Most of what gets called self-care does not need a clinic. Here is how I tell parents to sort it, and how long the clinic part actually takes.
Illustration: a treatment room in the style of the practice’s West Knoxville offices. A short visit means a short visit.
I am a registered nurse in Knoxville, and I spent most of my career in the emergency department before I transitioned to medical aesthetics. The parents I see now have one thing in common with the ones I saw then: nobody has a spare hour. So when someone tells me they “should really do something for themselves,” my first question is not what. It is where it fits.
Almost everything people mean by skin care and self-care lands in one of three: things that stay at home, things that are a short visit, and things that are an ongoing program. Prioritizing them first is what makes the rest fit.
What stays at home
This is the biggest bucket, and it is not always the cheapest. Medical-grade skincare is still an investment, and it is the foundation of a healthy skin barrier. It is the most important part, even if it is not the cheapest. A good cleanser, a vitamin C serum with SPF in the morning, and retinol at night are the three core products every patient should be using. That is two minutes at the sink, twice a day…