Dr. Aivee Aguilar-Teo, MD: A healer and a transformer
She belongs to a legendary political clan, the Aguilars of Las Piñas. Her grandfather Felimon was mayor, and her father Vergel is the incumbent mayor. Her aunt Cynthia is congresswoman of Las Piñas, and her uncle Manny Villar is Senate President.
And yet tall, slim and pretty Aivee Aguilar (now Teo) chose the road less traveled in the clan — the road to the doctor’s clinic,
Today, she is dermatologist to some of the country’s most beautiful and photographed faces (names withheld upon request), as well as healer to Las Piñas’ poor residents.
How she blends both undertakings reflects Aivee’s mission — to use her skill to make people happy, whether it’s because of a socialite’s wrinkle-free forehead or a fish vendor’s allergy-free arm.
Aivee holds clinic at the
Aivee believes that her being a dermatologist “is a God-given talent. I should share my talent with other people.”
“I do Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for those who cannot afford to see a doctor. They can come for free consultations, free medications. All pathological. They go to the health center, and then if it’s a dermatology case, they refer to me. I usually have samples or I buy generic medicines. I am so blessed, I have to share. I have to give back. I feel that was the reason why God blessed me with my talents.”
Ironically, she recalls, it was her politician-father who encouraged her to take up Medicine, not Political Science, “because he wanted someone to take care of him when he grew old.”
Studious and obedient, Aivee, the second of four girls of Vergel and Imelda Aguilar, happily did as she was guided to do. After high school at the Assumption Convent, she went to
From the start, Aivee wanted to be a dermatologist, but thought it would be, “boring.” Those were the days, she laughs, when dermatologists dealt mostly with allergies, eczema, etc. She trained initially in Internal Medicine but she and her parents felt the schedule was too grueling for someone who eventually wanted to raise a family. “My dad said, ‘You know it’s not good for you because if you’re gonna have a family, your husband might leave you because your life is the hospital.’ Then he said, ‘Do you have any other options?’ I said, yeah, I wanted to be a dermatologist.”
What challenged Aivee also was the new buzz in dermatology at the time (2002) — cosmetic dermatology.
“At that time, Vicki (Belo) was just starting and people were not yet that open about cosmetic surgery. But it was already becoming more interesting. So I said, why not?”
Aivee says that for cosmetic dermatology, you really have to train abroad.
“They don’t teach you Botox in med school, they don’t teach you how to do Mesotherapy. You have to train. That’s why I went to
Six years after her first Botox injection, Aivee says, “People have become very, very open to doing all those treatments. Botox now is just like going for facial.”
When told that Botox seems to give others a “frozen look,” Aivee counters, “The trick with Botox is you have to do a soft Botox. Botox is an art because it’s a technique. There are techniques on how to do it. Yes, you can abuse it. If you abuse it, you’ll really have a frozen look. Your doctor has to have both skill and style.”
So a doctor has to be both a scientist and an artist?
“Especially for cosmetic dermatology,” agrees Aivee, who has had a number of non-surgical procedures done to herself even if she’s only in her mid-thirties. “You don’t just attend the course and copy everything that they do. You have to see and try it if it’s good or not. Not everything they teach you is good. Cosmetic dermatology is personalized. It depends on the doctor’s experience.”
Aside from Botox, she’s had fillers injected on certain parts of her face, has had square jaw reduction, carboxytherapy and Mesotherapy.
“I think to be beautiful, you have to have proportion. It has to be the right proportion. For example, a boob job. Not everybody looks good with a boob job. You have to have small limbs, a long neck, small legs, small face. If you have a boob job and you have big arms, big face, short neck, it’ll never look good on you. Not everyone would benefit from such a procedure. It has to be proportional to the face and the body of the person.”
How can you do procedures on a person and still keep her natural beauty, as a lot of women and their men still prefer the “natural look”?
“For me, if it’s non-surgical, it’s very natural. For as long as you don’t overdo it. There’s a tendency for some people to overdo it so it doesn’t look natural. So you do it very subtly. And if it’s non-surgical, it’s not permanent. For example, for the filler, you can do just one vial and then if they want more, they can go back. Better not to overdo things and just tell them to come back again rather than overdo it.”
Aivee said such procedures don’t only have physical results, they transform a person’s perception of herself (or himself, as more and more men are now going to cosmetic dermatologists).
“Actually, I always listen to my patients because when they come to me, they want to change something. Most of the time, patients who come to me are separated, they want to look good, or they just broke up with their boyfriend. They have a lot of issues. They feel good just talking about them. So in effect, most of my patients become my friends. When you’re doing the treatment, they feel vulnerable. So they’re trying to vent their frustrations.”
“You get a sense of fulfillment when you make people happy, when you treat people or when they tell you, ‘I feel good because I look good’.”
And she makes that happiness within reach with her philosophy that, “I wouldn’t charge a patient more than what I’m willing to pay myself.”
At the end of the day, Aivee sees herself as a healer. She will never stop treating poor kids of their eczema, or a poor teenager of her acne.
“I don’t want to give up my pathologic dermatology because it keeps me grounded. If you see patients only for cosmetics, you lose the essence of being a doctor at the very core, which is what I really studied to be — a doctor for skin health.”
That’s why Aivee Aguilar-Teo’s work is not just skin deep. She also touches the heart.
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