Cosmetic Dermatology
Personal Philosophy of Dr. Klein
The term "anti-aging" is over-used in our society. The only way not to age is to die, and that doesn't seem like a very desirable goal.
I believe what dermatologists help people with is "appearance maintenance", and the patient is the one with the control of how much their appearance matters to them.
With skin cancer screening, we perform an important health maintenance task. We also educate patients on how to care for their skin properly. At Klein Dermatology and Associates we believe basic skin care doesn't have to be expensive.
Regarding beauty, or appearances, each individual has a different standard that they want to achieve, or maintain. Some people want to look good for their age, meaning 2 or 3 years younger; others want to look really good for their age, say 10-15 years younger. Others don't care at all what they look like regarding an age; they just want the big wart off their face.
Some people have completely unrealistic expectations: they want to look like the model on the cover of a magazine, who has been air-brushed, but they want to look like that every day and without any makeup, including when they look in the magnifying glass!
Between plastic surgery and dermatology, many different objectives can be served. Dermatologists are the experts to guide you in how to achieve your skin goals, or to educate you on what is not realistically obtainable.
Klein Dermatology and Associates does not offer financing because my personal philosophy is that cosmetic procedures are a lower priority than other expenses in life such as food, shelter, education and retirement plans. Cosmetic procedures are expensive. True, they can make a person feel better about herself/himself when they look in the mirror. However, they should only be pursued with expendable income. Cosmetic procedures are a luxury; definitely not something one should ever go into debt for, or incur interest charges.
On the other hand, cosmetic dermatology procedures are a relatively simple way to feel good about what you see in the mirror every morning, as long as they are done by someone knowledgeable and experienced, like me. It is a mistake to make someone's lips stick out of their thin face like a duck; yet you see it at the shopping mall more and more. It is a mistake to "fill in" the nasolabial fold aka "parentheses of the face" when a person has hollow cheeks, thus resulting in the look of tootsie rolls stuck on either side of the mouth, of a heavily weighted down lower face like a gorilla.
Why do you see so many medical spas advertising? Good doctors don't pay huge sums of money to draw in patients do they? Consider that Botox® and Juvederm™ have a temporary effect. If one likes the result, then one returns to that doctor. If one doesn't, then they go elsewhere. Doctors who retain their patients don't need to advertise. Their time is filled with established patients, and those established patients refer in new patients by word of mouth. The only reason a doctor would have to advertise via newspaper inserts, bill boards, radio, etc is because they aren't retaining their patients, and they aren't getting referrals from word of mouth. To me, a big red flag should be going up when patients see those advertisements, and they should not go to those med-spas.
Another pet peeve I have with medical spas is patient safety. Medical spas must have a "medical director" but that person doesn't have to be on site. Most of the "technicians" in medspas are not trained appropriately, nor supervised adequately, to be doing injections and laser treatments to the skin. Once you start asking questions, you find out the supervising physician is often board certified in family practice, internal medicine, anesthesia or gynecology.
I am concerned with the trend of estheticians picking up needles and injecting patients. I'm seeing many problems related to this. However, it is legal in Oregon, for a physician to have any staff member do anything he/she pleases, whether they are qualified to do so or not. I don't think it is ethical, but it is legal. For instance, I could hire the local nail technician to do my botox injections for me, or liposuction, and then just pray nothing bad happens to someone. Some of these estheticians don't even have their esthetician license anymore. It is ridiculous!
Physician Ultimately Responsible: Any services provided by licensed health care providers outside their immediate scope of practice (i.e. what they are legally permitted to perform) that are of a medical nature are the responsibility of the supervising physician, according to the BME. http://www.oregon.gov/OHLA/COS/docs/EstheticOrMedical.pdf
I enjoy the artistry of cosmetic dermatology, and when given the privilege of working on someone's face, I take it very seriously. I want my patients to look good, and natural. I despise the frozen face of Botox as alluded to in cartoons. It is my opinion that the best work is the good looking person who you cannot detect anything has been done to.
Skin health and appearance maintenance are what we do best. Choose your skin expert by their credentials, not the convenience of their location or ease to get an appointment. After all, it is your face and your health.