Medically reviewed by Dr Sin Yong · Last reviewed · 4 min read
Published 9 October 2026 · By Dr Sin Yong · All articles by Dr Sin Yong
People often ask, before they have been seen, which treatment is best for them. This article explains why Dr Sin Yong does not answer that question by message, what the examination changes, and why the rule protects you more than it inconveniences you.
"Hi doctor, what is the best treatment for sagging?" It arrives by WhatsApp several times a week, often with a photograph taken from above in bathroom light. It is a reasonable question, and the honest answer is that nobody can say from a message, and a clinic that does say is selling rather than assessing.
Sagging, to take that example, can be tissue that has descended, volume that has gone from the cheek above, a jowl fat pad that was always there, or skin that has lost its quality. Each of those answers to a different treatment, and the wrong one adds weight, hollowing or expense without touching the cause. The concern-to-cause guide sets out how often the same complaint splits this way.
“Naming a treatment before the examination is choosing the device before the diagnosis.”
Dr Sin YongOn assessment before device
Three things are decided in the room that cannot be decided from a message. First, which layer is responsible: skin, fat, ligament support, muscle or bone, each of which is examined differently and some of which only show in movement. Second, what is already there: filler placed years ago is still present far more often than people expect, and adding to an unknown amount of product is how faces become overfilled; where the position is uncertain, ultrasound settles it. Third, whether treatment is the right answer at all.
That third point matters more than it sounds. A systematic review estimated body dysmorphic disorder at 1.9% of adults in the community but 9.2% of cosmetic dermatology outpatients and 13.2% of people in general cosmetic surgery settings (Veale et al., 2016). Where distress is out of proportion to what the examination shows, more treatment is not the answer, and a doctor who has promised a treatment in advance has already lost the room to say so.
The Singapore Medical Council's Guidelines on Aesthetic Practices for Doctors expect a proper assessment, informed consent and a treatment chosen for the patient rather than offered as a product. Naming a treatment in advance, or accepting a booking for a specific procedure without an examination, works against all three. It is also why fees are given in writing after the consultation rather than quoted in a message.
Send a short note on your concern; it helps set the right appointment length. At the visit you will be examined at rest and in movement, asked about previous treatments and medicines, and told which layer is driving what you see. You will hear the options with their limits, including no treatment, and you will leave with a written plan and no expectation of deciding that day. If you have already had treatment elsewhere, the same applies, and a second opinion is simply an assessment with more history to take.
The consultation process page describes the visit step by step, and the clinic standards page lists what you can ask to see.
Because the same complaint has different causes, and a recommendation without an examination is a guess. A short note on your concern is welcome and helps set the right appointment; the plan itself is made after the consultation.
Yes. Bring it to the consultation. If it fits the cause, it will be discussed as one of the options with its limits; if it does not, you will be told why and what fits instead.
Every treatment at the clinic follows an assessment, including for patients who have had the same treatment elsewhere. That is both the Singapore Medical Council's expectation and the way to avoid treating the wrong cause.
1. Singapore Medical Council. Guidelines on Aesthetic Practices for Doctors (2016 Edition). source
2. Veale D, Gledhill LJ, Christodoulou P, Hodsoll J. Body dysmorphic disorder in different settings: a systematic review and estimated weighted prevalence. Body Image 2016;18:168-86. source
3. Lim T. Facial Overfilled Syndrome. Dermatol Clin 2024;42(1):121-128. source
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