Most people hesitate before booking a dermatology appointment. A rash that will not clear, a mole that looks slightly off, acne that has outlasted three different cleansers. The hesitation usually comes down to not knowing whether the problem is big enough to bother a specialist with.
It almost always is. Dermatology covers more ground than most people expect, and the bar for making an appointment is lower than you think. If it involves skin, hair, or nails, a dermatologist is the right person to see.
A dermatologist finishes medical school, an internship, and then three or more years of residency devoted entirely to skin, hair, and nails. Some go further into a fellowship: Mohs surgery, pediatric dermatology, cosmetic work.
That depth matters because skin often reports on what is happening elsewhere in the body. A trained dermatologist recognizes when a rash points to an autoimmune condition, a hormonal problem, or a nutritional deficiency rather than something that stops at the surface.
At Cleaver Dermatology & Aesthetics, Dr. Nathan Cleaver is a board-certified dermatologist and fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon. Dr. Stephanie S. Gardner and Dr. Weston Waxweiler are both board-certified dermatologists. The practice also includes physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and licensed aestheticians.
This is the clinical side: diagnosing and treating conditions that affect your health and daily comfort. It is a wide field.
Acne is one of the most common reasons patients come in, and not only teenagers. Adult acne affects a large share of people into their thirties and forties, and it often shrugs off the products that worked fine at seventeen. A dermatologist can identify which type you have and treat it accordingly, with prescription topicals, oral medication, in-office procedures, or some combination.
Eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea are chronic inflammatory conditions that flare and settle and usually need ongoing management rather than a single fix. Rashes, hives, contact dermatitis, and fungal infections bring people in regularly. So do hair loss conditions like alopecia areata and nail changes that occasionally signal something systemic.
Skin cancer screening sits at the center of all of it. Georgia's climate means most adults here have accumulated serious UV exposure over their lifetimes, which makes an annual skin check genuinely worth the half hour.
When a lesion needs to come out, Mohs micrographic surgery is the most precise option available for basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. The surgeon takes a thin layer, checks it under a microscope on site, and keeps going until no cancer cells remain.
It happens in one office visit under local anesthesia. Because the technique removes only what it has to, it preserves more healthy tissue than a wider excision. On the face, neck, and hands, that difference shows.
Dr. Cleaver's fellowship training in Mohs means patients across North Georgia can get this done without traveling to a metro hospital.
Cosmetic work addresses concerns that are not dangerous but affect how people feel about themselves. Wanting to be comfortable in your own skin is a reasonable thing to want, and a board-certified dermatologist brings anatomical knowledge to aesthetic treatments that a spa cannot match.
Botox and dermal fillers are the most requested. Both are minimally invasive with little downtime, and in experienced hands the results read as rested rather than done. HydraFacial, laser resurfacing, photofacials, microneedling, CoolSculpting, and laser hair removal all fall under the same umbrella.
At Cleaver Dermatology & Aesthetics, aesthetic services run under Southern Skin & Beauty and operate inside a physician-led clinical setting. If something turns up during a facial that needs a doctor's eye, the doctor is down the hall.
It depends on your insurance. Some plans require a referral from your primary care physician, and plenty of others let you book directly. A quick call to your insurer settles it.
What you do not need is a diagnosis or a good enough reason. Dermatologists are diagnosticians. Figuring out what something is happens to be the job.
Everyone, at every age. Cleaver Dermatology & Aesthetics provides pediatric and family care, so infants, children, and teenagers are seen by providers used to treating them.
For adults, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends a full-body skin cancer screening at least once a year, more often if your risk is elevated. Beyond that, anything affecting your comfort, your sleep, or your confidence is worth raising.
Cleaver Dermatology & Aesthetics serves communities across North Georgia including Cumming, Gainesville, Roswell, Johns Creek, Dahlonega, Canton, Toccoa, Lavonia, and Dawsonville. Appointments can be booked online.
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