More than Skin Deep

Empowering the mind of the patient

It has often been said that aesthetic medicine helps bridge the gap between beauty & mental wellbeing. We have always pinned the concept that feeling good in your appearance can only raise self-confidence and aesthetic medicine allows a certain measure of control in this area.

The concept is further enhanced when considering social elements including attractiveness in climbing the career ladder or finding the perfect partner. It makes sense that looking good and feeling good not only makes you feel positive about yourself but also that it has a similar effect on those around you and how they view you.

Although these make for very compact arguments until recently no study had been conducted on the effects cosmetic & aesthetic medicine has on the personal psychology. That is until now.

A psychological study

A study conducted at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany and the University of Basel in Switzerland provides evidence that patients benefited from improved enjoyment of life, improved self-esteem & increased satisfaction following cosmetic & aesthetic procedures. The results were published in the Journal Clinical Psychological Science.

How can this be proved?

Researchers took 544 first time aesthetic/cosmetic patients and they were asked about their goals, feelings & general self-esteem before their surgery, then again at three, six and 12 months post their surgery or treatment.

Most patients reported that they felt they had achieved their goal of improving body image throughout the feedback sessions. This improved body image after minor aesthetic correction is indicative of a rise in self-esteem.

Further to this, when compared to the control group: a group of individuals who considered cosmetic or aesthetic procedures but opted against them, those that did complete their aesthetic goals reported feeling healthier, with less anxiety and they displayed increased self-confidence.  Of course this is only true for those that have a desire to undergo aesthetic procedures.

The clinical evaluation

It is the responsibility of both Dr Clark & Dr Marks at SAI to help distinguish between a healthy requirement for aesthetic medicine for improved self-esteem and those that display body dysmorphic characteristics. To truly benefit from self-image it is incredibly important to set achievable goals and work towards them with the most qualified doctor you can find. This journey is beautiful and even more so when treatment results and patients satisfaction are the primary concern, as it is at SAI.

Make an appointment

It is simple to make an appointment with Dr Clark or Dr Marks at SAI Sandton: 011 883 3116 or SAI Waterkloof 012 460 7047 – let them help you with your aesthetic goals for 2016 and see how minor corrections to those beauty elements that have been worrying you can improve your self-esteem.

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