FAQs about our skincare and laser clinic and treatments

We accept cash, debit, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Apple Pay, WeChat Pay and Union Pay in our clinic. On our online store, we accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express only.

We have financing options and package rate deals available. We have a page dedicated to FAQs about this topic, here.

For financing, we refer patients to PayBright, which you can apply for here. This program is run separately from our clinic, by a private loan company.

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Most of our services are not covered by MSP, PharmaCare nor private insurance plans. They are considered cosmetic, elective treatment options. If you are aiming to treat a medical condition with coverage options, such as severe acne, we encourage you to speak with your family doctor or dermatologist.

We don’t know of any private insurance companies who will cover the cost of our treatments, except in the case of Botox® for diagnosed hyperhidrosis or migraine pain. Some extended health insurance providers will cover the cost of the Botox® prescription itself, but not the service fee. We can help you get the right paperwork to send to your insurance provider for these claims.

For all our other treatments, we encourage you to ask your insurance provider, just in case they will provide coverage.

When our doctor’s time is used to consult with patients for these elective beauty treatments, that time is also considered billable to the patient, much like a dentist or chiropractor. However, in the case of consultations, the fee for that time is credited towards services booked at our clinic within 30 days.

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Most of the conditions we treat are based on the person we are treating. The size of the area, and the scope of the condition can change the type of treatment, or how much of a certain treatment is needed.

The only way for us to give you an accurate estimate for the condition you want to treat, is to see you in person.

We may publish general, ballpark costs on our website, which you can read about on the page of the service you are interested in.

Prices are subject to change at any time.

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The answer to this depends a lot on the specifics surrounding the offer, and the service in question.

In general, written quotes from clinics of our calibre, for the exact same technologies and protocols, can be price matched with us.

However, we reserve the right to refuse a price match request at our discretion.

We can not price match based on ‘word of mouth’ rates. And, we can not price match against clinics that heavily undercut industry standard rates. These types of deals are usually questionable, in our opinion. For example, we’ve seen ‘sales’ or ‘cheap’ pricing on Botox®, only to find it is actually being diluted for that price, which won’t give the effect a patient is looking for. This is a scam, in our opinion. Other clinics may be getting you in the door on an exceptional deal, but then may limit the extent of that deal’s eligibility somehow.

We are very aware of what it costs to operate the technology available at our clinic, and extremely low price points can be suspicious.

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Based on Vancouver-area standards, our regular rates are very fair, if not low, for the technology, safety and staff training we offer. We also offer package rates, since most of our treatments require more than one session to be effective, anyway.

You can read more about what sets us apart, here.

You can also read about the longstanding reputation, history and experience of our clinic director, Dr. Shah, here.

We know there can be service providers offering prices lower (and higher) than ours. We are certainly very aware of what it actually costs to provide a high-quality, safe service such as ours, however. So, when we see extremely low prices out there, we do wonder about the validity of those rates, and what the ‘catch’ is.

We are also aware that some clinics put a very high price tag on their services, and then offer a steep discount, to bring their rates down to ‘normal’ levels. We think this is somewhat deceptive, and we don’t do this at our clinic. We simply price based on what makes reasonable sense. And occasionally, we offer ‘real’ discounts and sales (especially to newsletter subscribers, so sign up for that if you haven’t already!).

We have seen some people make claims online about our prices which are simply not true. Those false claims can make us seem more expensive. In those cases, we feel the writer may not have taken the time to fully understand our pricing model.

Or, the writer may not have been aware of the quality and reputation we offer to go along with our services. Our technologies require a lot more skill than, ‘turn it on and press the buttons.’ They take a lot of training to understand and administer, for your safety.

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Our services are medical-grade treatments that can depend on how your own body reacts to them. They do come with many studies to back their claims. And, we have seen success with them on our own patients, surely. However, we can not say they will work to the same degree on one person, versus the next. That is impossible to do.

For that reason, our services can’t be guaranteed. Literally, they can’t be. It’s not that we don’t want to; it’s that we’d be lying if we said anything we offer will, surely, 100% work on you.

That said, we are fairly confident that in most cases, our recommendations, along with our internal protocols, have real potential to satisfy patients.

This is another reason we ask to see patients before treatments, for an initial consultation. This consultation is an opportunity for us to be honest with you about what we think will work, and what we think won’t, for your case in particular. We use our relative years of experience, and discretionary judgement, to come up with these recommendations.

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Firstly, it may help to know that the skin care products we sell at our clinic are not average drug store, or even department store brands. In Canada at least, they are only sold at doctor’s offices and skin care clinics like ours. They are backed by multiple, published studies to prove their effectiveness. They are headed up by pharmaceutical directors, and are medical-grade products. This is why we call them “cosmoceuticals.”

So, their pricing is really fair, and reasonable, considering what you’d get in exchange.

You can read more about our products, and purchase them, here.

The reason we ask our patients to use these skin care lines is because they can increase the effectiveness of the treatments we would perform. They can prepare the skin, and heal the skin, before and after treatments. And sometimes, they are enough to do the job without getting into expensive laser treatments, which can come with more downtime, too.

Lasers are wonderful, when they’re needed. But, we are a medical-based beauty clinic. We won’t rush to use these tools as ‘toys’ on you, just because they’re exciting, or profitable. Even if other providers have used these lasers on you before, we will still do our due diligence, and take precautions, first.

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Generally speaking, most of our treatments require that a patient be of legal age.

There are some cases where our service offerings are relatively harmless, and can be performed on a teenager. For example, our HydraFacial™ and microdermabrasion treatments could be considered milder ways to exfoliate the skin, much like a facial at a spa.

When it comes to major treatments, we will certainly ask for parental consent, first. We also will proceed with great caution. The main reason we would work on a teenaged patient is for acne and acne scars. This would be a very legitimate scenario to use our treatment technologies. Other cases may lean towards to body dysmorphia, which we would be wary of, and ask for more details about.

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Most of our ‘major’ treatment offerings should not be used on those who are pregnant.

However, if you are pregnant and looking for a ‘beauty fix me up,’ we may still have something suitable for you. For example, our HydraFacial™ and microdermabrasion treatments are generally harmless, and only work on the topmost layer of skin.

If you are experiencing skin pigmentation or other symptoms of pregnancy that you would like treated, we encourage you to get in touch for a consultation. We’ll need to learn more about your case, and take a closer look, before making a recommendation one way or another.

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If you have a pacemaker, you will not be eligible for any of our radio-frequency based treatments.

For most conditions you’d like to treat, we will likely have something suitable for you that would still be safe to use with a pacemaker. Please let us know about your pacemaker or any major health conditions while booking your initial consultation with us.

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We completely understand if you are uncomfortable being treated by male or female beauticians. Most of our staff are women. However, our lead doctor is a male. He is the only one who is able to do some treatments, namely injections of any kind. Sometimes we have other doctors who can do treatments in his place, and they may be female (please ask in advance of your appointment).

If you are uncomfortable having our male doctor do treatments on you, know that most of the time, he is accompanied by a female beautician – even for minor, quick treatments.

For treatments involving sensitive body areas, it is usually only when an issue occurs that a male doctor will need to take a look. This is for your safety. For example, if you are undergoing laser hair removal on the pubic area, these treatments will likely only be performed by a woman, unless any side effects occur, which will require a doctor’s expertise. This is rare, however.

Our treatment rooms have walls and doors, which remain closed for your privacy, and for laser safety.

If you need a door to remain opened for non-laser treatments, or a female or male in the room with you during sessions, please notify us when booking your consultation. That way, we can do checks on our end to see whether we can accommodate you.

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If you are unhappy at all, we definitely want the chance to make it right. Our clinic CEO is available to hear you out directly. If you write to infobclaser@dermapure.com, your message will be heard. We’ll reach out to you to try to resolve the issue. Please leave your phone number and the times we can reach you. If by any chance you don’t hear from us, something is not right; please try giving us a call during business hours. Our phone number is 604-580-2464.

If you have experienced any adverse side effects from any treatment, please call us right away. If we are closed, and if you are very concerned, please go to a hospital. We will follow up with you as soon as we get your message or call.

Please know that side effects from our services are very rare. If you are experiencing unusual pain or swelling, or if pigmentation or burn marks remain after treatments, we will work with you as best as we can to resolve the issue, at our clinic. We won’t leave you stranded, but we will ask you to come back in so we can help you, and take a closer look. That’s one of the main benefits of getting treatments done at a doctor-run clinic.