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Frequently asked questions about our Botox and fillers course

We often receive enquiries asking about particular aspects of our training courses – most commonly our Foundation and Advanced Botox and fillers courses.

With that in mind, we thought it’d be a good idea to answer some of the questions we are often asked here on our blog.

Am I eligible to attend a Botox and fillers course?

Our Botox courses are open to qualified medical professionals, which includes (but is not limited to) Doctors, Dentists, Registered Nurses, Surgeons, Trainee Surgeons, Dermatologists and Opthalmologists. If you belong to another medical profession and would like to check your eligibility, please contact us on 01844 390110 and we’ll be happy to advise.

Do I need to be UK registered to offer Botox treatment in the UK?

Yes. If you’re looking to offer Botox treatments to patients in the United Kingdom, you must have a current active UK registration.

Do I need to bring my own models?

No. We’ve built up a large database of models and will provide an appropriate model for your training needs. However, if you’d prefer to bring your own model, you’re more than welcome to do so. Many delegates choose to bring along a friend or colleague so they can see how their treatment progresses over time. Just let us know when you book your Botox and fillers course and we’ll be happy to accommodate.

What should I wear to my Botox and fillers course?

You should come in what you feel comfortable in. You will be treating real patients, so we’d encourage you to look relatively smart and professional. But the most important thing is that you feel confident and able to focus on what you are learning.

How much hands-on practice will I get?

The Botox and fillers course is practical in nature. After a morning of theory, it’s straight into hands-on practice in the afternoon.  You will mark up your model, choose the treatment you’re going to use and perform the treatment, supervised closely by your trainer. You’ll also watch other people in your group as they treat their models.

If you opt for one of our one-to-one courses, these are completely tailored to you, so you can choose your own balance of theory and practical.

How many people will be in the practical session?

We like to keep the training groups as small and informal as we can. We’ve found that 4 or 5 is the best group size to give you the best possible training.

Will I receive any information on business and marketing?

Running a successful aesthetic business requires more than clinical skills. To help you with the business aspects of practice, we will offer guidance about setting up your website and publicising your business.

We also have other resources to help you on an ongoing basis, including podcasts available to download from iTunes. In these, our Surgical Director Adrian Richards speaks about all aspects of aesthetic marketing with Ron Myers from Consulting Room.

Will I receive any support after completing my Botox and fillers course?

We pride ourselves on our comprehensive ongoing support. If you have any questions at all after completing your training, whether clinical or business related, you are always welcome to contact us for guidance.

With our delegates’ permission, we often answer some of the questions we receive in videos or other training materials so other people can benefit from the advice.

Cosmetic Courses offers aesthetic training in Buckinghamshire, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Essex and Kent. For more information about what to expect from our Botox and fillers course, please contact the team on 01844 390110 or email [email protected].

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Our dermal filler courses – what will you learn?

With the industry growing at a rapid pace, there are now a number of training providers in the UK offering dermal filler courses.

All have slightly different approaches and course programmes, and with so much choice, it can be difficult knowing which one most suits your requirements.

To give you an idea of our approach, we thought we’d create a quick summary so you can get a feel for our dermal filler courses at a glance.

Who do we train?

While there are still no legal barriers to anyone learning to inject dermal fillers, at Cosmetic Courses we only train qualified medical professionals. That includes, but is not limited to:

  • Surgeons
  • Trainee Surgeons
  • Doctors
  • Dentists
  • Registered Nurses
  • Dermatologists
  • Ophthalmologists

We feel this is an important safeguard when it comes to injectable treatments. Only medical professionals have the necessary understanding of facial anatomy, as well as the knowledge and skills to recognise and deal with any complications that may arise.

What do our dermal filler courses cover?

All our dermal filler courses are combined with training in Botox. These two treatments are often used in tandem, so learning them together gives you a more nuanced understanding of how best to use them with your patients.

We offer two levels of training, depending on your level of experience.

a) Basic Botox and dermal filler training

If you’re new to the treatments, our Foundation level Botox and Dermal Fillers course gives you a thorough introduction to the products, as well as plenty of theory and practice in the techniques used for basic facial rejuvenation, corrective and enhancement treatments.

You’ll leave the one-day course able to offer:-

> Facial Rejuvenation

Smoothing frown lines and forehead lines; treating crows feet and squint lines (periorbital lines).

> Facial Corrective Treatments

Reducing lines around the mouth (perioral lines and oral commissures); softening lines running from base of the nose to the corner of mouth (nasolabial folds); treating frown and forehead lines; improving facial wrinkles.

> Facial Enhancement

Creating an enhanced natural lip border; producing a pout.

b) Advanced Botox and dermal filler training

If you’ve already completed basic training and are looking to learn more advanced techniques, our Advanced level Botox and Dermal Fillers course has more emphasis on practical hands-on experience.

By the end of this one-day course, you’ll be able to offer:-

> Advanced Dermal Filler Techniques

Combined filling (using different strengths of product to achieve optimum results); cheek augmentation; vermilion border enhancement; advanced peri-oral sculpting; cross hatching techniques; extended linear threading techniques.

> Advanced Botox Techniques

Cheek and jowl lifting; chemical brow lift; mental is treatments; treatment of platysmal bands; upper chest treatments; treatment of hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).

We offer dermal filler courses at centres in Buckinghamshire, Leeds, Kent and Birmingham. For information about our training, our course tutors or centres, please don’t hesitate to gives a call on 01844 390110 or email [email protected].

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Project Dynamite set to explode dermal fillers industry?

We know we’ve missed a trick. By rights we should have written about PRP Therapy (a.k.a ‘Vampire Facelift’) last week, being Halloween and all.

But we’re not going to make the same mistake twice, and miss another opportunity to integrate our blog with something topical.

So this week, with the sound of fireworks ringing in our ears, we’ve decided it’s a good time to talk about Allergen’s new initiative to change the public perception of dermal fillers. It’s Project Dynamite.

About Project Dynamite

Industry leader Allergan recently decided to explore the public’s attitude to dermal fillers. Broadly, the goal was to understand people’s motivations for seeking filler treatment, as well as the reservations they might have about fillers.

They conducted extensive research, speaking to 2,000 women of all ages to gauge their opinions about dermal fillers. The findings have now been circulated, and Allergan are convinced they will revolutionise the marketing efforts of clinics and practitioners when it comes to fillers.

Here are the 3 most significant findings of their research, and what they could mean for you:

1. When women refer to filler treatment, the majority use “facial fillers” rather than “dermal fillers”

This is an interesting one, and the implications are simple. As medical professionals, we may be more inclined to refer to “dermal fillers”. But it’s important to speak the same language as your patients. When referring to the treatment on your website, brochure and any promotional materials, it is probably better to refer to the treatment as facial fillers if you don’t already. This will make your website more easily found, and your communications more relatable.

2. There’s a stigma attached to having fillers, mainly for two reasons – people are worried about them looking unnatural, and they don’t fully understand the treatment

It seems that many people need access to much more information about fillers. This represents a great opportunity for you. Fact sheets, Q&As, FAQs, videos, before and after photos, case studies, testimonials – all of these will mark you out as a great information resource. People are hungry for information on filler treatment, so use your website and social media channels to give them plenty of useful information and assuage their fears.

3. Women today feel more positive about ageing, and ageing well is more important than looking young 

Of the women Allergan spoke to, only 20% said they wanted to look five years younger. However, 41% said they wanted to look fresher and more radiant. This should be reflected in your marketing messages. Focusing more on the idea of fillers helping women look good for their age rather than looking younger will resonate more with your potential patients, and reflect the way they feel about themselves.

Cosmetic Courses are one of the UK’s most established training providers for medical professionals looking to enter the aesthetic industry. For more information on our dermal filler training, please contact us on 01844 390110 or email [email protected].

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Business potential for plastic surgery clinics or private practitioners

The growth of non-invasive procedures is the largest in the aesthetic medicine industry and so provides plastic surgery clinics with the most potential when it comes to growing their business. Many clinics have become savvy to this and now offer procedures such as Botox, fillers and chemical peels alongside their usual offering of surgical procedures.

So why aren’t more? It could simply be down to training – most plastic surgeons are experts in the field of surgery as opposed to non-invasive treatments, despite them becoming so popular and widely available. At the moment such procedures can be performed by a number of different professionals, so do you re-train or invest in new staff and train those?

Which route will depend on the individual business, however one thing is clear – as the fastest-growing area within the industry it’s not something that plastic surgery clinics can ignore. There are different types of courses available to medical professionals, including for plastic surgeons already in practice, such as Botox and dermal filler training.

Hiring professionals who already perform such procedures is another possibility, rather than taking the surgeon’s focus away from their primary task. Alternatively it’s also possible to hire staff who are not currently performing such procedures and paying for their training whilst they work on the job.

If you are a medical professional considering aesthetic training, contact the team at Cosmetic Courses for information and dates on our next Botox courses, microdermabrasion courses and more. Call 01844 390110.

 

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Botox and Filler Training: Movements in the News?

Recently in the press, the issue of Botox and Filler training and who can be trained has come to light. Due to legislation only medically trained professionals are able to teach but also learn how to inject Botox and fillers.

At Cosmetic Courses we only offer our training to medical professionals – our delegates being a mixture of Doctors, Dentists and Nurses. Our delegates have to be medically qualified and registered with one of the following: General Medical Council, General Dental Council or Nursing and Midwifery Council. This ensures that our delegates are fully licensed to practise within the UK.

In one case an untrained man has been caught teaching Botox and Fillers to beauty therapists, who cannot legally participate in these courses as they lack the required medical qualifications. The man training the beauty therapists was sentenced to time in prison due to the severity of his actions.

This is unfortunate for those trained by him, as they naturally believed the certificate he provided was authentic and allowed them to practise. However, as any respected  non-surgical training provider will know, beauty therapists are not allowed to perform Botox and Dermal Filler treatments.

Therefore it is essential that at Cosmetic Courses we offer our training to the correct delegates. We are CPD certificated as well as having a working partnership with Hamilton Fraser, our insurance company, to ensure this.

Through training with Cosmetic Courses you get the security that our highly trained professional team are there for continued support, from helping you when you start your new career choice to the finer details that may occur throughout your career.

Furthermore, all our trainers are experienced and registered with the relevant medical governing bodies, so they are fully qualified to teach and perform Botox and Filler treatment in line with the regulations and legislations currently in place in the UK.

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Botox and Dermal Fillers Foundation Training Course – Our Latest Feedback

We’ve collated the results of the feedback for our latest training course – and the results are very encouraging.

On Saturday 7th July, we ran another successful Foundation course in Botulinum Toxin and Dermal Fillers.

Though the course was fairly small, the feedback we received showed that satisfaction levels are going from strength to strength.

In fact, it was among the best feedback we have received since we began. We’re very proud to share the results with you here.

The Verdict

Here’s how our delegates rated us:

  • 100% would recommend the course and return for further training
  • 100% thought the speakers communicated effectively
  • 100% thought the venue was suitable for the training
  • 100% thought the demonstrations were well presented and informative
  • 100% thought the hands-on experience was valuable
  • 98% thought there was sufficient time for discussion

A fantastic set of feedback, and we hope that many of our Foundation course delegates choose to continue their study with Cosmetic Courses – either by moving up to the next level on our Intermediate and Advanced courses, or broadening their expertise into other areas like Dermaroller and Skin Peels.

If you would like to attend our next Foundation Botulinum Toxin and Dermal Fillers course, it will be held on Saturday 11th August. Click here to book your place. Alternatively, we are always happy to arrange bespoke one-to-one training sessions at a time that’s convenient for you. Contact us for more information on 0845 230 4110 or email [email protected].

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Feedback from our latest Botox and Dermal Fillers Foundation Training Course

The results of our latest training course are in…..and they’re better than ever!

Last Saturday, 12th May, Cosmetic Courses ran another fully subscribed Foundation course in Botulinum Toxin and Dermal Fillers.

We routinely ask all our delegates to fill out feedback forms to let us know what we’re doing right, as well as highlighting any areas we can improve on.

We’ve now collated the feedback from Saturday’s course, and are very proud to be able to share the results with you here.

The Verdict

Here’s how our delegates rated us:

  • Accommodation and travel were given a score of 96%
  • Structure of the course and discussion time scored 97%
  • Course  presentation, lecture, demonstration, venue and effectiveness of communication were all rated 99%
  • Value of the course and amount learned were given a perfect 100%!

Our Foundation courses are designed for delegates just starting out in their aesthetic careers, and mark the very first step in their journey, so it’s particularly satisfying to hear that they found our latest course so useful.

We hope that many of these happy delegates will decide to join the ranks of our previous Foundation course delegates who have progressed to further study on our Intermediate and Advanced courses, or broaden their training into other areas such as Skin Peels and Dermaroller.

If you missed out on our last training course and would like to attend the next one, it will be held on Saturday 23rd June. Alternatively, we are always happy to arrange bespoke one-to-one sessions at a time that suits you. Contact us for more information on 0845 230 4110 or email [email protected].

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Q&A: Using Hyaluronidase to Dissolve Dermal Filler

Question :

Dear Cosmetic Courses,

I have a patient with the following Dermal Fillers query and wondered whether you could advise? At the beginning of December, she had Juvederm Dermal Filler injected into an area under her cheekbone. Initially the region was tender and sore. After about a week the pain increased and her face became swollen on one side with a round hard solid lump in this area.

She went away on holiday shortly after and, whilst away, phoned her GP who advised her to take antibiotics. She has since been on a seven day course of amoxyllin and a five day course of augmentin 625mg. On returning she visited the same GP who advised her to see a specialist as he was not sure if an abscess had formed or a haematoma .

I have now examined the area, however, and feel that this is not an abscess as it is a hard mass and therefore, could maybe be a haematoma, or the filler with an infection around it?  Her own GP back home seems to agree as he has taken her off the augmentin and put her on a course of cefuroxime 250mg.

Do you think Hyaluronidase might dissolve the filler and how long after the infection has healed can this be done (providing that the lump is the filler! )

Answer :

Unfortunately, it does sound as though your patient has an infection in her cheek area which the GP was right to treat with antibiotics.

When the infection has settled down it may be possible to treat her with Hyalase but this is certainly not recommended whilst infection is still prevailant.

We may be able to provide further advice and information if you send a photograph of her to: [email protected]

Should there be further problems, our expert surgical team at Aurora Clinics would be happy to see her for a free consultation.

Best Wishes,

The Cosmetic Courses Team

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Cosmetic Courses & Competency Certification

As the medical aesthetic industry comes under scrutiny, Cosmetic Courses supports calls for higher competency levels.

Botox and Dermal Filler Providers Under Fire

Not only the Surgical sector of the cosmetic treatment industry has come under scrutiny recently following the PIP breast implants fiasco. The Non-Surgical cosmetic injectables market is now also being heavily criticized for lack of regulation and the ease with which products / procedures can launch or professionals can become qualified.

The UK has been described as “an open goal when it comes to cosmetic injections”, with companies starting up and disappearing at the first sign of trouble and a “terrible…lack of training” (Dr. Mike Comins, president of the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors).

Dr. Comins has particularly stressed the importance of competence and for “only medical doctors, their assistants or supervised nurses [to] be allowed to carry out injections of Botox and fillers”.

Cosmetic Courses support Competency & Training for Medical Professionals

These are views which leading UK medical aesthetic training provider, Cosmetic Courses, has long upheld. Even before the PIP scandal hit the media, we were championing rigorous standards within cosmetic injectables training and had a strict policy of only accepting currently qualified medical professionals onto our courses.

Test the Water: then Commit to Competency

We understand that branching into a career in medical aesthetics can be a big commitment, so we do believe that delegates should be given opportunity for ‘taster’ training sessions where they do not have to invest so much money or long-term career aspirations up-front: some people do literally start aesthetic injecting and decide then and there it’s not for them.

Bespoke 1-1 for Competency Certification
But, if a delegate does then decide that they want to pursue a career in cosmetic injectables, we strongly encourage all training with Cosmetic Courses to continue to Bespoke 1-1 level which is the stage where you can be certified in competency. This is in line with the recommendation by the BACD and Mike Comins.

Training DOESN’T end with Competency
Furthermore, Cosmetic Courses always say that your training is a journey. Even having received Competency Certification, many delegates do decide to continue to Advanced Level and we positively encourage this. As Dr. Comins continues: BACD members ‘also have to attend a certain number of conferences and training sessions to maintain their membership’. Our own Cosmetic Courses trainers frequently do this, attending regular events, training sessions and conferences to keep up-to-date with all the latest products and techniques.

Keeping up-to-date is vital in this fast paced industry. This is why Cosmetic Courses believe that Competency Certification and Refresher Training go hand-in-hand. Although many delegates may have already been competency certified, this may have been years ago any they might not have done anything with it ever since. In that time, techniques and products will have moved on. The best practitioners keep up to date with regular training and activity: and Cosmetic Courses encourage all our delegates to be the best.

Our Commitment to You
As Cosmetic Courses’ manager recognized, we do not only expect our delegates to be the best they can be but we also expect the same from ourselves. As part of this ‘we are offering more courses and expanding our packages on an ongoing basis to ensure not just that you keep up but that we keep up’.

Cosmetic Courses also offer a support program so that all delegates are never essentially ‘alone’ after graduating from Cosmetic Courses. Despite being certified competent, if you ever need support or advice after having trained with Cosmetic Courses there is ongoing mentor support via telephone or email.

In all these ways we hope to be able to help do our part to regulate the standards within the industry.

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Cosmetic Courses’ Libby Stewart studies the Pix-L Cannula Technique

Cosmetic Courses Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner and Trainer, Libby Stewart, is always keen to further her development and frequently gets invited to some of the most exclusive training events in the industry: testament to her skill and reputation. Following on from her recent Juvaderm Voluma training, Libby recently attended training in the innovative new Pix-L Cannula Technique, held at the Q-Med headquarters in London. She is fortunate to be amongst the first UK aesthetic nurses to be trained in the use of this new technique from Restylane. In this Blog, Libby shares her experience and tells you a bit about the Pix-L Cannula Technique…

The Pix-L Cannula Technique

The Pix-L cannula technique is a method in which individual treatment areas or a full face can be treated with filler from one injection site.

It is best known as a “blunt technique” and there has been quite a lot of excited publicity about this bluntness because an obvious benefit of using blunt cannulas is that the treatment can be more comfortable for the patient. There is less inflammation, discomfort and chance of bruising and swelling. Psychologically, patients who are squeamish of sharp needles might feel happier. There is even thought to be a better aesthetic result with a higher safety factor.

According to the official Q-Med site: “The Pix’L™ cannula has a blunt tip which does not cut through the tissue but pushes it gently to the side without injuring it. A lateral outlet enables the injection to be precise, and a special inner surface layer allows optimum flow of the hyaluronic acid. The unique replenishment of volume is only attained with the combination of the Pix’L™ cannula in the correct cannula size for the corresponding gel particle size of hyaluronic acid in Restylane.

To provide maximum control and high quality instruments – every Pix’L™ needle is precisely tested after every manufacturing step. In total there are 12 test phases as well as a test under microscope in order to satisfy the most demanding customers. A Haute Couture treatment result requires an ultra precise tool for you, the practitioner – the Pix’L™ micro cannula.”

The fact that these Pix-L Cannulas can treat large areas of the face at a time whilst causing less pain and bruising (physically and psychologically!) to the patient is just so exciting. The treatment is being hailed as the ‘liquid facelift’ and is sure to become huge. At the moment, however, only certain highly qualified specialists (like Libby!) are being invited to train in this technique.

For more information on the Pix-L Cannula Technique or any of Cosmetic Courses’ other training courses and services, please contact us on 0845 230 4110 or [email protected]

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