Questions · Newport News
Frequently asked questions.
We’re a nurse practitioner–led aesthetic medicine practice in Newport News, run by Adam Medlin, FNP-BC. Below are the questions people ask before they know which treatment they want — who you’ll be seeing, what a first visit costs, when we’re open, and how any of this works. Questions about a specific treatment are answered on that treatment’s own page, and every one of those is linked at the bottom of this page.
About the practice
Who will actually be treating me?
Your consultation and your treatment plan are always with Adam Medlin, FNP-BC, a board-certified nurse practitioner licensed to practice autonomously in Virginia (Code of Virginia § 54.1-2957). Every patient is evaluated in person by Adam Medlin, who writes the plan and performs most treatments personally. Some non-ablative laser treatments may be performed by a certified laser technician working from that plan. All injections, RF microneedling, microneedling, and Er:YAG resurfacing and peels are performed by Adam Medlin only, as is any procedure judged higher-risk for a particular patient. Whether a particular treatment is appropriate for you is decided at an in-person evaluation rather than on a web page.
What does “nurse practitioner–led” mean in practice?
It means the medicine here is run by a clinician who can evaluate, diagnose, prescribe, and treat, so the plan and the treatment come from the same clinical judgment. Virginia law also permits a licensed registered nurse to perform some procedures as a delegated task, following an examination and treatment plan set by the prescribing clinician — an ordinary and appropriate staffing model that many well-run practices use. Some procedures may not be delegated to an unlicensed person at all — microneedling is one, under the Board for Barbers and Cosmetology’s 2018 guidance — and those are performed by Adam Medlin here. If you’re comparing practices, asking who will be holding the device is a fair question to ask anywhere, including here.
Is the consultation really free?
Yes. Every plan here starts with a free consultation — your goals, your history, and an honest read on what would actually help. There is no consultation fee, and no obligation to book a treatment afterward.
What happens at a first visit?
Your first visit starts with a consultation: what’s bothering you, your medical history, and what the options honestly are, including the option of doing nothing. If you decide to go ahead and there is nothing that makes it unsafe to treat that day, we can often do the treatment at the same visit — it depends on what the schedule allows and how much time you have. Either way your plan and your total cost are laid out before anything is done. You can also leave with a written skincare routine: specific products by name, with prices and where to buy them. Appointments are booked online.
Do I need a referral?
No — you can book directly online. Referrals tend to travel the other direction here. If the exam turns up a lesion that needs a biopsy, we refer to dermatology and help you get the appointment. Legs that ache, swell, or have bulging veins go to a vein specialist first. And where skin laxity has outrun what an energy device can do, the honest answer is a surgical consult, so that’s the answer you’ll get.
When are you open, and how do I book?
Tuesday through Thursday, 6–8 pm. Friday and Saturday, 10 am–5 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday. Appointments are booked online through our scheduling page, through the secure chat on this site, or over the phone with our virtual assistant at (757) 586-4575.
Where are you located?
Peninsula Aesthetic Medicine, 12551 Jefferson Ave STE 187, Newport News, VA 23602, inside Phenix Salon Suites. We see patients from Newport News, Hampton, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. Full details are on our contact page.
How does payment work, and does insurance cover any of this?
Treatments are paid for directly; aesthetic care is generally not something health insurance covers. Where what you need sits closer to medicine than cosmetics, we’ll say so — with actinic keratosis, for example, if you have insurance and an established dermatologist, having those treated at that office is often the cheaper route, and we say that on the page. Anything we order routes at its own price rather than through us: labs are billed by your lab, and prescriptions go through a real pharmacy. Aftercare for procedures that need it is included in the procedure price. Prices for individual treatments are published on the treatment pages, and your total is laid out at the consultation before anything is booked.
Do I have to buy a package or sign a contract?
There’s no contract and nothing you’re locked into. Most treatments are priced and paid per session. Where a treatment only really works as a series — laser hair removal is the clearest example, since one session can’t do the job — we offer a discounted multi-session price, and you can still pay per session if you’d rather. Either way you get an honest estimate of how many sessions to expect at the consultation.
How much downtime should I plan for?
It depends on the treatment, and it’s worth planning around rather than guessing. Some treatments have essentially none — a neuromodulator appointment is short, and a carbon laser facial has no downtime. Mechanical microneedling is typically a day or two of pinkness and dryness, with makeup back on after 24 hours. IPL runs about a day of pinkness and a week of darker, flaking spots. Ablative laser resurfacing is a staged recovery we discuss honestly in advance. Each treatment page gives its own answer, and you’ll get yours before you book.
Can I be treated while pregnant or breastfeeding?
Tell us, because it changes the plan. Some treatments are off the table entirely — RF microneedling lists pregnancy and breastfeeding among its absolute exclusions — and prescription retinoids are not used during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Other options may still be reasonable. It’s a case-by-case conversation with the clinician who would be treating you, and where the right answer is to wait, we’ll say wait.
Who isn’t a good candidate?
That’s a list rather than a rule, and it varies by treatment. Some examples from our own pages: implanted electronic devices such as a pacemaker or insulin pump rule out radiofrequency treatment, as do a history of keloid or abnormal wound healing, active infection in the treatment area, and current or prior skin cancer in the area. Recently tanned or sunburned skin is rescheduled rather than treated, which isn’t a judgment call. We also won’t ask you to stop a medically indicated blood thinner for an elective cosmetic procedure — we’d rather adjust the plan. And if you’re asking on behalf of a teenager, ask us before booking: that’s a decision made at an in-person evaluation, not one a web page should make.
Do you sell skincare products?
No, and that’s deliberate. Almost every active sold in “medical-grade” or “physician-dispensed” skincare is available over the counter at comparable concentrations for a fraction of the price; the premium reflects distribution and branding, not chemistry. Instead, we write you a routine at your consultation — specific products by name, with prices and where to buy them — and we write genuine prescriptions when they’re appropriate, which go through a real pharmacy rather than our shelf. The long version is on why we don’t sell retail skincare, and the recommendations themselves are on skincare we actually recommend.
What don’t you offer, and why publish that?
We publish the list of services we deliberately don’t offer — cryolipolysis, HIFEM muscle devices, ultrasound cavitation, radiofrequency-only fat reduction, “infusion” facials, soft-shell hyperbaric chambers, “stem cell” and exosome products, and retail skincare — with the evidence-based reason for each one. We publish it because it’s the clearest way to show that everything that did make the menu cleared a real filter first. It’s all on services we don’t offer.
What if the honest answer is that I don’t need anything?
Then that’s what we’ll tell you. If a treatment here isn’t going to give you what you’re after, we’d rather say so than book it — and often we can point you to someone who can help, whether that’s a dermatologist, a vein specialist, or a surgeon. Sometimes the answer is simply that it’s worth waiting. Either way, the consultation cost you nothing.
Questions about a specific treatment
Each treatment page ends with its own set of questions — cost, sessions, comfort, what it does and doesn’t do. These links take you straight to them.
Injectables
Laser & Light
Skin Treatments
Two more worth reading: the questions on the equipment we use, and the reasoning behind the services we don’t offer.
Newport News · Virginia
Still have a question? Bring it.
The consultation is free and there’s no obligation attached to it. Bring your questions and your skepticism — an honest answer is the whole point of the visit.
Takes about a minute. You'll come back here to a confirmation page when you're booked — if you don't get there, call (757) 586-4575, any hour.