Martina Paulíková on current trends in aesthetic medicine in the Shine podcast

Martina Paulíková has been in the industry for 15 years. For the most part, she has been working in the management of plastic surgery and aesthetic medicine clinics and for the last few years she has been managing the Medicom Clinic in Prague and Ústí nad Labem. Recently, she accepted an invitation to participate in Lenka Schánová's new podcast Shine, which focuses on beautification, anti-aging and external care. You can listen to what topics the ladies discussed together on Spotify.

How have client preferences and behaviours changed?

Plastic surgery and aesthetic dermatology procedures in particular have ceased to be taboo. Procedures have become part of the routine of taking care of yourself and your body. The prevailing trend is naturalness. The goal is to look and feel better, but when the procedure is not noticeable at first glance. With the advent of new techniques and materials, aesthetic medicine is indeed moving forward by leaps and bounds. We are also seeing more interest from men, whether it is aesthetic dermatology or plastic surgery. It can be estimated that today approximately 20% of the clinic's total clientele are men.

Which plastic surgeries are among the most popular?

The most common procedures are liposuction, breast augmentation with implants, eyelid surgery, abdominoplasty or breast modelling. It's interesting how the perception of the ideal of beauty changes with each landscape and these then influence each other. For example, the trend for larger, round buttocks, which is typical of Latin America, is gradually making its way to the Czech Republic. At Medicom Clinic we perform buttock augmentation with implants using a new, safer technique. Another alternative is to augment the buttocks with your own fat without the use of implants.

Is the Czech Republic a country of so-called medical tourism?

Most often people go to Turkey for plastic surgery, but also to Mexico or Thailand, for example. Foreign clients also travel to the Czech Republic for beauty treatments. Especially Austrians or Germans. They are attracted by the high quality of services as well as the reasonable prices. Currently, the interest of foreigners in plastic surgery in the Czech Republic is growing.

Who are the so-called cosmetologists and what to watch out for?

Recently, a number of small medical practices have emerged on the Czech market. Whether it is plastic surgery or the application of fillers or botulinum toxin, only an experienced doctor with the appropriate training can perform them. In the case of an improperly performed procedure, often in combination with poor quality materials, clients are at high risk of complications. Increasingly, in the field of aesthetic medicine, we are encountering cases where the procedure is performed by so-called cosmetologists who do not have the necessary authorisations for such procedures. Therefore, when choosing a clinic, I recommend you to look at the reviews as well as the personal feeling of the doctor and, of course, to check his/her qualifications.