My Experience With Facial Aesthetic Treatments
As someone who has experienced their fare share of facial aesthetic treatments, I would often question whether I needed a topical anesthetic as I always thought I was tough and could handle it. Over time, I thought why do I need to suffer when I could have a more pleasant experience. For my next treatment, I decided to try topical anesthetic and compare! After the nurse applied it, she proceeded to bring out a roll of Saran Wrap. That is interesting, I thought. Well, not really, she ripped off a sheet and put it on my face. Why, I ask? She replied that it would work better. Okay, so now I have white goop on my face covered in Saran Wrap. It was quite the look. Thirty minutes later after reading an old People magazine and checking Facebook, I was ready to go.
The big questions: Was it worth it and was my experience better? The answer is YES!
The Nitty Gritty About Topical Anesthetics
It leads me to my discussion on giving your patients the best treatment experience possible with topical anesthetic. Do you really need a topical anesthetic? Everyone has a different level of pain tolerance, right?Which is the best one to use? Do you buy it off the shelf or have it formulated? Once you figure that all out, how long does it need to stay on the face? Most topical anesthetics require 20-45 minutes of the patient sitting in your waiting room or in the treatment room killing time by reading magazines or checking messages on their smart phones.
As I mentioned earlier, back in the day, clinicians would try to reduce this time and attempt to improve the efficacy of the topical anesthetic by covering the patient’s face with Saran Wrap in an attempt to “occlude” the gooey, white product on their face. While this may have been effective, it is rather awkward and messy.
A Better Way…..The Collagen Veil Way
The concept is good but there must be a better solution. And, there is. The Collagen Veil PREP mask is designed to be used prior to many facial medical treatments – with and without topical anesthetic. When using the PREP mask over topical anesthetic, you provide your patient with a much more clean and sophisticated experience in the chair. In a study done by Dr. Renier Van Aardt, it was found that the moist occlusion improves the efficacy of the topical and reduces the Pain Reduction Level by 3.19 on a scale of 0-5. Hence, the outcome is a much more comfortable patient during facial medical treatments. To read more about the study, go to http://cv.marketingintegrity.ca/studies/.
Summary and PREP Video
To summarize, topical anesthetic can be your friend and you don’t have to partner it with plastic wrap! The next time you are providing a service, consider using the Collagen Veil PREP mask to enhance the patient’s experience. Start thinking about implementing a protocol that makes sense. Check out this video to see how PREP is used.
In my next blog, I will talk about the importance of a collagen gel mask POST treatments. Until then….have a BEAUTIFUL day!