Recently, Dr. DeBias has been contacted by some of his patients that are part of Suburban Life/Philadelphia Life readership and asked if he would weigh in on the topic of cosmetic injectables. He remains a leader in his industry, treating and restoring youthful appearances for 19 years. Dr. DeBias and the staff at Institute for Laser and Aesthetic Medicine have in total, performed over 250,000 treatments to date, and house more than 65 lasers and energy based devices. In other words, Dr. DeBias understands the fundamentals behind safe, natural and effective rejuvenation. Suburban Life/Philadelphia Life sat down with Dr. DeBias to hear his take on cosmetic injectable results, and what is—and isn’t—achievable.

What are the major factors that play a part in obtaining your best injectable result and are perfect results obtainable?

Injectables are not natural, but a master injector can artfully and skillfully inject them to give the appearance of a more refreshed and youthful look that is satisfying to most patients. This however, is far from perfection. Two factors and two factors only are the major influence of optimizing cosmetic injectable results and patient satisfaction. The first is the patient’s belief as to what expectations are obtainable, and the second is the skill, experience, depth of knowledge, and art of the injector. My goal is to attain the highest level of patient satisfaction consistently and give the patient the best injection experience possible. With over a 95 percent satisfaction rating in my practice, I constantly strive to do better but “injection perfection” in my opinion is not attainable, whereas “injection perception” is a more accurate way of characterizing your result.

What makes someone an expert injector?

This is a slippery slope. Injectors vary from novice, intermediate, expert and master, and all terms are used “loosely.” A potential patient should educate themselves and investigate an individual’s level of achievement by the numbers— or lack thereof—to determine if that injector is right for them. I have performed over 20,000 cosmetic injection procedures over the last 19 years and have trained over 250 injectors in the field with some receiving expert instruction.

Does board certification play any part in determining the competency of a particular cosmetic injector?

No. The great misconception in my area of expertise—aesthetic/cosmetic medicine/surgery—is that there is a board certification that is recognized by the American Medical Association or American Osteopathic Association as a legitimate certification. Both the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Dermatology have very stringent exams and practicals to qualify only competent physicians to be board certified in the area of medical dermatology and reconstructive plastic surgery. This does not carry over into aesthetics/cosmetic medicine. In fact, physicians that are board certified in plastic surgery are specifically certified in their knowledge and skill performing reconstructive plastic surgery only. They’re not tested or examined for procedures such as breast augmentation, cosmetic face lifts, cosmetic tummy tucks, or Brazilian butt lifts. One of the great public deceptions in marketing in this area of medicine is making the public believe your board certification in either plastic surgery or dermatology is for aesthetic or cosmetic procedures, when in reality it is not.

Which is better: a team approach or a personal injector?

This is really up to the individual receiving treatment. We’ve all seen how managed care, team care and group care have caused a new trend in developing concierge medicine. Patients are paying out of pocket to get a personalized concierge physician to return to personalized consistent medical service. I am a master injector who utilizes injector assistants to optimize patient satisfaction and results. All patients know when they return they will have consistent results. If you are considering a team of injectors as your best approach, credential each of them individually since only one of them will ultimately be injecting you. You may discover during your investigation in finding a person who has the most experience, that they might not even be available to perform your injection. You wind up paying top dollar for someone who has much less skill/experience/knowledge than someone else on the ‘team.’

When researching a potential injector for your treatment, are there questions you should ask to credential them?

Yes. These are important questions that should be asked:

• How long have you (not the team) been injecting cosmetic injectables? Get a specific numerical answer.
• How many have you (not the team) done? Get a specific numerical answer. Vague answers like “a lot” are meant to be deceptive.
• How many do you do a week? Again a specific numerical answer is paramount.
• Have you trained other injectors or potential injectors? Get specifics as to who they've trained and when.
• What is their particular status (not the team’s) with the main suppliers of cosmetic injectables in the U.S., namely Allergan, Galderma and Mertz?
• What accolades or “best of” recognitions have they obtained by the public readership in this area of expertise?

Dr. DeBias’s credentials by the numbers:

• Has performed over 20,000 cosmetic injectable procedures over the last 19 years with greater than 95 percent patient satisfaction.
• Has trained over 250 injectors in the art of mastering injection techniques.
• Voted Best of Bucks Aesthetic Physician consistently (except for 2013) from 2007 to present.
• Voted Top Doc for Aesthetic Physician category in Suburban Life/Philadelphia Life consistently since 2009.
• Has been a luminary for most of the major laser companies in the U.S. sometime in his 19 years of practicing aesthetic medicine.
• Owns over 65 laser and energy based devices in his practice.

Looking at how this area of aesthetic medicine has been misrepresented in the marketing realm today, what can be done to reduce any misconceptions?

This is a good question. After much soul searching, I have decided to formulate two new blogs to increase patient awareness and to open dialogue between patients, injectors and industry suppliers of aesthetic devices/products in hopes of transparency to disseminate more credible and accurate information in this specialty field. These blogs will be introduced on our website Ilamed.com this month. I invite everyone who reads this article to sign up and participate in this thought provoking exchange of information and ideas. Sign-ups will receive a $50 gift certificate for Ilamed services (offer expires 9/1/2017).

THE INSTITUTE FOR LASER AND AESTHETIC MEDICINE
110 Hyde Park
Doylestown, Pa.
1030 Continental Drive
King of Prussia, Pa.
(215) 230-1804
ILAMed.com

Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life Magazine, June, 2017.