“In the past you had to buy a machine for one treatment, but now we have one machine with all of these different headsets that can treat different conditions,” said Dr. Belinda Bester, a physician, who is trained in aesthetic medicine.
“Aesthetic medicine is a new field in medicine and it’s constantly developing and I think it’s also becoming more and more popular and accepted by patients. There’s definitely an interest in Jasper,” she said, noting that aside from hair removal, the other procedures must be overseen by a doctor.
“You’re not allowed to do any of these treatments at a spa. You can do hair removal at a spa, but none [of the others].”
To be treated with the laser, a patient first visits with Hannelie Swanepoel, the manager of Jasper Laser and Skin Care. With her, the patient will go through a consultation, including what to do before and after the procedure. Then the patient is seen by one of the three doctors at the Cottage Medical Clinic who has been trained in aesthetic medicine—Bester, Stephen Slack or Braum Swanepoel. The doctor then determines the patient’s skin type and sends them back to Hannelie Swanepoel for treatment.
“I think what is good for a patient that wants to have the treatment,” said Swanepoel, “is they’ll feel more confident going to their own physician who has all their records and knows their allergies. They know everything about you, not like if you go to the city to a spa or another medical facility offering this. There you don’t have that personal contact with your own doctor.”
The Cottage Medical Clinic has been offering aesthetic medicine, in the form of chemical peels and Botox, since 2010.
“We never advertised,” said Bester, “we just did it purely because we had an interest and then we got really busy and decided we wanted to offer the whole package. To do that, we needed laser machines, so that’s why we decided to get one.”
The machine arrived in Jasper in mid-April and since then, three doctors and two technicians have completed the necessary training to operate the machine. The first procedures done with the laser began late last month.
