If you are a new injector, perhaps just fresh from completing an aesthetic training course, you may be able to relate to the fear of injecting. Many, if not all new aesthetic injectors experience this fear in varying degrees when faced with the prospects of injecting their first clients. 

Fear is quite normal and a natural reaction when we face new challenges. However, the good news is that if you feel this way, it is often a sign that you are leaving your comfort zone.  In  fact, a certain level of fear, if properly channelled, can serve as  useful tool in your aesthetics practice. It may be helpful to remember that although it feels quite real to you, fear is actually not real. 

Granted, you may not effectively dismiss your fears just by telling yourself to quit being anxious— that usually does not work. What does then?

Whether you’re anxious about performing a specific aesthetic procedure you feel you have not mastered or you are just generally feeling the first time jitters, these tips below may be beneficial to keep in mind: 

Leave enough time for patient interaction 

It is important that you give yourself sufficient time to understand your patients’ desires and needs during the consultation as well as treatment. Ensure that you do not skip any relevant aspects of the process and remain calm and confident as you do so, after all you have already proven your competence and your license is proof!

Go with your gut feeling

If your instincts tell you to hold off on a treatment, even when there are no outright contra-indications, it may be best to pay heed to your years of medical practice and experience. You can decide to perform the treatment on another day, just to buy yourself the time you need to review your decision. It is a valuable skill to know when to opt out of carrying out a treatment – indeed, one which needs to be mastered by all new aesthetic practitioners.

Ensure your emergency kit is readily available before commencing treatment

It is helpful to have your hard copy emergency protocols handy in case you need them. This may help to boost your confidence even if you eventually don’t use them.

Take the time to reflect

Taking time to reflect on your practice on a regular basis is crucial. If at any point of patient consultation or management, you don’t feel at ease, you can pause and reflect on the situation. Your reflection may give you a clue as to why you feel uneasy about that aspect of management. A core component of reflection is taking actionable steps to improve on any identified weak areas such as further learning or training to consolidate your knowledge of that particular area. Our delegates can benefit from ongoing mentorship to achieve this. Alternatively, refresher training courses or masterclasses may help you to shine more light on particular areas that need improvement.

Practice makes perfect

One may never achieve perfection in medical practice and perhaps, one does not need to. However, having sufficient practice can go a long way in boosting your confidence as an aesthetic injector. Ideally, much of this practice should be under supervised expert guidance, to maximise the benefits and also limit your chances of having complications, which would obviously negatively impact on your confidence. 

Fear is not altogether bad 

A certain degree of fear is normal and even beneficial. As a medical practitioner, you should probably not lose this fear completely, lest you run the risk of becoming overly confident to the point of losing caution. Having fear often means that you take necessary precautionary steps to ensure your patients’ safety. It will help you stay calm and controlled as you work and even when dreaded complications do arise, you will be better equipped to handle them effectively. 

The fear should not overwhelm you

Yes, fear is natural and indeed useful, however, this is only when you are in control of it enough to use it positively. Keep in mind that there is a reason you chose to practice in aesthetics and the positive impact you can have on the lives of people who need your services. If you let yourself be crippled by fear, you may never get to practice fully and so miss out on the many opportunities to make a mark.

Derma Institute takes serious steps during all our training courses to ensure that our delegates have developed confidence in safe practice. Hopefully, you have been helped by reading this and are better able to not only keep your fear of injecting in check, but also use it positively to help your patients.  

Feel free to contact us if you would like to enquire further on how you can become an expert, safe injector and we will be more than happy to respond to you.