BEAUTY TRENDS
From dissolving double chins to non-surgical body sculpting, aesthetic medicine – also known as appearance medicine and cosmetic medicine – includes a widening gamut of medical procedures focussed on ‘the body beautful’.
The influences on beauty gain momentum from the state of our world.
Aesthetic medicine includes both surgical procedures such as liposuction, and non-surgical procedures such as laser treatment, peels and injectables. A research report by Lexis Business Insights, ‘Aesthetic Medicine and Cosmetic Surgery Market’, reveals that the global aesthetic medicine market was valued at US$86.2 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at an annual rate of 9.8 per cent from 2021 to 2028, indicating the already huge industry will just continue to grow.
Facial injectables such as Botox continue to be the most popular treatments, a trend that has been aided by the so-called ‘Zoom boom’ of communicating via computer screen and seeing your face in rather unflattering light on a fairly regular basis.
MEDICINE OF MANY MARKETS
Aesthetic medicine is segmented into numerous markets. Facial rejuvenation aesthetic products include treatments such as dermal fillers, botulinum toxin, microdermabrasion and chemical peels. Body contouring, another increasingly popular segment, includes treatments such as nonsurgical fat reduction devices, cellulite reduction devices, as well as surgical procedures such as liposuction.
Cosmetic implants and cosmetic surgery remain popular, particularly now that more people are working from home and can do the two-to-four week recovery in private.
Other categories include hair removal (such as laser hair removal and IPL), skin aesthetics (including laser resurfacing, non-surgical skin tightening, micro-needling and light therapy), tattoo removal, nail treatment, cosmetic dentistry, vaginal rejuvenation and physician dispensed cosmeceuticals. Overall, the growing trend is for treatments that rejuvenate the appearance, with minimal downtime.
“RESTYLANE KYSSE IS A GAME CHANGER. IT IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO PROVIDE EXCELLENT OUTCOMES IN THE LIPS.”
DR MELANIE PALM
The global aesthetic medicine market was valued at US$86.2 billion in 2020.
BIOCOMPATIBLE INJECTABLES
Profhilo, a biocompatible injectable first launched in 2015 by IBSA Pharma, one of the largest privately owned pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland, has been causing quite a stir in the rejuvenation world.
Said to restore firmness to the skin and improve texture, plumpness and elasticity, Profhilo is 100 per cent synthetic hyaluronic acid (HA), which is injected into the face usually over two sessions, with a four-week gap in between. According to IBSA, Profhilo is biocompatible as it is composed of a pure HA produced by biofermentation.
Unlike other anti-ageing injectables that use fillers to add volume and stretch out the skin, being biocompatible and devoid of additives is said to reduce the risk of side effects.
FULLER LIPS FOR LONGER
In May 2020, Galderma announced FDA approval of Restylane Kysse, the first hyaluronic acid filler specifically indicated for the lips using XpresHAn Technology, globally referred to as Optimal Balance Technology (OBT).
The new technology allows Restylane Kysse to plump lips for up to one year. The filler also contains lidocaine, a medication used to numb the area to decrease pain and reduce discomfort associated with injections in the lip area.
“Restylane Kysse is a game changer with a formulation specifically designed to provide excellent outcomes in the lips,” says Dr Melanie Palm, dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon and a clinical investigator in the Restylane Kysse phase 3 trial.
PRECISION SURGERY
Piezosurgery is a technique of bone surgery that is gaining popularity with cosmetic surgeons for procedures such as rhinoplasty (nose jobs) as it allows very fine precision, often with less bruising and recovery and a more accurate result.
The piezosurgery device produces specific ultrasound frequency modulation that allows for the extreme precision and safety as well as micrometric cutting, enabling surgeons to selectively section the mineralised bone structures and reshape them with minimal bleeding and swelling. Prior to piezosurgery, reshaping the nasal bone was done almost exclusively with rasps and chisels, which can be traumatic to the surrounding tissues and result in a longer recovery time.
BODY CONTOURING
Liposuction has been the popular procedure for people wanting to reduce excessive localised subcutaneous fat tissues. However, there are many risks attached to liposuction – from baggy skin to blood clots. As a result, minimally invasive surgery such as liposculpture, as well as non-surgical fat reduction options such lipolysis, is growing in popularity.
Non-surgical and minimally invasive options for fat reduction include technology that uses heat or cooling or an injected medication to reduce fat cells.
Liposculpture is a minimally invasive cosmetic procedure that removes pockets of fat, unlike liposuction that covers large areas. Instead of just removing fat, liposculpture also moves it around for a desired shape. There are different procedures for liposculpture, including power-assisted liposculpture, which uses a vibrating tool to help break down fat; ultrasound-assisted liposculpture, which melts fat with ultrasonic energy through a handpiece; and laserassisted liposculpture, which melts fat through low-energy waves.
REDUCING THE PAIN
Lipolysis is a non-surgical treatment that uses lasers (such as SculpSure), medication (such as Kybella, the only FDA-approved injectable treatment that destroys fat cells under the chin), cooling (also known as cryolipolysis, such as Cool Sculpting) or radio frequency (such as Vanquish) to break fat cells apart, reducing the volume of fatty tissue. Lipolysis typically results in less pain following the procedure than liposuction and liposculpture.
BEAUTY BREAKTHROUGHS
There’s also hope for another injectable body sculpting breakthrough recently discovered. The Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) laboratory that invented cryolipolisis or ‘Coolsculpting’, a popular nonsurgical method for reducing fat under the skin, is developing a new form of the technology that can selectively reduce fat almost anywhere in the body using a safe, injectable ice solution or ‘slurry’.
Unlike Coolsculpting, which can take up to an hour, the new technique is a simple injection that takes less than a minute. Not yet approved for use on humans, the technique trials by MGH and the Department of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School showed that an injection of the ice solution into pigs resulted in a 55 per cent reduction in fat thickness compared with that of pigs injected with the same but non-iced solution, according to the research paper published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
COMING SOON
More readily accessible, recently launched body contouring treatment Emsculpt Neo, is the first to combine radio-frequency heating to melt fat and electromagnetic waves to build muscle, and has been approved by the FDA. According to the manufacturer, BTL Aesthetics, the results of seven new clinical studies with a combined cohort of 167 patients indicate that the device has an average of 30 per cent fat reduction and 25 per cent increase in muscle mass.
Its predecessor, Emsculpt, which works with electromagnetic waves only, is just beginning to become available in clinics here, so it’s likely the uptake of Neo will take some months yet to be adopted by salons in New Zealand.