Some things people bring to a med spa need a doctor rather than a treatment room. Some things people bring to a med spa are not aesthetic problems and need a doctor rather than a treatment room. See a physician or a dermatologist, not us, if you have a mole or a mark that has changed shape, colour or size, or that bleeds, itches or will not heal; a sore anywhere that has been there more than three weeks; a rash you cannot explain; a patch of skin that is newly numb, hard or ulcerated; sudden hair loss in patches, or hair loss alongside fatigue or weight change; or swelling, heat and spreading redness that could be an infection. And if you have had filler treatment anywhere and the area becomes white or mottled, severely painful, or your vision changes, that is an emergency — telephone us immediately if we treated you, and go to an emergency room if you cannot reach somebody within minutes. We would far rather you rang a doctor and never rang us at all.
Weight is not a matter of willpower and it is not simple. It is influenced by hormones, sleep, medication, psychiatric health, thyroid function, insulin resistance, genetics and circumstance, and any programme that does not begin by looking at those is selling a shortcut rather than providing care. Ours begins with a long appointment, a proper history, an examination and blood work, and the first review is at four weeks.
Prescription medicines for weight have changed this field genuinely and substantially, and they are the reason clinics like this one now advertise weight loss at all. We will discuss them with you if they are appropriate, prescribed and monitored by our medical director. What we will not do is name one on this website, put one in an advertisement, or price a programme as though the medicine were the thing you are buying — because prescription-only medicines should not be advertised to patients, because it turns a clinical decision into a purchase, and because the medicine works considerably better inside a programme than as a monthly delivery.
The honest part that most marketing omits: weight regain after stopping is common and substantial, and any medication is something you should expect to think of as long-term rather than as a course. That changes the decision, so it is discussed at the first appointment rather than at the point somebody wants to stop. It is also why the nutrition, the muscle-preserving exercise and the review appointments are not optional extras here — they are what determines whether anything you achieve survives.
What the programme actually is
Four components. The medication, if any, is one of them rather than the thing itself.
A long first appointment and blood work
History, medication review, examination, and blood work including thyroid function, blood sugar, liver function and lipids. Weight gain sometimes has a specific medical cause or a medication behind it, and finding that changes everything about what should happen next.
Nutrition that you can actually keep to
Built around what you eat now rather than around a plan somebody prints. Protein sufficient to protect muscle, structure rather than restriction, and an honest conversation about the fact that most prescriptive diets fail because nobody can sustain them, not because the person was weak.
Resistance exercise, which is not optional
Rapid weight loss costs muscle as well as fat, and losing muscle is how somebody ends up lighter, weaker and with a lower metabolic rate than when they started. Resistance training two or three times a week is part of the programme rather than a suggestion, and we will help you find something sustainable.
Medication, where it is appropriate
Prescribed and monitored by our medical director after assessment, with the side effects, the monitoring schedule and the long-term picture discussed properly. Not advertised, not named on this website, not sold as a subscription, and not dispensed to somebody we have not examined.
Who we will not treat
This list is longer than at most clinics offering this, and that is deliberate.
Anybody at a healthy weight who wants to be thinner
This is a medical programme for people whose weight is affecting their health. It is not a cosmetic service, and prescribing a powerful medicine to somebody who does not need it is not something we will do however the request is framed.
Anybody with a current or past eating disorder, without their treating team
We ask about this at the first appointment, carefully, and we will not begin a programme that could interact badly with a history of disordered eating without the involvement of the people already looking after you.
Anybody who wants a prescription and nothing else
A monthly prescription with no assessment, no blood work, no nutritional support and no review is widely available online and it is poor medicine. If that is what you want, we are not the right practice, and we would gently suggest reconsidering.
Anybody pregnant, breastfeeding or planning a pregnancy
Weight medicines are not appropriate in pregnancy and several require a gap before conceiving. This is discussed at the first appointment with anybody who might be affected.
What is honestly known, and what is not
Including the parts that are inconvenient for a clinic to publish.
The medicines work, substantially
Modern prescription treatments produce weight loss of an order that older options did not, and they improve several associated health measures. That is genuinely a change in what medicine can offer and it should not be understated.
Regain after stopping is common
A large share of what is lost returns after stopping, across the following year or so. This is not a failure of the person and it is a central fact about the treatment, which makes it a long-term decision rather than a course. Anybody selling you three months without saying this is not being straight.
Side effects are real and mostly manageable
Nausea, altered appetite, digestive upset and constipation are common early on and usually settle with dose adjustment. Some uncommon effects are serious enough to need monitoring, which is what the review appointments are for. This is why medication should be prescribed by somebody who examines you and follows you.
Muscle loss is the underrated risk
Fast weight loss without adequate protein and resistance training takes a substantial fraction from muscle. That leaves people lighter, weaker and with worse long-term outcomes than the scale suggests. It is the single most neglected part of how this is currently being delivered.
Medical Weight Management in western Queens
A physician-led programme built on assessment, blood work, nutrition and regular review, in which medication is one possible component rather than the product. We do not advertise medicines and we turn people away.
Every treatment here starts the same way: a full hour at a table in a room with no treatment couch in it, a proper medical history, your skin looked at in daylight, and then a plain statement of what we think would achieve what you described. You are told what it costs, how many sessions it usually takes, how long it lasts, what the recovery looks like and what can go wrong — on paper, to take home and read somewhere other than a treatment room. If the honest answer is a different treatment, or nothing, or a dermatologist, that is what you get instead, and it costs exactly the same.
Aesthetic treatment is elective medicine, and this page is not medical advice for you. Aesthetic treatment is elective, it is medicine wherever it breaks the skin, and nothing on this website is medical advice for you in particular. We do not diagnose disease. Every treatment here begins with a consultation and a medical history, because your health, your medication, your skin type and what you have had done before all change what is safe and what is sensible. Some people are told no. Being told no is a normal outcome of a consultation here rather than a failure of one, and it costs exactly the same as being told yes.
No before-and-after photographs, and no promised outcome. There are no before-and-after photographs on this website and there never will be. Every set you have seen somewhere else was chosen from a much larger pile, and the second picture is usually taken in different light, at a different angle, at a different time of day, often with makeup and frequently after retouching. Even an entirely honest pair shows you what happened to somebody else's face. What we publish instead is what a treatment typically changes, by roughly how much, how long it lasts, how many sessions it usually takes and how often people are disappointed. We do not guarantee an outcome, we cannot, and anybody who does is either guessing or selling.
The risks, plainly. Every treatment on this site has side effects and some carry real risks. The common ones are minor and short-lived — redness, swelling, tenderness, bruising, a day or two of looking like you have had something done. The uncommon ones matter more: burns, blistering and long-lasting pigment change from light-based treatment, which is a greater risk on deeper skin tones and on recently tanned skin; infection anywhere the skin is broken; and lumps, asymmetry and, very rarely, a blocked blood vessel from injectable filler, which is the one true emergency in this field. We screen for what makes each of these more likely, we tell you your own risk rather than the average one, and we decline to treat when the answer should be no.
What a med spa does not treat. We treat the appearance of healthy skin, hair and body. We do not diagnose or treat disease. If you bring us a mole, a changing mark, an unexplained rash, a sore that will not heal, skin that has become hard or numb, psoriasis, eczema, an autoimmune skin condition, or hair loss that came on suddenly or in patches, what you will get is the name of a doctor rather than a treatment plan. Aesthetic treatment applied on top of an undiagnosed skin problem can mask it, delay the diagnosis and occasionally make it worse. We would rather lose the booking.
Questions
Medical Weight Management — the questions we are asked most
Which medication do you prescribe?
We will discuss that with you at the appointment if it is appropriate for you, and we do not name prescription medicines on this website or in any advertising. Prescription-only medicines should not be advertised to patients: it turns a clinical decision into a shopping decision, and it encourages people to arrive asking for a product rather than for an assessment. The choice depends on your health, your history and your other medication.
Can I just get a prescription without all the appointments?
Not here. A monthly prescription with no examination, no blood work and no review is available online and it is poor medicine — it misses the causes worth finding, it misses the side effects worth monitoring, and it ignores the muscle loss that determines whether you are actually better off. If that is what you want, we are not the right practice for you.
Will I put the weight back on if I stop?
Commonly, yes, and substantially — most of it across the following year for many people. That is a central fact about this treatment rather than a footnote, and it means starting is a long-term decision. It is one of the first things discussed at the first appointment, not something you find out when you want to stop.
Do you treat people who just want to lose ten pounds?
No. This is a medical programme for people whose weight is affecting their health, and prescribing a powerful medicine to somebody at a healthy weight is not something we will do. It is a request we receive often and decline every time.
What if my weight is caused by something medical?
Then finding that is the most valuable thing the first appointment does. Thyroid disease, insulin resistance, several common medications and some hormonal conditions all affect weight, and treating the cause is better medicine than treating the number. That is why blood work comes first.
Is the exercise part really necessary?
Yes, and it is the part most often left out. Rapid weight loss takes muscle as well as fat, and losing muscle leaves people weaker with a lower metabolic rate — lighter on the scale and worse off. Resistance training two or three times a week and adequate protein is what protects against that. We will help you find something you will actually keep doing.
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Book a consultation
Pick a clinician and an hour from the calendar — it shows only the times each of them genuinely has free. A consultation is a full hour at a table with no treatment couch in the room, and it costs $85, or $120 with the medical director. If you go ahead, that comes off your first treatment. If we tell you the answer is nothing, or a dermatologist, it costs exactly the same.