What is Appearance Medicine?

Before I start to talk about Appearance Medicine I should start by saying now that we have cottoned onto this term … it has been changed…. Appearance Medicine is now known in the circles of medicine and specialties as Cosmetic Medicine.

Its taken me years to get used to App Med, Appearance medicine, Non-surgical treatments … now I have to start a fresh …

Starting a fresh .. that’s sort of what Cosmetic Medicine is to me … Refreshing your appearance.

A wonderful client of mine whom I meet at the beautiful age of 90 and spent many hours over 8years chatting, discussing, debating and treating once said to me “…aging is inevitable, how we age is optional, and we should make the most of ourselves everyday –  a little vanity never killed anyone…” these words changed my perspective on “anti-ageing” – why not like what you see when you look in the mirror, if we can change what we don’t like then why not?

Maybe I should qualify that and say – age appropriate changes – we certainly want to Push the Pause button on aging and we most certainly cannot turn the clock back to look 20 again but we can make the most of ourselves with treatments that refresh not freeze our expressions (reduce negative expressions such as frown lines), we can replace volume where we have lost it (cheeks, jawline, around the mouth, lips)

There are many opinions and many ideas and ideals as to the way we should be…the way we should appear, how we do this and what way we achieve or do it.  One thing over the years working in the medical arena that I have learnt is, its not ours to judge what someone else does, we are entitled to our opinion and that’s a good place for it to be “ours”.

My role as a Nurse and a Skin health practitioner (advanced skincare therapist) is to inform my clients as to what is available and to recommend the best professionals for the job – to align with other professionals who are ethical, safe, qualified and experienced as well as great at what they do.

Appearance .. cosmetic medicine has changed, enhanced, enlivened, awakened…many people.  I’ve seen these transformations in my clients. For example something as simple as reducing a negative expression such as a frown can have profound effect for the person – it can be the difference between being asked “are you annoyed, what’s worrying you, are you angry, whats eating you……” to “you look refreshed, have you been on holiday…”.

So what is cosmetic medicine – its enhancing, sculpting, creating through specialised techniques that do not require surgery, changes in someones appearance. Procedures usually and are best performed by a Medical Doctor who has specialised in Cosmetic Medicine procedures.  That’s my take on it…

This is the definition taken from the New Zealand Society of Cosmetic Medicine:

Cosmetic Medicine or Appearance Medicine as its also known covers all of the cosmetic medical treatments that do not involve surgery.

The most well known treatments are probably Botulinum Toxin and  dermal fillers. These are all injected and are regarded as “lunch time “ procedures in that there is very little if any downtime.

Other procedures such as laser, vein treatments and peels are also appearance medicine procedures.

https://nzscm.co.nz/consumer-info/commonly-asked-questions-about-cosmetic-medicine – is the website to NZSCM – New Zealand Society of Cosmetic Medicine.

There are many clinics offering Cosmetic medicine procedures and the hardest job for anyone seeking these treatments is to decide where to go, who to go to and then what is the best treatment for them.

In my next blog I will guide you through this maize and hopefully help you to find whats best for you.