Improving Not Only the Skin and Facial Contour of Patients, but also Their Psychological Aspect: Dr. Katie Clinic Treats the Whole Patient

“Patients of Dr. Katie Clinic come from multiple professional, cultural, and international ethnic backgrounds, including celebrities.”

There has been rapid development in aesthetic medicine recently, both in pharmacology and medical devices fields. For example, in the past decade, a single laser facial session can cause prolonged downtime to as long as a week, with diffuse squared patches of redness and swelling. However, with big leaps in technological advancement, it has become a daytime, or even lunchtime office procedure, with post-treatment adverse reactions reduced to a minimal, which means no effects to activities of daily living. Another 20th century artificial intelligence-based breakthrough in medicine is the birth of robotic-assisted surgery and its applications. Automated systems and algorithms allow more precision, miniaturization, and smaller incisions.

In light of the foregoing, we’re pleased to present Dr. Katie Clinic — provides aesthetic medicine service in Hong Kong. Dr. Katie Lau founded the clinic in 2017.

Dr. Lau graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 2006 and finished three years of basic surgical training in 2011. After that, she moved on to private practice and gained more than 10 years of experience in aesthetic medicine.

Besides being a doctor, she was also a professional athlete. She started training for competitive swimming at the age of eight and was the silver medalist for the 4 x 100 meters Freestyle Relay of the Asian Games in Hiroshima, 1994. In addition, she was the Hong Kong Record Holder of 100 meters Butterfly for nine years since 1994 and attained World Ranking number 16 that year too, the first Hong Kong female swimmer to have achieved such a world ranking title. 

To keep up with the beat of this fast-growing world and the latest protocol updates, continuous medical education is extremely vital for both Dr. Lau and her team. Whenever she delivers seminars or trainings to counterparts locally and overseas, she shares notes with her staff to discuss the relevant topics. And, whenever the clinic acquires new devices or treatment techniques, she holds meetings with her team to summarize and modify operations and pass all related skills and knowledge to them. Thus, clinic standards and services remain optimal.

Notably, Dr. Katie Lau is doing everything to ensure patient comfort, complete procedure safety with excellent clinical results. First of all, a holistic approach is adopted. Every patient is assessed as an individual, then step-wise treatment plans are tailor-made according to their real specific needs, hoping to improve not only their skin and facial contour but also their psychological aspect and person as a whole. It is not uncommon that many encourage patients to join some standard packages instead. Thus doctor-patient relationships will mostly be limited to operational interactions and solving superficial problems only. 

Also, teamwork is the main focus and internal culture of Dr. Katie Clinic. That said, a satisfactory work environment brings smiles on the faces of staff members who, in turn, help patients with an extra passionate heart.

Patients of Dr. Katie Clinic come from multiple professional, cultural, and international ethnic backgrounds, including celebrities. For example, a Hong Kong-based celebrity once complained about her tired and saggy look. Apparently, she had found it hard to face cameras. Unlike real-life perspectives, any imperfections will almost be entirely enlarged on the screen; therefore, celebrities need to be managed on another dimension, in great detail to the extent of near “perfection” to achieve “the ideal photogenic effect.” Dr. Katie Clinic is laser-focused on such scenarios.

With that said, a combination of social media and in-person analysis identified depressed temples and lower face laxity due to muscle over-contraction. To fix such issues, Dr. Katie Lau performed an ultrasonic skin tightening procedure, followed by injection of respective products to fill up both temples and relax the masseter muscles involved in chewing and jaw movements. As a result, the overall golden ratio was restored.

Changing Lives for the Better

To illustrate with a true story, a middle-aged woman came with melasma over bilateral cheeks. She had received some laser treatments for freckles from another beauty center, resulting in more diffuse and darker pigmentations. Manipulation of appropriate laser wavelengths with proper energy levels after full dermatological assessment yields rapid, visible effects. During subsequent follow-ups, the patient gradually revealed that she was actually in the midst of a marriage crisis. However, this “beautification” change on her skin has boosted her confidence to face this personal challenge. Eventually, she introduced Dr. Katie Clinic to many of her friends.

The Pandemic as an Opportunity

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the whole world, and Hong Kong was no exception. Fortunately, the pandemic did not have any negative impact on Dr. Katie Clinic. Instead, the pandemic offered new opportunities for the clinic. The key to survival is, and shall always be, quality. Besides, the important contributors are sportsmanship, attitude, toughness towards striking challenges, goals to meet perfection, these are all invaluable influences, and success characters learnt from being an elite swimmer, as early as in teenage years. But indeed, lots of precautions have had to be strictly observed.

Prior to any clinic visits, no overseas travelling is allowed, without exemptions. Appointments are arranged according to official social distancing protocols and all generic COVID-19 vaccination schedule interval guidelines. Complete patient visit data are also fully documented.

All in all, from the beginning of the establishment of Dr. Katie Clinic, instead of transforming and expanding as a business, Dr. Katie Lau tries to put the majority of focus on professional development. As a doctor, she believes her biggest mission is to help patients tackle medical and personal problems.

“As a doctor, Katie believes her biggest mission is to help patients tackle medical and personal problems.”

“During subsequent follow-ups, the patient gradually revealed that she was actually in the midst of a marriage crisis. However, this “beautification” change on her skin has boosted her confidence to face this personal challenge. Eventually, she introduced Dr. Katie Clinic to many of her friends.”

“Every patient is assessed as an individual, then step-wise treatment plans are tailor-made according to their real specific needs, hoping to improve not only their skin and facial contour but also their psychological aspect and person as a whole.”

“Unlike real-life perspectives, any imperfections will almost be entirely enlarged on the screen; therefore, celebrities need to be managed on another dimension, in great detail to the extent of near “perfection” to achieve “the ideal photogenic effect.” Dr. Katie Clinic is laser-focused on such scenarios.”