Negotiating Beauty in Aesthetic Medicine: A Symbolic Interaction Study of Doctor–Patient Communication in Endolift Procedures

Abstract

The meaning of beauty in medical aesthetics is not determined solely by physical or clinical standards but is continuously constructed through communication, social interaction, and individual interpretation. This study explores how doctor–patient communication and interaction during Endolift procedures at Medikpro Clinic construct the meanings of beauty and anti-aging. Grounded in a constructivist paradigm, the study employed a qualitative approach informed by symbolic interactionism. The study collected data through in-depth interviews, participant and non-participant observations, focus group discussions, and document and literature reviews. Nine informants participated, comprising four aesthetic physicians as key informants and five supporting informants: a beauty consultant, a front-desk staff member, a nurse, and two patients. We analysed data inductively through coding, categorization, theme identification, and triangulation. The findings show that beauty and anti-aging are dynamically negotiated, multidimensional constructs that emerge from interactions among medical expertise, aesthetic expectations, clinical communication, and patients’ subjective, social, and spiritual values. Beauty is primarily understood as holistic harmony involving balanced facial proportions, healthy and youthful skin, and a natural appearance rather than conformity to a standardized facial ideal. Doctor–patient interaction facilitates shared meaning-making by reconciling patients’ expectations with medical possibilities and limitations, while communication with clinic staff shifts patients’ focus from immediate aesthetic results to sustainable skincare. Moreover, patients internalize physical improvements as enhanced self-confidence and social and spiritual well-being. The study extends symbolic interactionism into aesthetic health communication by conceptualizing doctor–patient communication as a process of symbolic negotiation and equilibrium communication, in which clinical knowledge and patients’ subjective meanings are collaboratively negotiated to produce realistic, ethical, and patient-centered aesthetic decisions.