What Should You Tell Your Practitioner Before an Aesthetic Procedure?

An assessment can only work with what it is given. The practitioner examining you can see your skin; they cannot see what was injected into it in another country four years ago, what you take every morning, or what you are actually hoping will change. All of that arrives only if you say it.

This guide lists the categories worth volunteering. It is not a form to complete and it is not medical advice — nothing here tells you to start, stop or change anything you take, and any question of that kind belongs to the person who prescribed it. What it does is make sure nothing important is left in your head on the day.

The consultation is only as good as what you bring

You will be asked questions, but a good history is not purely a matter of answering them. Some of the most useful information comes from things people mention in passing, and a great deal of it never gets mentioned at all because it does not feel relevant.

The simplest fix is to write it out the night before on your phone. Five minutes of thinking in a hotel room produces a far better history than five minutes of recall in a consulting room, where you are slightly nervous, possibly in a second language, and aware of a waiting room outside. If you cannot decide whether something is relevant, include it. Sorting relevant from irrelevant is the clinician's job, and they can do it in seconds with information they have; they can do nothing at all with information they do not.

Previous treatments, including the ones you would rather not mention

This is the category most often left incomplete, and the one that most often matters. Anything ever placed into or done to the area being treated is relevant — injectables, threads, devices, peels, surgery — regardless of which country it happened in, how long ago, or whether you were happy with it.

Medicines, supplements and anything that affects bruising

Say everything you take, not just prescriptions. The list should include regular medicines, anything taken occasionally, contraceptives, herbal remedies, vitamins and supplements, and anything bought over a pharmacy counter since you arrived.

• Everything prescribed to you, including anything started or changed recently.
• Anything affecting bleeding or clotting, which your prescriber will have told you about.
• Herbal products, vitamins and supplements, including ones marketed for skin or hair.
• Painkillers or anti-inflammatories taken in the last few days.
• Anything applied to the skin in the treatment area, prescribed or not.

Photograph the packaging rather than trying to recall names — brand names differ between countries while the active ingredient on the box does not. And to be explicit: do not stop or adjust anything on your own initiative before a procedure. If something needs changing, that decision belongs to the prescriber, not to you and not to an article.

Your health, and how you are right now

Alongside the long-term picture, the practitioner needs the current one. Ongoing conditions, allergies and what the reaction actually was, any autoimmune or bleeding condition, pregnancy or the possibility of it, and whether you are breastfeeding.

Then the recent layer, which travellers frequently skip because it feels like holiday detail rather than medical detail: an illness or fever in the last days, a recent procedure of any kind including dental work, a course of treatment you are part-way through, a lot of sun earlier in the trip, or anything currently going on with the skin in the area — a rash, a sore, an infection, a cut that has not healed. You are not judging whether these matter. You are reporting them so that someone qualified can.

What you actually want, said plainly

Expectations are part of the history, not a separate conversation. Describe what bothers you in your own words and, more usefully, what you are hoping will be different afterwards. If there is an occasion behind the request, say what it is and when.

This is also the moment to mention anything you are worried about: looking obviously treated, looking like a different person, or being unable to hide a visible recovery from colleagues on a video call next week. A practitioner who knows what you are afraid of can address it or tell you honestly that your expectation and the likely result do not match — which is a far better outcome than discovering it afterwards. Vague requests produce vague results, and "make me look better" is not something anyone can act on responsibly.

Before you leave, and afterwards

Ask for the aftercare instructions in writing and for a record of what was done. Keep both with your travel documents rather than in a hotel drawer, and photograph them. If you ever need medical attention connected to the treatment, that record is the first thing anyone will ask for.

For anything unexpected afterwards, contact the treating team first, because they know what they did. Seek urgent medical care instead, on 112 in Türkiye, if the situation looks serious: breathing or swallowing difficulty, swelling of the face or throat, vision changes, severe or increasing pain, high fever, or an area that is deteriorating rapidly.

Related Services

• Medical Aesthetics — the service page covering scope and coordination; suitability is decided after assessment.
• Post-Surgery Aftercare — support during a recovery period after a procedure.
• Hotel Doctor in Istanbul — an independent in-person assessment where you are staying, for something outside the treating clinic's scope.