Contact & consultation

Arranging an assessment

Outpatient appointments are booked through the hospital on the numbers below; international patients can ask for Michael Yu. Bring a list of your current medicines, including anything that affects clotting, any previous treatment to the face and when it was given, and a written description of what bothers you and when you notice it. If you have been offered a plan elsewhere, bring it: reviewing a plan is a legitimate reason to book.

What the assessment establishes

Whether the change is in the skin or in the position of the tissue, and usually how much of each. Skin is judged by its thickness, elasticity and how it behaves when lifted; position is judged by where the cheek sits, whether a jowl has formed, and how the jawline behaves when the face is lifted gently between the fingers, which shows whether repositioning would change anything. Volume is assessed separately, because a face that has emptied is not corrected by either option here. Your skin type and any history of pigment change after injury set the risk of non-surgical treatment, and your health, medicines and smoking history set the risk of an operation.

Asking about the plan

Ask which finding the proposed treatment addresses, and what it leaves exactly as it is. If a course is proposed, ask how many sessions it involves, what the maintenance interval would be, and what would happen if you stopped. If an operation is proposed, ask where the incisions would sit and what the scars would look like. In either case, ask what would make this the wrong option for you — a clinician who answers that question specifically is assessing you rather than presenting to you.

Before you commit

No decision needs to be made at the first appointment and no treatment is required by any calendar. Take the plan away, read it against the guides on this site, and come back with questions. A discount that expires, or pressure to book before an assessment is complete, is information about the clinic rather than about your face.