Medicine that cares for healthy people.
Aesthetic medicine emerged in Paris in 1973 as a new concept of medical discipline. It focuses on preventing ageing and on the balance of body and mind in healthy people.
A new discipline on old foundations
Aesthetic medicine draws on the core knowledge of the medical sciences and on advances in many fields, clinical and humanistic alike:
- general medicine
- surgery
- endocrinology
- internal medicine
- dietetics
- dermatology
- angiology
- orthopaedics
- physical medicine
- anthropology
- philosophy
- pedagogy
- psychology
- sociology
At its centre is not a disease but a healthy person, often troubled by a small imperfection, usually a physical one. With its internal-medicine character, aesthetic medicine is an evolution of internal medicine and one of its most innovative branches.
Preventing ageing
Aesthetic medicine runs prevention programmes for the general ageing of the body and the ageing of the skin, and also corrects imperfections of the face and body.
More broadly, it helps build and restore the physical and psychological balance of healthy people who struggle to accept part of their appearance. This includes guidance on lifestyle, advice and interventions aimed at managing general and skin ageing.
Health as well-being
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.Constitution of the World Health Organization, 1946
Beyond its contribution to the multidisciplinary treatment of physical defects and the aesthetic and psychological consequences of disease, aesthetic medicine works to achieve and maintain health in exactly this sense.
People who see a doctor of aesthetic medicine today are not only looking to correct one imperfection. They are looking for a better way to live. The aim is to preserve optimal physical and mental health over the years, and to keep good health from turning into illness.
The umbrella organisation of the national associations is the International Union of Aesthetic Medicine (UIME), founded in Paris in 1978. A year earlier, the multidisciplinary journal The Esthetic Medicine Magazine was launched.
The principles of aesthetic medicine
Aesthetic medicine sees the person as a whole. We are healthy when we feel well physically and mentally, when we are at ease in the places where we live and work, and when we are in harmony with our stage of life. Prevention is what leads to that balance and keeps it.
A doctor of aesthetic medicine teaches patients to understand and accept the physical traits they have inherited, and to look after them across five areas of healthy living:
Nutrition
A balanced diet as the basis of metabolic health.
Physical activity
Movement and exercise suited to age and ability.
Mental well-being
Attention to stress, rest and emotional balance.
Behaviour
Habits that protect health, from sleep to sun exposure.
Skin care
Cleansing, hydration and sun protection, done properly.
The goal is to help people protect their health, keep their balance and live contentedly at any age. When they notice something about themselves they dislike, they do not lose their self-esteem: they work on it together with their doctor.
What does a consultation with a doctor of aesthetic medicine involve?
The consultation