Welcome Year 2016

 

It is a hot and fiery new year as we leave 2015 behind and enter 2016. Dr MM Clinic is my latest project and as of today has just reached the 3rd month of operation. After almost a year of planning and a few hiccups along the way, finally I've decided to take a leap of faith in changing the whole concept of the clinic to a more functional one.

Besides the usual aesthetic stuffs to keep you young on the outside, Dr MM Clinic also intends to focus on overall health and wellness of you as a patient. We have a few new investigative panels and also our new epigenetics hair profiler that can help detect problems and deficiency with just 3 strands of hair, within 15 minutes of sampling. With this new device, we are able to have a general overview of yourself, to guide you towards a more healthier and youthful you. We also have new stemcell products and supplements to give you the extra boost based on your needs and requirements. 

We have also perfected our aesthetic treatments to give you more solutions to your needs and come up with a comprehensive detox program to lose weight and change your perception towards dieting and healthy eating.

As for the blogs, follow us today and you will discover a lot more about the medical technology related to aesthetics and anti-aging. I will also be posting a few Vlogs that will play a good role of explaining the things I write about.

We also have a few alliance partners i.e. other clinics or parties who offer services that we do not offer and thus you can be assured of the similar hospitality. As for this new setup, Visit us today and take a nice selfie from our beautiful view. The clinic is inside an office building with valet facilities for working days from 9am to 9pm at only RM 5/hour. There is also a basement carpark or if you prefer by foot, it is walking distance from Monorail stations and very close to Pavillion KL and Changkat Bukit Bintang. We have equipped the clinic with toilet and shower facilities for the ease of our patients. There is a comfortable waiting room, and high speed wifi for your convenience. And, as our usual policy, appointment times are flexible to not just working hours, Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays, early or late based on the patient's preference but only with prior booking. Otherwise, most likely I am elsewhere sipping a latte and writing the blog.

I'm really excited with this new year and hope the clinic can give its best service to you. Happy New Year Peeps. May this year bring prosperity and good health to me and you.

For more information and details feel free to email us at drmmclinic@gmail.com or visit our website at http://drmarrfaceworks.wix.com/drmmclinic

Happy New Year... 2014

Its the start of a new year. Time flies ever so fast. Reminiscing back to the earlier days of running the clinic, how much things have changed. Now, my skills are more than grown, I have started to train other doctors for most of the filler and botulinum toxin techniques. I have a good team, with a strong manager to help manage most of the clinic day to day dealings. We've established the appointment only concept that not only allows you to plan for your appointment, but for us to make the best of your time. My foreign patients love this concept, the locals are still trying to get use to it.

We've made a lot of new allies for this year, and new projects are unveiling. We may have dropped a few, but the aim is to move forward, hence we need to focus on the positives. We have good and loyal patients, we have a lot of new ones too. With the new regulations hopefully Malaysia will be able to compete with its neighbouring countries in terms of Medical Aesthetics more proactively and provide overall great service and good reputation.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who fall prey to beauticians doing injections etc, providing so called professional exclusive services. An overall price comparison, their prices compared to doctor prices are pretty much similar with perhaps a few hundred difference. I have been consulting patients whom have had beautician work done on their face and overall most of them are not happy with the work, but the worst part is you can't remove it, unless of course surgically. And most surgeons would charge a bomb for having to clean up someone else's mess, plus the complications that may arise from the surgery.

So for the start of this new year, I would like to give a take home message to all my readers who may consider improving their looks for this year.

5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Let Anyone Else But A Trained Dr Poke A Needle to Your Face

1. The Face is the first thing a person notices when they look at you. Getting fillers or BTA from an untrained hand may make you look weird / disproportionate / abnormal. Every trained medical aesthetic practitioner goes through measurement training and ratio training that allows them to make an educated assessment of your face's needs and amount required. Beauticians only inject base on what they think is pretty but not based on scientific guidelines. What may be pretty to them may not be pretty to anyone else.

2. Beauticians are not taught surgical anatomy. Yes, they may argue, they have anatomy syllabus in their courses but it is very non-specific and mostly related to massage techniques. Even doctors who are not trained in medical aesthetics have issues with face anatomy (I conduct training, I know) and most only know basic. You need a really in depth knowledge of the anatomy of the structures of your face before you can safely poke a needle in it. There are many areas which you cannot inject or even if you did required high level of care. There are reported cases of skin necrosis, granulomas, etc with filler injections even with the most trained hands, what else an untrained hand? And what more a non-medical personnel who doesn't even have the basic.

3. The collagen that beauticians keep saying they are injecting are not 100% collagen. The source is questionable, most are taken from China since its super cheap there and unlikely to be sterile. For those with religious preferences, most collagen for fillers are bovine (cow) or porcine (pig) in origin. We will never use marine sources because of very high allergy rates in humans. Sometimes, they even use human collagen (which I have no idea how they extract). Another issue is that most of the time, liquid silicone is included in the concoction to give it better volume for less usage and for the effect to stay longer (rather permanent). My simplest advice would be to be inquisitive about the product you use - see the packaging, make sure the box and the filler is the same thing, make sure it is sterile, and make sure you can actually read the label on the box.

4. Any break in the skin allows bacteria and viruses to come in and cause a local infection. Doctors are drilled with need for sterility for all procedures even before they graduate. Beauticians and other non-medical injectors are not trained towards sterility. How sure are you that the needle they use has not been used before, how sure are you that their swabs are not expired? What about communicable diseases? How healthy is your injector? You have no idea about their own medical background. Furthermore, if a doctor's procedure gets infected, the doctor can treat and prescribe antibiotics, what can your beautician do besides ask you to seek help from a doctor?

5. Beauticians charge cheaper? On contrary, you may be paying so much more for what they are worth. Most beauticians will charge 5-10 fold of their cost price, whilst most doctors would charge base on the market price for a certain product and their experience. I had one patient who went to a beautician for a nose filler and was charged RM 15K. Luckily she only paid half, but with the amount of money, I told her she could have gotten a proper rhinoplasty done. She was unhappy with the filler work which made her nose look so big that she was depressed. Then she had to spend another RM 6K to remove it from a surgeon and a few more $$ for a proper rhinoplasty. Altogether, she spent almost RM 50K for something that she could have saved if she had consulted a proper doctor to begin with.

The medical aesthetic industry is a very lucrative industry which most Malaysians are starting to realise nowadays. Hence many people will try to grab the opportunity to be in this industry. Its not a bad thing, but personally I feel that you should only sell a skill that you possess and able to handle inclusive of the consultation and complications. Although the government has imposed certain regulations on Medical Aesthetics and Beauticians, however, enforcement in Malaysia is very poor. Because of this, as a consumer, it is your own responsibility to make an informed educated decision when deciding on any procedure. Remember, all medical aesthetic procedures are elective - take your time to do your own research and sleep on it before deciding. If you are not comfortable with the injector, just walk away. Its your face anyway. Hesitation is better than regret.

Happy New Year Peeps!! Look out for more interesting blog entries for this year.

For more information or to contact us directly please call the clinic at 03-21440080 / 014-2233268 or email to us at faceworksclinic@gmail.com. 

Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year Peeps... it's 2013 already. And this year my life has turned a serious 180 degrees from a super party queen to more of a soccer mum. Oh well, hence the late entry for the year. Yes, handling 2 school going children is a pretty major task and takes up a lot of my play time.

Still, this year Faceworks Clinic has a new direction and there are a lot of new things in stored for all our lovely patients and fans. It is also entering the 5th year of me holding the helm of this clinic, so we will definitely be having a big anniversary event at year end to celebrate this wonderful achievement. 

For the time being, let me give you a brief of all the new products we have decided to bring into the clinic.

This is just a brief review of what we will be carrying this year, the full review will be written up later:

1. Neostrata Skin Active Range

This range came out early last year and I have to say, it is one of my favourite. (Especially the cleanser). Its designed for more mature skin, to help exfoliate dead skin as well as rehydrate the epidermis. The eye cream helps reduces fine wrinkles around the eyes. However, for best results, you will need to continously use this product diligently and studies shown 87% improvement after 3 months. The price for a whole set is : RM 840/= which is affordable if you are comparing with high end cosmetic brands like Lancome, Shisheido and SKII.

2. Neostrata Enlighten Range

This is a new range just launched end of last year. I've been trying this out and I find that it helps to lighten out my PIH (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation) post acne in a span of 2 weeks. I was a bit sensitive to the pigment controller since it has retinol in it but otherwise, it is a good set for peiople who wants a brighter face and have pigmentation scar issues like me. The whole set costs only RM 475 and can last you up to a month and a half. 

3. Dermaceutic Home Care Range

Dermaceutic is a new range from UK which came about during early last year. The trend of physicians in Europe going away from lasers and concentrating more on peels have led to this. It has a variety range of peels but unfortunately in Malaysia, we are only allowed until the Spot Peel. Neverless, it does have a very good home care range which is more versatile to be used together or combined with other things. Each product is pretty affordable with prices starting from RM 150 onwards for a bottle that can last approximately 1-2 months. My personal favourite in this range is the turnover cream which I use at night before my serums if I feel my skin is not up to par. Love the silky feeling and evening out of skin tone in the morning.A must have for busy people like me.

4. Heliocare Sunblock Oral and Compact Powder

I admit. I am crazy about sunblock. The SPF 50 gel is my all time favourite but now I am also bringing in the compact and the oral sunblock (although actually it has been around for years). The compact is a cool kit for ladies since it has 2 tones, a fair and skin tone. So instead of carrying your compact powder around you can use this oil-free compact to touch up as well as get the sun protection you need. The oral sunblock is also a cool thing to have especially if you are planning on outdoor training or beach holidays. I was consuming this when I went to Legoland recently. It helps to reduce risk for sunburn and redness although it does not replace topical sunblock. The compact is selling at RM 120/= each and the oral sunblock is RM 180 per bottle of 60 tablets.

5. Instant Demake - Make-Up remover & Instant Calm Spray.

These are two new products that can come in handy. I love this make up remover because its really clean despite no water. I use it before doing fillers on patients hence reduces washing face time by half. Also if I partied hard the night before and have some left over mascara, it helps take them off. It comes in a big bottle of 250mls which is more than enough to last months. The instant calm spray is another cool item that helps to reduce redness almost instantly. I use this after extractions or procedures which causes redness. I've even used this to soothe skin irritation. It is made of natural products that you can actually drink it. The make up remover is going for RM 108/= 1 bottle and the instant calm is priced at RM 99/= each.

6. Phiderma Cerum, Retinol and Linurase

This is another range of products that I love. Cerum is vitamin C serum in small ampules. Each tub has 50 ampules which is for 50 applications. This eliminates spills, hassle of having to keep in the fridge, oxidation issues and it is very hygiene and easy to bring on travels. The revitalizing retinol complex is an alternative to people using retin-A creams. It is a lot softer but penetrates deep and helps control acne and other skin problems. Linurase contains alpha hexapeptide-8 that acts on the same area as botulinum toxin A to help reduce wrinkles. Single application lasts between 6-8 hours but daily usage continuously for 2 weeks or more shows significant reduction in line appearance. It is a good adjuct to people who have had botox/BonTA done to make the effects last longer or for those not keen for injecting the toxin into the body. The prices are RM300 for Cerum, RM 320 for Linurase, and RM 350 for Revitalizing Retinol Complex.

7. SRS Home care range

SRS is known for its mesotherapy range. However, it also has a cool home care range of serums for a lot of needs. I will be launching this range this coming weekend, so will write more on this later.

8. Dermclar Biological Homecare Range & Dermclar Liposome Range.

This is the latest product in the clinic which comes from Spain. Dermclar specializes in transdermal delivery of products which has enabled them to come up with this special range called virtual mesotherapy. Imagine having mesotherapy like results using products without having to endure the pain of multiple needle injections to the skin. At first I thought that they were kidding me, but after trying it myself, I am a believer. It tackles things like eye bags, skin tightness, double chin, cellulite, lifting and also wrinkles. I will be launching this product this weekend, so if you are interested to know more, just drop by the clinic between 2-5pm this Saturday where we will be having a talk and live demo on this product. Lucky draws and more goodies to be won during this event. We are also having a spring sale of product items up to 50% off.

For more info please contact us at faceworksclinic@gmail.com or call 03-21440080 / 014-2233268.

Year End Promotions mot to be missed.......

Once a year opportunity not to be missed. For booking and enquiries please contact the clinic at 03-21440080.