What makes a skin expert?
I was supposed to be playing hide and seek with my kids but instead I was just calling out
random numbers, drinking a cup of tea and scrolling through Instagram. In those 5 minutes I lost count as to how many times I have seen "expert" touted by self-proclaimed skin specialists. I am just going to put this out there. They are not experts.
The skin is the largest but the most forgiving organ. Mistakes with skin will rarely kill you unlike mistakes with the heart or the brain. The skin is also a lucrative organ. It is tied closely with beauty and anti-ageing. This is where things start to go wrong. An organ that is resilient to mistakes AND makes good money. Trouble is on the horizon….
Doing a weekend course does not make a skin specialist. Being qualified as a naturopath or holistic nutritionist does not make one a skin specialist. Spending 20 years working as a medical aesthetician does not make one a skin specialist. One needs to understand the skin in health and disease. The skin needs to be looked at in context with the rest of the human body and how it interacts with other organs. Years of experience and training give doctors the edge in differentiating skin conditions that can look like each other. Only a doctor that has access to every skincare drug available that can help you make the right choice on how to treat your skin problem.
Acne is my favourite example. There are lots of ways to treat this disease effectively, including but not limited to creams, birth control, lasers, medical devices, and Accutane.
Doctors know that when you see scarring, certain treatments are better than others and you should be counselled on that. Unfortunately, on a weekly basis I see people who have been seen elsewhere and sold treatments that frankly do not provide long term control for a scarring or cystic acne. In addition, these same practitioners will scare people away from medications or aggressive treatments that they have little or no experience in prescribing.
My job as a doctor is not to sell a treatment. It is to take a medical history, examine my patient, make a diagnosis, and offer education around all treatment options, even the treatments I cannot offer myself. When it comes to skin, why mess around?
Knowledge is power. Look up a doctor in your area and meet with them for a consultation. Stop assuming the beauty blogger/influencer/aesthetician you see on social media is in any way qualified to provide you with advice.
It probably seems like I am hating on non- doctors. I’m really not I promise.
There are 2 reasons why I wrote this post. It it’s a privilege to treat people and I like to think that most of my colleagues are honest caring people. Our motivation is to help you, not make money. We have the training and expertise from decades of medical education to support what we say.
It can be dangerous. How do you know that the “skin tag” an aesthetician told you can come off with a laser is not melanoma, the most dangerous skin cancer? People who work with skin need to understand their limitations (which they often ignore) and they need to understand the potential consequences of their mistakes.
So, my advice is to always start your skin or aesthetic journey with a consultation with a doctor. And then once you have finalised a solid plan with them, proceed to treatment with a qualified practitioner of your choosing.
Good luck!
Dr. Avneet Parmar
