Estheticians-Doctor Connection: When Estheticians Need to Ethically Refer Their Clients Out

Estheticians have clients from all walks of life, but for the most part, clients who get regular facials value their looks. They don't want to be a slave to the signs of aging; they don't want ruddy and dull skin; and most importantly they want to look as good as they feel. Your job is to help them achieve those results, but sometimes you can't do that 100% of the time.

What do you do when your skin care routine can't fix their troublesome areas? Some of you might think you can fix anything, but the truth is we estheticians are not miracle workers. There are some products out there that can address these issues faster and easier than what we can do, and we need to take an ethical stance and give our customers what we can actually give them, and refer them out when necessary. Sometimes, we have clients who have abused their skin from sun and/or smoking and no matter how many facials they get, no matter how diligent they are with their skin care regimen at home they still need something else to improve the quality of their skin.

I have said this before, but I believe every esthetician should have a good dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon in their Rolodex. Some clients need Botox or Dysport, or other fillers to deal with difficult wrinkles or aging. The effects of sun and smoking can have tragic effects on the skin, and no matter how much we try as estheticians we can't fix these problem areas. We can improve them, but sometimes clients want more.

 I would never recommend you tell a client that they should get Botox or Dysport, but if they ask you about it, you can tell that some people have success with these alternative skin solutions.  (Never give medical advice, you are not a doctor. If you have used Botox you can certainly give them your opinions and experiences with it, but remember you are not a doctor.)

Sometimes, assuming you have a good rapport with the doctors, it might be wise to have some of the doctors' brochures in a nearby drawer for clients who ask for more information. Remember, skin care is a work in collaboration with doctors, and while doctors can perform some things we can't, we provide things they can't like human touch and daily skin maintenance. Don't look at doctors as competition, but look at them as a piece of the puzzle in good skin care.

And remember, you can always recommend that your clients establish good skin care habits by visiting their dermatologist yearly for skin cancer screenings.