Is it good or bad that fillers are lasting longer than before? [Michele Shermak, MD, Baltimore]

Eva Sheie (00:04):
Welcome to the podcast Where Before Meets After. Submit your questions for our experts at wherebeforemeetsafter.com. I'm your host, Eva Sheie.

Dr. Shermak (00:16):
My name is Michele Shermak. I'm a plastic surgeon and I'm in Baltimore, Maryland.

Eva Sheie (00:22):
There's recently been some reports of filler lasting longer in the face than previously thought that it's not dissolving all the way. Have you seen this yourself?

Dr. Shermak (00:33):
I think what we're seeing is that there's much more of a biological effect and kind of an improvement in the overall youthfulness of a region by infusing filler, and I think there's going to be much more research coming out about that. Before we thought Sculptra was that biological activator, the injectable that does that, but it really seems like the hyaluronic acid fillers are actually doing that as well across the board. So they're not only providing some fill, but they're actually improving the basic biological structure and physiology of the area. So I think that we are seeing long-term improvement, even when people come back a year later and we think they might need more, it's certainly better than it was at baseline. If they come back a year later, nobody goes back to a year ago. So we just build on our results slowly.

Eva Sheie (01:27):
Is it problematic that it's staying in the face longer than we thought or it's just

Dr. Shermak (01:33):
It's actually a bonus.

Eva Sheie (01:33):
It's a bonus.

Dr. Shermak (01:35):
It's a bonus for the patient. Maybe less so for if we're trying to make a business out of it, but a happy patient is a happy patient. There's always another thing we can talk about.

Eva Sheie (01:48):
If someone wants to reach out and find out more about you, what's your Instagram and what's your website?

Dr. Shermak (01:53):
So my Instagram is Michele Shermak md. My webpage is Dr Shermak, S-H-E-R-M-A k.com, which you can click into anything from there. And we're always happy to meet with new patients and I just love meeting new people and trying to do good work for them.

Eva Sheie (02:16):
I know that you do. Thank you, Dr. Shermak.

Dr. Shermak (02:19):
Thank you so much.

Eva Sheie (02:22):
On this podcast, we bring you directly to the doctors who are where before meets after. Links to our guest's website and contact info are in your show notes. Follow us on Instagram @wherebeforemeetsafter. If you're a board certified plastic surgeon and would like to be a guest or a sponsor of the show, go to wherebeforemeetsafter.com for more information. Where Before Meets After is a production of The Axis, the podcast agency for Aesthetics. theaxis.io.