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Beyond Botox courses – what you need to learn about patients

Cosmetic Courses: banner showing an introduction to blog what yo need to learn about your patients

So you’ve decided you want to set up in aesthetics, and are busy researching Botox courses. Great choice. But if you really want to be successful in the aesthetics industry, your training is just the start.

To thrive as a Botox practitioner, it’s important to know how your patients and prospective patients feel about treatment. Get inside their minds and understand not only their hopes, but also their concerns – and any barriers that may be holding them back. 

After all, if you know what’s stopping them, you’ll know how to reassure them. 

There are plenty of misconceptions about Botox, and being able to address them with your patients is vital. Unfortunately, this isn’t usually covered during most Botox courses.

So to give you something to think about, here are 4 of the most persistent concerns, along with some guidelines for what to say to your patients.

> Botox is unsafe 

Cosmetic Courses: Photo showing our Botox coursesDespite its popularity and widespread use, some people are still unconvinced about the safety of Botox. They believe that, because it’s a toxin, it has the potential to be harmful when injected.  

But as practitioners, we know that Botulinum toxin is extremely safe when administered in the right dose by a qualified medical professional. So stress that to your patients.

You can also tell them that Botox has been safely used for many years in a medical context, to treat migraines, bladder problems, etc, which should help allay their fears.

> I’ll look frozen and odd

Ah, the dreaded ‘frozen face’. It’s a very real fear for some people that their face will be rendered blank and immobile by Botox. They might have seen unflattering pictures of celebrities and be terrified of having the same outcome.

So for those patients, let them know you’ll take a conservative approach. You can always top up at a later date if needed. Stress that you believe in achieving the most natural results rather than the most dramatic – and if that means erring on the side of caution, so be it.

> Botox is indulgent/only for vain/rich/famous people 

Like most aesthetic pursuits, the early adopters for Botox were celebrities. But it’s now grown in popularity so much that it’s now the world’s favourite non-surgical treatment.

And as it’s grown in popularity it’s become more affordable and accessible. So the chances are that everyone knows someone, or knows of someone, who’s had it.

So let your patients know that far from being something famous/rich/vain people do, it’s something that at least some of their neighbours, friends and colleagues are likely to have done!

> Botox is scary and painful 

Needles and injections can strike terror into the hardest of hearts. And here’s where your powers of reassurance need to be at their best. 

Let them know exactly what they’ll feel. A slight pinching sensation that will be over in a matter of seconds. Tell them people often compare it to a mosquito bite, so if they’ve ever had one of those, they’ll know they can deal with it.

Stressing that the treatment doesn’t require anaesthetic should also help reassure them that any discomfort is likely to be minimal. 

Find out more about our Botox courses

Cosmetic Courses are the UK’s most established Botox training provider. We offer scheduled and bespoke Botox courses to medical professionals at fully equipped training centres throughout the UK. For information about our Botox courses, or to book, call us on 01844 318317 or email [email protected].

 

 

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3 great reasons for dentists to take a Botox training course

Are you a dentist looking for more from your career? Perhaps you’d like to continue using your practical skills and aesthetic eye, but in a new way – and increasing your income in the process?

At Cosmetic Courses, we’ve spent the last 15 years training dentists in Botox and Dermal Filler techniques. Some were looking to offer aesthetic treatments part-time alongside their existing practice, and others were looking for a complete career change.

If you are a dentist thinking about your next move, read on to find out what aesthetic training could do for you.

The top 3 ways a Botox training course could enhance your career

 1. You can offer Botox treatment as an additional service to your dental patients

Some dentists we train are looking to add Botox and dermal filler treatments around the mouth to their existing portfolio, so they can enhance the dental service they provide. Treatment to add volume to lips, improve nasiolabial folds and reduce marionette lines can be combined with dental treatment to give patients a more dramatic improvement to the entire mouth area. This is probably the ‘easiest win’ as it represents a brand new revenue stream from your existing client base.

 2. You can attract a whole new clientele looking purely for aesthetic treatments

Non-surgical procedures like Botox and dermal fillers can attract new patients who would not have come to your practice for dental treatment alone. These patients may come to you for aesthetic treatment in the first instance, and once they have built up a relationship with you, may also choose you for their dental treatment. Expanding your aesthetic repertoire further to include treatments that complement Botox and fillers, for example Dermaroller and Chemical Peels, will give your patients even more reasons to keep coming back to you.

 3.  You can train up colleagues within your practice to perform the techniques

When you have completed your own Botox training course, you will be able to instruct your fellow dentists in the techniques. Lots of our dental delegates at Cosmetic Courses have gone on to train other dentists and hygienists within their practice in non-surgical treatments.

Having more colleagues trained in the techniques will not only increase your capacity to offer aesthetic treatments at your practice, it’ll give you the flexibility to go off and learn more aesthetic techniques while your colleagues ‘hold the fort’. You’ll also be better placed to respond to patient demand, adjusting the balance of your dental and aesthetic appointments to meet patients’ needs. If more people are looking for aesthetic treatments than dental appointments, you’ll be able to accommodate them – and crucially, have a constant revenue stream.

For more information on our Botox training courses, or any of our programme of aesthetic training courses, please contact the team on 01844 390110 or email [email protected].

 

 

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Advanced Cosmetic Training Courses: Brow Lift Treatments

Advanced Medical Aesthetic Training

So you have completed your Foundation Level Introduction to Botulinum Toxin and Dermal Fillers. You’ve gone away and practiced all you learned and now you’re chomping at the bit to discover more techniques, right?

An Advanced Cosmetic Training Course is the ideal way to pick your basic skills up a level and add procedures like Cheek Sculpting, Platysmal Bands, Brow Lift and Hyperhidrosis to your repertoire. In this Blog, we will discuss the Brow Lift.

Brow Lift Treatment
As we age, gravity causes the eyebrows (brow) to move downwards.  We compensate for this by contracting the muscle which raises the eyebrows.  Contraction of this muscle causes wrinkle lines across the forehead.  Eventually the muscle relaxes and the eyebrows become lower.  This typically makes you look slightly sad and tired.  It can also increase the fold on the upper eyelid making it difficult to apply makeup.

Brow lift treatments are aimed at elevating the eyebrows.  This widens the eyes and makes you look less tired.  After surgery people are often asked if they have been on holiday as they look refreshed.  The effects are subtle and most people will not be able to pinpoint the exact change in you but will notice that you look fresher.

The eyebrow in females should be gently arched with its’ highest point lying 2/3rds of the way out from the centre.  In men the eyebrows are usually flatter and raising them is not usually appropriate as this can make them look slightly surprised.

In the past, the only satisfactory way to perform Brow lifts was with a surgery operation.  This procedure is normally carried out by keyhole surgery.  Small incisions are made within the hairline and the tissue is gently separated allowing the eyebrows to rise.  Most people recover quickly from the procedure and are back at work within 10 days.

Brow Lift Injections
More recently, however, medical aesthetic injection techniques have been used to lift the eyebrows.  Selectively weakening the muscles which pull down the eyebrows (using Botulinum Toxin) will result in them rising.  The muscles which pull down the inner part of the eyebrows cause frowning in the centre of the forehead.  The muscles which pull down the outer part of the eyebrows cause the crows-feet smile lines which occur on the temple on the side of the eye.

Unlike surgery, injections to weaken these muscles can be performed as a quick and easy outpatient procedure. Many people have the treatment during work breaks or at the end of the day.  The effects are not immediate with most people noticing a gradual decrease in the frown and crows feet wrinkles a week following treatment.  This effect last between 4-6 months and will need to be repeated.  Usually after a 3 treatments in a year the muscles relax more permanently and the effect last for longer and longer.

It is important to remember that everybody’s face is different and the consultation process is important to assess which treatment is most suitable for your patient.  This should ideally start with a skin analysis and discussion of the treatments available.

If you are interested in learning Brow Lift injectable techniques and other Advanced Medical Aesthetic Techniques, call Cosmetic Courses Training on 0800 328 5743. Alternatively, you can learn more about our advanced level training on our website.

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Train in Hyperhidrosis and Make a Difference!

Going into business with Botulinum Toxin does not have to be all about banishing wrinkles and filling-in frown lines.

To the contrary, a number of techniques with Botox (particularly the Advanced Level procedures) allow sophisticated re-sculpting such as the Cheek and Jowl Lift or Platysmal Band treatment.  Others offer greatly increased standards of living to patients in terms of improved confidence and well-being: these are far more than “aesthetic” procedures and there is no finer example than Hyperhidrosis Treatment.

Hyperhidrosis is just a fancy name for excessive sweating. In about 1.0% of the population (according to The Hyperhidrosis Support Group) the sympathetic nervous system works at an overly high level. This means that, instead of simply regulating body temperature, Hyperhidrosis sufferers sweat profusely from certain body parts, often at inappropriate times, causing extreme embarrassment.

The most common areas for patients to experience Hyperhidrosis are:

  • The palms of the hands (Palmer Hyperhidrosis)
  • Soles of the feet (Planter Hyperhidrosis)
  • The armpits (Axillary Hyperhidrosis)
  • Also: the face, head, groin and back.

So Where Do You Come In?

Firstly, you need to be confident in diagnosing Hyperhidrosis rather than simply heavy sweating. If you are unsure, you could always suggest that the client sees their GP first and asks for a referral.

Excessive sweating is not always due to Hyperhidrosis: it can be because of illnesses, such as hyperthyroidism, psychiatric disorders, menopause and obesity. It is obviously important to consider these possibilities. According to Dr Prashant Murugkar in Body Language Magazine, there are other characteristics to look out for when making your diagnosis:

  • In Secondary Hyperhidrosis (where the cause of excessive sweating is known) you should expect the patient to also have a Thyroid disorder, Diabetes Mellitus, Menopause or similar which could be responsible.
  • In the more common Primary Hyperhidrosis (where the exact cause remains unknown) things to look for include: patient aged 25 years or over; family history of similar problems; excessive sweating beginning suddenly over the past 6 months; sweating so badly that it is interfering with daily activities;  excessive sweating stops when the patient is asleep.

The Iodine Test is commonly used for diagnosis. Apply 2% iodine solution to both armpits, allow to dry then brush corn-starch powder onto the area. If the light brown colour turns dark purple, this is a positive test for sweat.

Treatment

 

As Dr Murugkar quite rightly recognises, Hyperhidrosis is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. This is despite the fact that 1-2% of the population suffer from the problem and it causes great embarrassment and discomfort. Many Hyperhidrosis sufferers refuse to wear any colours other than black or white to try to hide their sweat patches and hate public situations. The NHS has no specific guidelines for Hyperhidrosis and many GPs are unsure what to advise. This leaves a huge niche in the market for trained medical professionals who can offer a sensitive, professional service to help Hyperhidrosis sufferers.

Apart from Antiperspirants (of which strong roll-on gels and powders like Driclor are an option), the only known successful treatment for Hyperhidrosis is Botulinum Toxin Type A.

You can choose from Botox or Dysport for your Botulinum Toxin Type A. The purified neurotoxin, derived from clostridium botulinum, blocks the over-active release from the sympathetic nerve fibres triggering the ecrine sweat glands.

Using a very fine needle, small amounts of Botulinum Toxin solution are injected into 10 to 15 places about 1cm apart and spread evenly in each armpit. Sometimes a dye is used to show up the areas where sweating is greatest and where the injections should be placed. A course of treatment takes about 30 minutes.

Within 1-2 weeks, most patients have benefit from Hyperhidrosis Treatment with Botulinum Toxin, which usually lasts 6-18 months.

Hyperhidrosis Treatment is well worth training in. It is simple to administer if you are a trained medical practitioner. Moreover, as Dr Murugkar neatly summarises,in terms of benefits of training in this Technique, ‘Relief from the misery of Hyperhidrosis tends to be a very rewarding achievement and creates satisfied patients for the practitioner’.

Happy patients; Happy practitioners…..Happy Hyperhydrosis Training!

Cosmetic Courses offer expert fully supervised Hyperhidrosis Training to medical professionals as part of our Advanced Level Course. We can also offer Advice and Support in setting up your business using this Technique. Call us today on 0845 230 4110

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