[Aesthetic dermatology]

In addition to treating neoplastic disease, inflammatory skin disorders and allergies Aesthetic Dermatology has grown to become an important issue in the field of dermatology. Aesthetic Dermatology puts medicine in a field of tension between medical necessities and patients' wishes. Aesthetic issues are most relevant to dermatology because skin is not only a functional organ like heart, liver and kidneys, but a medium also of visual and tactile communication. The desire for beauty and youth is thus often expressed by patients and customers seeking advice on the improvement of their appearance and looks. Aesthetic medicine means a great challenge to the dermatologist because request and reality must be brought together and ethic thoughts kept in mind. Modern medicine with its new approaches to molecular biology and biophysical technologies (e.g. laser technology) has opened up many new therapeutic possibilities for dermatologists that were largely unimaginable until recently. Aesthetic dermatology has enriched dermatology and will not become a burden if we succeed with integrating aesthetic issues into medical strategies in a sensitive, evidence-based and critical fashion.