SKIN CARE
HOW TO FIND AN AESTHETIC INJECTOR
08-11-2022
ALLY - RN, BSCN
Clients have told us time and time again about how stressful it is to find an injector or medical aesthetics provider. With so many various styles and skillsets, its difficult to find somebody you trust.
I’m a national clinical trainer for one of the top international pharmaceutical companies for dermal fillers, sculptra (collagen induction), and neuromodulators such as Xeomin, Botox, Nucieva, Dysport. What this means is I have a unique skillset for spotting quality practitioners—and helping you find the right fit.
The first step to finding an aesthetics professional is setting up a consultation. During this time, you can have a conversation to determine if the injector will work well with you. It’s crucial to know which questions to ask. We’ve laid some of them out here.
SEEK CREDENTIALS
Credientials vary between countries, but in Canada, you must be a physician, nurse, dentist, or pharmacis to practice medical cosmetic injection. Public databases list active licenses where you can check your practitioner’s credential. If they don’t show up, that’s a red flag and should be reported. Here is where you can find credentials for:
By seeking out your practitioner’s credentials, you’re able to help yourself and others avoid going to someone who is unqualified.
ASK ABOUT TRAINING
It’s essential not only to ask where your practitioner received their training, but how long ago they completed it. Injectables is an advanced practice, and it is a specialty within medicine. There are, however, injectors who trained years ago and have not interacted with a patient since.
Aesthetics is a contantly evolving field. Professional development is crucial to keep practitioners fresh and up to speed on the safest and latest techniques and products. The methods we used just a few years ago may not be the same as they are today. Ask your practitioner what they do to keep themselves up to date so you can feel confident you’re in good hands.
FIND OUT WHICH PRODUCTS THEY USE
Believe it or not, there are black market products out there or ones that are not Health Canada approved. To decrease your risk of complications, make sure the practiioner is using high-quality products approved by Health Canada.
MAKE SURE YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE
It’s important to feel comfortable with everything going on with your practitioner. Their Facebook and Instagram pages can say a lot about them. If you don’t like their aesthetic, find a different injector whose vibe you like!
Google Reviews and testimonials are other tools you can use to determine if your practitioner is reputable. False reviews aren’t allowed, so you can trust that what you read is genuine.
SAFETY & SECURITY
In Canada, nurses who are medical aesthetic practitioners must work with an authorized prescriber like a physician or a nurse practitioner. It’s important to ask who the medical director is and whether they’re easily reachable in the case of a complication.
You should be reviewed and consented before any treatment, and it’s a red flag if your injector just jumps into a procedure. Licensed Practical Nurses must be supervised by a physician on site at all times.
Medical aesthetics is medicine, first and foremost. Not everything is in your injector’s control, but they can mitigate risk. If your injector is not disclosing risks, you should look elsewhere. It is essential to know your injector has a plan should any of these unfortunately happen and how they decrease your risk in the first place.
Ask About Hyaluronidase
Hyaluronidase is an enzyme (known as hylase) that breaks up the hyaluronic acid bonds to dissolve filler. This is the key solution if you have a filler complication where a vessel’s blood flow is compromised. A vascular occlusion that is not treated can lead to necrosis of tissue and skin or even stroke or blindness.
DISCUSS YOUR BUDGET
Variations in service prices are typically a reflection of their training, experience, products, and overall expenses. You can definitely get what you pay for. If the price is too good to be true, it likely is.
You also don’t want an injector that cuts corners or only treats half an area. You will be underwhelmed by your result or experience poor longevity. You will, of course, see lower rates for novice or junior injectors. Some injectors charge lower rates when they are trying to gain experience and clientele. In these cases it is not a red flag but something to be considered depending on your comfort level.
It’s also crucial to determine if the practitioner includes follow-up and aftercare in their prices. Aftercare is essential to ensuring you get the best result from your botox/dysport or dermal filler treatment. Sometimes the injection can settle asymmetrically and need tweaks, which is okay!
Ask if follow-up is included in your price or if there are additional charges for follow-up appointments, so you don’t have any surprises. It’s also vital to ask what to do after your treatment and who to contact in case the emergency clinic is closed.
CONSIDER THE WHOLE PICTURE
Do they seem relatively punctual and respect your time? Do you feel rushed? Is the clinic organized and clean? Do you like the way they look? Do they look over-done?
Asking these questions gives you some insight into their aesthetic eye and how they treat their patients. I can relate to this because I thought about getting a little bit of botox but then was easily scared off by simply the way some of these injectors looked overdone.
Your relationship with your aesthetic injector is important, and your wellbeing should be taken seriously. Follow your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. On the other hand, when something clicks, you should go for it.