How Do Cosmetic Practitioners Use Treatment Pad?

Since its launch in 2019, Treatment Pad continues to be used globally by hundreds of cosmetic clinics. We chat to Dr Nora, our clinical lead, to give us her insights on how she uses the app in clinical practice.

Dr Nora, we know you’re a strong advocate for showing patients their before and after photography, how has Treatment Pad helped you with this?

You’re absolutely right. I am a strong believer of this. Most of us actually ‘forget’ what we look like – it’s not as though we’re constantly in front of a mirror! So once a patient has had their procedure done, if I was to show them just a mirror – which is what I used to do – a lot of people might say ‘well what has changed’. However, when you provide the patient with a clear before and after photo, the changes become more apparent. Getting the patient on board with your treatment and increasing theirs (and yours) satisfaction.

Is there a particular feature you like to use for this?

Well this app is packed with my ‘favorite features’ but the one I most like to use when presenting my photos to the patient is the link icon. This allows me to zoom into both pictures at once without distorting the photograph. I find that zooming in on the picture helps to reduce any noise in the background. We are all easily distracted, so when I’ve injected lips, for example, I like to zoom in on this as the ears or nose is not the focus. Once we’ve established the changes I then zoom out and take a look at the overall face to see how the treatment has changed the facial appearance. 

That’s very comprehensive. How do you manage time keeping when showing the patient?

The time it takes me to show a patient is very short. In a previous life, before Treatment Pad, I would actually have to take the photographs home to edit. Then I would ask the patient to return on another day to show them. As you can imagine, this can create anxiety to the patient if they’re not able to see themselves straight away. They may go home and have a family member say something negative which can impact our working relationship. However, with Treatment Pad, with a few clicks I am able to instantly show them the differences. Making them happy and relieving myself of editing duties when I get home. In practical terms, I always allow a few extra minutes at the end of my treatment to go through pictures with them. I think this is perhaps just as important as the treatment itself as the patient is more likely to return for further treatments if they are satisfied. 

How do you find using the real time camera angles?

This is, in my opinion an essential feature. By knowing the correct angle of the face with the camera you can produce consistently accurate photos. This helps greatly in the long run – first when comparing the pictures – as changes are easier to see, but secondly if you are marketing your pictures.

What do you mean by this?

As a cosmetic practitioner working in Australia, we are bound by governing rules about misrepresentation when it comes to cosmetic photography. If you were to take a photo too high on the face the upper lip can look smaller, and if too low the upper lip can look bigger. This is misrepresenting the truth, which is frowned upon – and rightly so. So if you’re able to take accurate photography that doesn’t misrepresent the truth then you are abiding to the guidelines set out but also are producing morally correct images for future customers helping to establish trust in your brand. 

That sounds great Dr Nora. How do your patients react when you take the photographs?

Any good practitioner will take photographs prior to a procedure and will obtain the consent from the patient for this. So when the patient is met with the camera, there are no surprises. The great thing about the real time camera is the speed of taking the pictures. A set of photographs usually takes me a minute or less helping me to focus my time on the treatment. In the past, when I didn’t have Treatment Pad, photography took much longer and inevitably the patient would always feel awkward standing around.

You mentioned marketing earlier, do you use Treatment Pad to market your work? 

Absolutely! If a patient has given me consent to use their pictures, I love to showcase my work for others to see. One of the features in the upgraded edition allows me to make my own branded templates. I have 5 templates that I use for my pictures, some are landscape mode and some horizontal. I have designed my own watermark as a standard and use the framing options to stand the watermark out. Producing the templates themselves didn’t take long, but now, once I have my before and after I can just select which template suits the photograph and use this straight away. I no longer have to make an individual template for each picture as the formula stays the same. This really helps with time keeping and being efficient. 

Thanks so much for all the insights Dr Nora, what piece of advice would you give anyone starting out in cosmetics?

Get your tools sorted right and early! I wish there was something like Treatment Pad when I was starting out. It would have made me look much sleeker and more professional. So if you’re starting out and want to make a good impression on your patients make sure you have the right toolset to do this and try Treatment Pad out for yourself. ∎

To learn more about Dr Nora head over to drnora.com