DR LYNN THERON

The multitasking doctor says the way women view cosmetic surgery has shifted.

Views on cosmetic surgery have shifted.

Working as both an emergency department doctor and a cosmetic medicine doctor at Clinic 42, which she co-owns, Dr Lynn Theron’s career certainly makes for interesting dinner party conversation. “When I first started in cosmetic medicine, it was, ‘What is Botox?’ But I rarely admit that – you’ll figure out how old I am! Then it was, ‘You put botulinum toxin in people’s faces?’” Which was often met with a look of shocked horror, she explains. Today, Theron’s most frequently asked question is, ‘You do botox? Do I need it?’. “As you can imagine, diplomacy and flattery sometimes battle with the naked truth. If I say, ‘Of course, desperately! My dear, you needed me years ago!’ They just might take it the wrong way,” Theron says in jest.

For those on the outside looking in, there is undoubtedly a fascinating juxtaposition between the two medical fields – one concerned with saving lives and the other dedicated to helping people look beautiful. But for Theron, the equation is simple. “Emergency medicine is my pulse; cosmetic medicine is my art. I am extremely fortunate to have been part of both pioneering specialties in medicine. I feel incomplete when I don’t do both. They keep me real.”

As for whether there’s any crossover between emergency medicine and cosmetic medicine, Theron says there’s plenty. “For a start, they’re both impacting on lives,” she says. “Listening and truly hearing people is of top and identical importance in both fields, as is managing fears and of course doing the very best for people.” Whether Theron’s at the emergency department for the day or at Clinic 42, she says the need to correctly diagnose a patient and their underlying condition is the same. “At Clinic 42, I am diagnosing the changes wrought by time, or the facial ratios of beauty, and emergency medicine is also about correct diagnosis and treatment,” she explains. “The core principles of the best medicine are the same everywhere.”

While some might assume Theron would take a different approach to her beauty routine depending on where she’s working for the day, she says there’s no difference in her day-to-day regime. “I wear the same make-up and hairstyle – hair tied back – to both facilities; it’s sort of my shield in the medical world,” says Theron. It’s only her clothes that change between the emergency department and Clinic 42. “In COVID times, only the scrub colours change and the embroidery on my chest,” she says. Unsurprisingly, Theron’s emergency department patients are unconcerned whether she’s wearing make-up or not. “When you are very unwell, you don’t notice the way a person in scrubs looks,” says Theron. “You notice only their calm, kind, tireless caring ways, which are reflected in all members of the ED team.”

When it comes to the clients she sees at Clinic 42, and their approach to appearance and beauty, Theron says one thing is for certain: Kiwi women are an empowered group. “If they want to prevent the ravages of age or not, or subtly change the way they look – it’s really a very personal decision which they are happy to make with confidence and then ‘rock it’,” she explains. While the attitude towards cosmetic medicine has shifted over the years, it’s really ‘demographic dependent’, says Theron. “The more mature clients remain discreet and want to have subtle changes and remain looking much the same,” she explains. “They often don’t tell anyone, even their closest friends, but it gets harder to conceal as the decades move on due to the disparity between them and their friends. Now many of their friends are finding their way to us.” With the younger generation, however, social media has had a huge impact on the beauty world and cosmetic medicine is no exception. “The younger generation consider it an extension of make-up. They are happy to tell everyone, including the world, all the things they have done and post the ‘before and after’ shots in as many places as they can.”