Abstract
Anxiety is an under recognized and major obstacle among patients seeking cosmetic
procedures. The ability to alleviate it may be essential for achieving high patient
satisfaction and better outcomes. Key initiators leading to anxiety include the fear
of appearing unnatural and the fear of pain. Pain perception can be mitigated or augmented
by psychological factors. Based on patient expectations, they may experience diminished
pain perception through the placebo effect or catastrophized pain due to previous
painful experiences. It is also important to recognize the influence of religion,
cultural, ethnic, and gender bias on pain perception. In recent years, the aesthetic
medical community has responded to patient demand for more minimally invasive procedures
with more natural appearing result, resulting in a dramatic increase in the number
of cosmetic procedures performed each year. Achieving pain and anxiety-free aesthetic
medicine will likely result in a pronounced increase in the demand for cosmetic treatments.
Keywords
pain - anxiety - fear - cosmetic medicine - patient satisfaction
