering “free skin consultations”—everything from hair salons to dermatologists and everyone in between. So we understand it can be difficult to know who to trust. 

One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to their skin is choosing an aesthetic center based on pricing alone. However, it’s vital that you find the right match for both your budget AND your needs. 

Here are a few questions you should ask your aesthetic doctor before scheduling a skin consultation.

What background and qualifications do you have?

You should always check your aesthetic doctor’s qualifications, education, training, and specializations before scheduling your first appointment. That’s because, when it comes to treating skin conditions, experience and expertise truly make all the difference. 

For those with less of that experience, patient safety can be a topmost concern. Certain aesthetic lasers, peels, and other treatments have “contraindications,” or aspects of a treatment that would render it ineffective or unsafe for people with specific attributes or conditions. For an inexperienced provider or someone without a medical background, they may not be able to adequately identify these contraindications to safely and effectively treat your skin.

At TLJ, our treatments are provided directly by an experienced medical provider (one that diagnoses, treats, and prescribes for medical and cosmetic concerns), an extra measure taken to ensure you are in the most qualified hands. 

Dr. Jacobson, the founder of TLJ Aesthetics MD, is a board-certified medical doctor specializing in internal medicine and aesthetic medicine. In fact, she has successfully practiced medicine in the eastside area since 1998. 

We also employ the most highly trained PAs and patient coordinators to ensure you feel confident and comfortable with your experience from the moment you walk in the door. Our background means we can deliver a highly personalized—and never cookie cutter—approach to your treatment.

What types of technologies do you employ?

Not all treatments are created equal. There are low-, medium-, and high-quality devices that all claim to achieve similar results; however, going to a skincare expert means you should trust that they are using only the safest and most effective methods for achieving your goals. 

For example, there are a variety of Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) technologies on the market. At TLJ, we utilize the Forever Young BBL device by Sciton, a world leader in aesthetic technology. The proprietary technology used within the BBL Photofacial handpiece allows for safe, even, and effective treatments with more precision and better results. What’s more, BBL Hero is the newest addition to our BBL tool box to achieve fast and effective treatments for larger areas like chest, back, arms and legs.

At the very least, the provider should be able to give you the names of a few of their key aesthetic devices and explain why (and how) they use them.

Do you offer ways for me to afford treatment?

Because the majority of aesthetic treatments are not covered by insurance, it’s important that your skincare expert offer transparent pricing options so you understand what to expect to pay in advance. Many also offer reward programs to help you earn discounts on the treatments you were already planning to get.

Things to consider before your first skin consultation

You certainly don’t have to do enough research to write your own essay, but there are a few key pieces of information you should consider before your first skin consultation.

Your skincare goals.

Every patient is as unique as their skin. So rather than selling you services for things you don’t need, the right aesthetic doctor should address your specific needs. What is your age, skin tone, and pore size? What are your primary concerns? 

Some of the most common goals we work with patients on include:

• Active acne
• Anti-aging
• Dullness
• Fat reduction
• Fine lines and wrinkles
• Hyperpigmentation
• Melasma
• Scarring
• Skin hollowness
• Skin laxity
• Sun damage
• Overall skin health & maintenance

Think about the top one or two (or ten ?) things you want to accomplish with your aesthetic doctor. While it may not be safe for you to address all of these at once, the right provider will help you understand and prioritize how to achieve your long-term goals and correct the issues you care about the most, first.

Your aesthetic preferences.

Looking at before & after photos is one of the best ways to gauge the “style” of that aesthetic doctor. Do they provide mostly natural results for the type of treatment you’re looking for? In our experience, most aesthetic patients aren’t looking for an “overdone” look. Instead, they were searching for a provider to enhance their natural features and provide high-quality anti-aging results that simply help them look refreshed and youthful. 

Your budget.

How much are you willing to invest in your skin on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis? Your aesthetic doctor should be able to create your skincare plan based on your budget for the best results.

Your lifestyle.

Can you take a little bit of time off of work to heal after a fractional resurfacing treatment; or are you looking for something you can get on your lunch break? How far are you willing to drive to get access to premier treatment options? Because improving skin quality can be a long-term commitment, it’s important to have a sense of the amount of time and energy you’d like to spend to achieve your goals.

Upcoming events or occasions.

Some aesthetic procedures take time to heal. On the other hand, some treatments have no downtime and yield instant improvement! If you have an updating special occasion like a wedding, photoshoot, or graduation, it’s important to communicate this to your aesthetic doctor to ensure we don’t use the wrong laser and leave you peeling or looking red when it comes time to snap photos. 

Building your comprehensive treatment plan

Once you have a better understanding of what you’d like to get out of your skin consultation, it’s time to make your appointment! 

There are several types of treatments we can use to build your long-term skincare plan. 

Peels & Exfoliation

One of the best ways to refresh your skin is to remove dead and damaged cells from the surface. An aesthetic doctor should be able to provide exfoliation techniques that range from gentle to aggressive in order to reveal a cleansed and refreshed look, such as various options for chemical peels.

Lasers & Light

Aesthetic lasers are a way to reach deeper layers of the skin to exfoliate the surface and kick-start a natural process to improve the quality of your skin. When applying energy to the skin at precise temperatures, depths, and wavelengths, we can not only target specific concerns like hyperpigmentation or sun damage; but we can also encourage the skin to produce new collagen, elastin, and/or hyaluronic acid (the building blocks of the skin). 

This category also includes laser hair removal, one of the most popular aesthetic laser treatments in the world.

Injectables

You’ve probably heard the words “Botox” and “filler”—these popular injectables can help relax and/or fill in wrinkles to help produce a naturally improved look that makes it look like you finally caught up on your beauty sleep ?  There are a ton of brands of filler on the market, each with their own pros and cons for specific patient needs. When you visit a skin expert, you should ask which brands they use to ensure they can properly educate you about your treatment and answer any questions you might have.

We can also employ injectables to treat very specific concerns, such as excess fat tissue underneath the chin or spider veins, to name a few examples.

Skin Remodeling 

The term “skin remodeling” might sound scary, but microneedling is actually a very safe, common alternative to energy-based device treatments. It’s a technique used to create tiny disruptions in the skin that trigger a cascade of events, naturally in your dermis, to stimulate collagen. For optimal results, your aesthetic provider should be trained to perform this treatment at medical strength.

Medical-Grade Skincare Products

If you want to maintain the results of professional medical aesthetic treatments, it’s important to keep up with your at-home skincare routine and daily habits. An experienced skin expert can help you choose the correct products for your skin type to ensure your skin stays clean, clear, and healthy in between office visits.

Intimate Health

Did you know some aesthetic providers also offer intimate health solutions? At TLJ, you may be surprised to learn that with our unique expertise in internal medicine and women’s health we have assisted women with intimate health concerns for over 20 years. Certain “aesthetic” devices are actually designed to improve conditions like urinary incontinence, vaginal dryness, and other intimate issues. 

All of these tools in our toolkit can be mixed, matched, and configured for your specific needs. 

We are honored to serve the Issaquah community.

The team at TLJ prides itself on providing excellent patient care and the highest quality aesthetic technology in the region. Whether you’re new to aesthetics or you’re simply looking for a new provider, we welcome people of all ages to our practice to discover the TLJ difference.

Early on, Dr. Jacobson saw the connection between looking good and feeling good—between outer beauty and the desire to be your healthiest self. Dermatologic care and Aesthetics became a prominent part of her practice early in her career. She observed that when her patients were making efforts in improving their skin and aesthetic beauty, healthy lifestyle choices seemed to follow. 

If you’re ready to get started, request an appointment online, give us a call at (425) 837-8842, or text us at 425-651-6799. 

Not quite there? Learn more about which treatments may work best to address your specific concerns by utilizing our virtual consultation tool. Simply select your target areas and our tool will provide you with custom treatment recommendations.

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