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A very important risk you MUST be aware of is the very dangerous epidemic of spas and salons with no real medical training or support, performing a wide variety of non-surgical skin procedures, some of which can be very dangerous if performed improperly. These include laser and non-laser hair removal, IPL (intense pulsed light - treatments for acne, anti-aging, therapeutic skin treatments, pigmentation, lines and wrinkles), Microdermabrasion, Botox®, Restylane®, Juvederm®, and other treatments.
Most of the machines/devices utilized in these spas mandate that they are operated or performed only by, or under the supervision of, a physician. Most States have laws to assure the same level of safety -- that only a medical doctor or his staff can administer these treatments, yet many hair salons, "clinics," and "spas" offer these procedures - how can this be???
The answer is quite disturbing.
Many spas, salons, and even nurses in independent practice, employ a physician to "sign on" as "medical director" for their performance of the treatments or procedures listed above. This is often a retired doctor, a family practitioner, or some other improperly trained specialist who gets a lump sum payment or a percentage of the profits for authorizing the use of these technologically advanced devices by all too often inadequately trained personnel.
Who is going to care for you if you develop a complication or have an undesirable result?
Very commonly, (we see many patients in this situation) to avoid the chance of any problems after IPL treatments (since they have no back-up available), these "clinics" and spas significantly under-treat the patient. This results in either less improvement than should have been achieved, or no improvement at all, and a waste of money.
Fortunately, there are ways to protect yourself. Before undergoing any type of procedure, whether it is a peel, Botox®, Restylane®, Juvederm®, IPL (intense pulsed light), acne treatment, hair removal, etc… ask the following 8 questions:
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Who is the doctor supervising the treatment? |
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Ask to meet the doctor. Does he or she have an office on premises? |
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What training does the doctor have? You should only consider those individuals certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. |
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What specialized training has the doctor had in the procedure you are having performed? Don't accept training by the sales rep. or other company staff. Dr. Morris routinely travels to other states to train with experts and leading doctors who are at the forefront of the technology and devices he implements. His staff has had the benefit of similar training as well. |
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What type of training does the individual have who will actually be administering the treatment to you? The same concerns addressed above apply. |
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Ask what type of analysis you will receive prior to undergoing a procedure. We often counsel patients that a procedure might not be in their best interest. We are a medical facility designed to care for you and to take all of your health issues into consideration - not just to treat you because you are willing to pay. |
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Will you receive a Chromotest® prior to you treatment? We perform this test as part of our service to you, before initiating any type of hair removal, IPL treatment, or peel. This test will give a precise measurement of where your skin is on the Fitzpatrick scale. This measurement is critical so that the machine settings can be customized to provide the optimal, safest, and most effective treatment for you. Failure to make this measurement properly (simple visual inspection is inadequate) can result in under-treatment or dangerous over-treatment with resulting complications - again who is going to take care of you if this should happen? |
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Will you have a photographic record of your progress? We document your progress during the series of treatments with photographs to be sure we are obtaining proper correction for your condition. |
Remember, as we have discussed, it is unfortunately easy for someone to set up shop and begin performing any number of non-surgical skin treatments. You must search for a facility that is honest, properly trained, and actually has a plastic surgeon supervising properly trained specialists - an office that will give you a thorough evaluation, and has a full range of services to provide you with the optimal treatment(s) for the condition you are concerned about. Remember "if the only tool you have is a hammer … the whole world looks like a nail…"
We believe some of our patient testimonials say it best:
"All of your staff was very friendly and honest. I came in feeling like I needed a few cosmetic procedures. Instead of your staff agreeing with me and taking my money, the told me that the surgeries I wanted would produce very minimal results but would be very expensive. I was informed of much less expensive, non-surgical options that would be more beneficial to me...he was actually more honest to me than expected. He could have just tried to make as much money off of me as he could, but he did the exact opposite and made very little money off of me".
"Your office seems more concerned about meeting the needs of the patient rather than just looking at the patient as a money maker"
"Microdermabrasion was great!!"
"I have recently had … hair removal for my legs and am really happy with the results and plan on having a facial peel done in the near future."
"Everyone's so, so very friendly and helpful. I didn't have to wait to for a long time to be seen."
"Every member of Dr. Morris' staff was very friendly and answered any questions that I had. I was very pleased with the whole experience. My only regret....is that I didn't do it sooner!"
Additional testimonials may be found here:
http://www.michiganmakeover.com/testimonials.html |
