Why Aren't You Doing Aesthetic Treatments Yet?

Whether it’s lasers or fillers, getting an aesthetic procedure done is still scary territory for many women. Chelsea Tang asks doctors with an interest in aesthetics to address the most common concerns. The goal: to turn “why” into “why not?”.

- Chelsea Tang

1 “I DON’T THINK I CAN DEAL WITH THE PAIN. Aesthetic treatments are very foreign to me and I find them very intimidating – especially as my pain threshold is quite low (a normal facial extraction is the most I can tolerate). Anything that requires a needle is out of the question.” – Sheryl Tay, 25, marketing executive

Dr Karen Soh, medical director of Prive Clinic, wants aesthetics newbies to know that pain, such as the pinching sensation that comes with botulinum toxin injections, can be “easily managed with painkillers, numbing cream and painkiller injections”.

It is also the doctor’s duty to ensure that you are as comfortable as possible during treatments, says Dr Angela Hwee, lead doctor of DRx Group. The Intensive Rejuvenation Program (which treats large pores and fine lines) offered at DRx Clinic sounds painful as it involves microneedles, she says, but is actually painless after numbing cream is applied. “There is no pain... just a few minutes of redness,” says Dr Hwee.

How much pain you feel during treatment also depends on the doctor’s technique. For example, Dr Soh says that getting botulinum toxin injections done at Prive Clinic is less painful as the toxin is specially reconstituted from its original form to match the body’s pH level.

The type of machines used matters too. Take Hifu (high-intensity focused ultrasound), for instance. The skin-lifting treatment is known to be painful, but the Hifu machine that aesthetics centre Estheclinic uses, developed by its parent company in France, is said to offer a painless experience. “All our processes are developed by doctors, and treatments are painless and non-invasive, with little downtime,” says Manon Allano, managing director of Estheclinic Singapore.

2 "I’M NOT SURE IF THERE ARE MORE PROS THAN CONS.