Like any professional serving the public, your cosmetic surgeon (or dermatologist or aesthetician) invests in their business. Along with regular expenditures on “overhead”—items like clinic space and cleaning services—the practice also spends money on medical technology like lasers, light therapy devices and liposuction equipment.
Admittedly, equipment is not going to be top of mind for you when you’re considering a cosmetic procedure. But there are a few good reasons to give your doctor’s investments some thought, especially if you’re a new client or if you’re shopping around for the right provider.
First, knowing how many different kinds of equipment the doctor owns and how new the technology is will give you a clue as to the “personality” of the practice. You may find out that your doctor falls into the “early adopter” category by learning he or she has several different lasers and/or liposuction machines, with some being the very latest on the market. On the other hand, you may discover that your physician only owns one laser and has relied on the same tried-and-true technology for years, a much more conservative stance.
There’s nothing wrong with either of these two profiles, but consider whether you’re an early adopter, mainstream or conservative consumer and whether your own profile matches that of the practice. Do you feel good about being one of the first to try a new procedure? Do you want to sign up for treatment with a machine that’s a dozen years old?
Second, it’s only natural that your provider will tend to recommend you undergo a procedure with the equipment they happen to own. If your doctor has invested in a brand new machine, he or she may be excited to try it. They may also be in need of reference patients. On the flip side, if your provider has limited choices, your own choices will be limited.
In many cases, there will be more than one possible approach to achieving good results for you. For instance, superficial facial wrinkles can be improved with microdermabrasion, a chemical peel or laser technology. And, as one plastic surgeon puts it, every craftsman has favorite tools. But be advised that for many procedures—such as fat removal, smoothing specific types of wrinkles, acne treatment, laser hair removal and tattoo removal—there are a variety of options. Some work much better in particular cases than others.
That brings up the final point: when you know something about the equipment your cosmetic surgeon proposes to use, you have that much more information for decision making. You may find a discussion about a recommended procedure and the technology involved sufficient for you to sign up for treatment. You might also conclude that you’re not quite ready to commit.
If you don’t feel ready to decide, there’s a wealth of information available on the Web to help you learn more about the technology. Here are some ideas:
Check out the manufacturer of the equipment your doctor owns. See when the technology was introduced and find out its principal use. If you discover your doctor uses the equipment in ways other than the manufacturer suggests, ask more questions. If the manufacturer indicates who their main competitors are, research those companies and their products too.
Look up the technology on www.fda.gov and see what areas of the body it’s approved to treat. It’s not uncommon for equipment to be used in a way that’s not specifically approved by the FDA, and that may not be a bad thing. But you will want to know about this.
Google “used 'machine name'” and get a sense of how many are available for resale and how much they cost. In some cases you may discover your doctor uses older equipment that others are replacing with new technology.
It's easy to feel sympathetic about the challenging investment decisions medical professionals have to make. Technology costs several thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that's before you consider maintenance and supplies (called "consumables"). Doctors are bombarded with marketing campaigns and sales people, and it can be difficult for a physician to sort fact from fiction just as it is for consumers.
For all these reasons, gaining a little understanding about your cosmetic surgeon's choices is an investment that will pay off for you.