How to talk to your patients about Aesthetics in Eyecare

One of the questions I hear most often from optometrists stepping into aesthetics is this quiet, anxious one: how do I bring this up during a comprehensive eye exam without it feeling awkward, salesy, or completely out of left field?

Here is the truth. You should not be starting that conversation unless you already know there is interest.

And that starts long before you ever walk into the exam room.

If aesthetics is part of what you offer, it needs to be reflected in your intake forms. Not buried in fine print, not tacked on as an afterthought, but clearly and intentionally included as part of how patients tell you what they are coming in for and what they care about. Just as important, those forms actually have to be reviewed. I cannot tell you how many practices collect pages of patient information that never meaningfully informs the visit. When you do not use the data you ask for, you lose one of your most powerful tools for guiding the conversation.

You also cannot assess aesthetic interest by looking at someone. Ever. Assumptions shut the door before it even opens. The form is what gives the patient permission to raise their hand without pressure or embarrassment. It shifts the energy from selling to responding.

Once that interest is identified, the conversation itself should not feel like a quick add on to an eye exam. Aesthetics requires a consult, not a casual mention while the patient is still in the chair thinking about their prescription. This is where the art of the consult matters just as much as the medicine.

Patients need clarity. They want to understand what the treatment is, what it helps with, what it feels like, how many sessions are typically needed, when results usually start to show, and what kind of outcome is realistic for them. When those questions are answered calmly and confidently, trust builds. When they are rushed or glossed over, hesitation takes over.

That conversation belongs at the end of the exam, in a moment that feels educational, not transactional. It should feel like an extension of care, not a pivot into sales.

If you want aesthetics to truly succeed in your practice, your systems have to support the conversation. Your forms, your patient flow, and your consult structure are what drive conversions, not pressure and not scripts. When the systems are right, the conversation becomes natural, and the decision becomes easy for the patient.

And that is when aesthetics stops feeling awkward and starts feeling like what it should be: another way you are helping your patients feel confident, cared for, and seen.

If you want help building intake forms and consult systems that actually convert, you can book a complimentary strategy call with me. We will walk through how to integrate aesthetics into your eye care practice in a way that is ethical, effective, and profitable, without ever feeling forced.