Medical spa nourishes mind, body, spirit

Troutdale doctor trades big city hospital for small town aesthetic medicine.

Brenda Scott was working at a major Portland hospital as a family practitioner, shuttling patients in and out, often 25 a day, when she knew she had to make a change. Not only were her patients stressed out, so was she.

The Troutdale mother of three sometimes joked with her colleagues that if their patients were able to get a pedicure and sip a glass of wine while they waited for their appointment, they’d probably be less anxious and more open to receiving treatment.

Scott began to dream of a medical office that was less of a clinic and more of a day spa. A place where she could use her medical degree and her personal philosophies to treat the three components of well-being – body, mind and spirit.

She became certified in cosmetic procedures to treat everything from wrinkles and acne scars to sunspots and unwanted hair. After practicing in a tiny downtown Gresham office for three years, she felt confident in her client base and began searching for the ideal office.

She looked at Gresham Station and in Portland’s Pearl District. Rents were high and finding her way around the Pearl District, with its difficult parking, didn’t seem like a good fit. One day, she wandered into her own downtown area in Troutdale. She noticed the couple that owned Green Door Antiques was retiring and moving out.

The rest is history. Inspir Medispa’s soft opening six weeks ago proved successful, and Scott was pleasantly surprised that two to three customers a day were walk-ins.

“I did wonder if Troutdale could support this kind of a business,” she said. “But I already had a client base of 500, so I wasn’t too worried.”

That base is growing, including customers from Hood River, Olympia, Wash., and other surrounding small towns. Women who used to drive into downtown Portland can now come to the scenic Columbia Gorge for beauty treatments.

Scott and her staff of five offer traditional salon services, like massage, facials and pedicures. There is an in-house line of mineral cosmetics and skin care products. They also offer medically supervised weight loss, laser hair removal and injections of Botox, Restylane and Perlane, which can either relax or plump facial muscles.

Loosely called “Botox parties,” the medical day spa offers evening demonstrations for groups of friends who want to come see the results without the commitment. Many are skittish about such procedures, but Scott said once they see how easy they are and witness the almost immediate results, that nervousness disappears.

She realizes some view such cosmetic procedures as “unnatural” or “dangerous.” Often these people have seen celebrities on television who have over-used such treatments.

“People see Joan Rivers and Burt Reynolds on TV, with their skin pulled back, and they think that’s what this looks like,” Scott said. “That’s why our motto is ‘You – only better,’ because we don’t go overboard. We do enough to make you look better, but not so much that you don’t look natural. I will actually talk people out of doing too much.”

Scott has no problem admitting she has had both Botox and Restylane injections.

“I’m 43, and I don’t think I look it,” she said. “I don’t think people would think I’ve had anything done.”

Indeed, a binder of pictures shows dramatic before and after results. Women with dark circles and sagging skin under their eyes look younger and happier in pictures taken just a week later.

One woman, who already had a facelift from a plastic surgeon, came in for Restylane injections on her cheeks and the deep grooves on either side of her mouth vanished.

“Our patients often tell us their friends can’t figure out what they did,” Scott said. “They think they got their hair cut or they lost weight.”

And most importantly, Scott said, patients are not rushed. The office, designed by a feng shui expert, features muted brown walls, natural hardwood floors, silky green and purple curtains, water fountains and soft lighting.

Customers are greeted with a beverage and ushered into the “relaxation room,” where they enjoy a complimentary foot soak. Appointments are long, with ample time for concerns and questions to be addressed.

Scott strives to treat the whole person, and patients are welcome to linger afterward, decompressing before returning to busy lives.

“I look at people more as my friends than my patients,” Scott said. “And I like being part of this trend in aesthetic medicine, where we treat the whole person. I think of us as trying to bring balance back into people’s lives.”