Contact & consultation

Arranging an assessment

Outpatient appointments are booked through the hospital on the numbers below; international patients can ask for Michael Yu. Bring photographs of yourself from five and ten years ago if you have them, because they show where your tissue used to sit, which is more useful than any description. Bring a written list of what bothers you and what you would refuse, including whether you are prepared to accept an operation and its scars.

What a good assessment includes

An examination of the face at rest and in movement, an assessment of how the skin behaves when it is lifted, and a judgement about how much of the change is descent and how much is loss of firmness. The brow, the jawline and the neck should each be named separately, because they behave differently. You should leave able to say what each option would change, what each would leave exactly as it is, and what the plan would be if you declined both.

Asking about the plan

If ultrasound is proposed, ask how many lines and sessions are planned, how long the effect is expected to last for someone with your skin, and what the plan is when it fades. If an operation is proposed, ask which plane will be dissected and why, where the incisions will sit, and whether anything is being added such as fat. Ask what would make either option the wrong one for you; a specific answer is the sign of an assessment rather than a presentation.

Before you commit

No decision needs to be made at the first appointment, and neither option needs to be chosen before the examination has named what has changed. 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.