Leading experts reveal their thoughts on primary prevention & early prevention

1. Do you feel “Primary Prevention (PP) & Early Prevention (EI)” in aesthetic medicine are concepts that are known and accepted globally?

Alessandra Haddad: Not really. I think there is a misunderstanding between concepts. But at the same time I believe Early Intervention is a very promising concept to take in.

Roy Kim: No. Although these terms are routinely discussed, there is no definition of what PP and EI actually are in aesthetic medicine. What age is appropriate to consider effective treatments? Will the treatment vary based on what is considered beautiful in a region or country?

Tatjana Pavicic: In Asia certainly they are, but in Europe we still need to work to explain patients and doctors that ‘preserving is better than repairing’.

2. How could you encourage practitioners to engage with PP & EI?

AH: I could point out the benefits of treating a young patient where you can use less products and do less procedures while still getting a natural and inexpensive result, moving the aging process ahead. On the other hand, treating an older patient for the first time would double the rejuvenation efforts; it would be more expensive, more challenging, and perhaps even lack a natural look.

RK: I would encourage aestheticians, nurses and doctors to listen to what their patients want, and to deliver sound, scientific advice and treatments tailored to the region and lifestyle of their patients. PP can consist of easy and obvious things - sun protection, excellent diet, and good skin care products with consistent use. More advanced strategies using EI can include facials, skin peels, laser treatments, micro-needling, and a whole host of other options.

TP: Through proper patient education! Most of the patients, at least in Europe, are afraid of unnatural results, but PP and EI work to prevent those, if performed properly.

3. What are the ethical considerations for PP & EI?

AH: It is a complicated question to answer. Ethics is somehow culturally related to countries’ customs. Common sense is the rule (may be based on KOL professional opinions) where primary prevention could have a real benefit, for example treating a Caucasian with poor osteal platform to avoid premature tissue laxity. However, at this point a differentiation between primary prevention and beautification should be considered, e.g. tweaking the nose or treating a lip of a young patient to enhance facial balance are more matters of beautification rather than primary prevention.

RK: Age appropriate treatments are key. Every person, country, and culture are different, so it’s best to use common sense and follow legal guidelines to ensure quality, ethical aesthetic medicine.

TP: In my opinion, there aren’t any as long as the age limit is 18! I had patients aged 24 with an extremely deep glabella wrinkle showing that they should have started BoNTA treatment earlier! So, age is not a deciding factor of when to start aesthetic treatments, but rather the individual anatomy and genetic predisposition.

4. How could you encourage the general public to engage with PP & EI?

AH: By comparing twins, where one of them has taken extreme care with the aging process while the other hasn’t. This way we would be able to compare the importance of early intervention or primary prevention.

RK: The general public is already engaged in PP and EI; the use of sunscreen and the awareness of sun protection throughout the world has helped bring awareness to aging, sun damage, and skin cancer. I am optimistic that continuing patient education and engagement in areas such as antioxidant skin care use; the need for consistent facial cleansers, and even exfoliating agents can be used to bring forward aesthetic medicine to the public. There are many other topics within aesthetic medicine and skin care that I have not mentioned. I can’t fully predict what will be the most popular, but I am sure the general public is ready to learn more about aesthetic medicine!

TP: Same as for doctors. Starting treatments earlier when only little changes are visible, or just becoming visible, means that changes are less obvious, results are accordingly more natural, less work is needed to be done, lower risk of side effects, lower costs, results might last longer, and so on...