HOW NATURAL-LOOKING MEDICAL AESTHETIC TREATMENTS BOOST CONFIDENCE, EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AND PERSPECTIVES ON AGING, ACCORDING TO SURVEY

Innovations in aesthetic medicine are delivering natural-looking results that are enhancing more than just appearances, they're boosting confidence, too.

In a new survey by Merz Aesthetics, a majority of respondents conveyed a positive connection between the impact of aesthetic treatments on their emotional well-being. The company, which produces neuromodulator Xeomin, and fillers Radiesse and Belotero, analyzed the perspectives of 15,000 adults between the ages of 21 to 75 who have previously had an aesthetic treatment or considering a procedure, with 75 percent of participants who identified as female.

Managing the aging process (72 percent) and a desire to look younger (66 percent) were cited as factors that influence undergoing aesthetic treatments, with comments from family, friends and partners as the least influential factor (40 percent); and many respondents agreed that aesthetic procedures impact how they view themselves (68 percent) and how confident they feel in social situations (65 percent).

"It really kind of just hones in on what I see from the day to day," said Dr. Sheila Farhang, board-certified dermatologist. "It really is that people want natural-looking results, and they want to look like themselves."

The results showed that external influences were among the least important factors in undergoing treatments, including 72 percent of people surveyed who agreed with the statement, "I am confident in who I am" and 62 percent of people who said they seek aesthetic treatments to reflect how they feel inside; 20 percent of respondents said they "feel pressured to conform to society's beauty standard."

Farhang echoes the findings, adding that many of her patients seek to enhance their features, not undergo a dramatic makeover. "I see that in my clinic…people actually come in and they say, ‘I don't want to look Beverly Hills' or ‘I don't want to look L.A.,' because they're nervous about that, so it's kind of a really great thing, that people want to look like themselves."

The connection between developing self-confidence as a conduit to one's overall well-being was supported by 72 percent of respondents; 80 percent agree that after getting aesthetic treatments they feel "like I have taken care of myself," and 73 percent consider it "effective self care."

Farhang said she sees some common generational differences in addressing patients' requests for natural-looking results. "For Gen Z (13 to 28), changing a little bit of the lip or the facial profile, that I think is definitely linked to self confidence, and that rolls over and touches so much in their life, as far as confidence," she said, adding, "I do a lot of facial balance, of like making sure the chin and the nose profile is in line, and things like that. So, that's probably more of my patients that are younger, it's a lot more like refining facial balance." The Millennials, ages 29 to 44, are starting to see fine lines, she said. "They have maybe more stressful careers, they're parents, they are, you know, just have a lot more stresses in life, so for them, I am kind of working on facial balance; I'm introducing ways to stimulate collagen." For more mature groups, the range of issues to address can span from lines to volume loss. "It's really kind of seeing what's there. Is there skin laxity? Is it facial volumization or what?"

While neuromodulators and filler are common remedies, Farhang said there's a growing movement toward regenerative aesthetic medicine, like using injectables or energy-based devices for patients to stimulate their own collagen. "Sometimes I'll use energy-based devices for this, like collagen banking. And I think this is all kind of ties into people literally just want to look like themselves. At the end of the day, we're giving these patients a higher self-confidence, and that goes to being a better friend, a better daughter, a better mom, a better coworker."