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From miraDry’s thermal, energybased treatments for permanently reducing underarm sweat to Revision Skincare’s age-defying face products, here are five aesthetics industry innovators.

The medical aesthetics industry is having a moment. From an increasing number of practitioners to the proliferation of medspas and beauty bars to technology that makes both surgical and nonsurgical treatments safer and cheaper, demand is at an all-time high. Already a nearly $10 billion global industry, the market is expected to reach $29.43 billion by 2029. What’s behind the boom? Shifting consumer attitudes about beauty and aging, increased interest from millennials and men, and what experts have dubbed the “Zoom Boom,” or people seeking procedures after spending hours looking at themselves at awkward angles in bad lighting on video calls for the past few years.

“Patients are looking for treatment options that provide noticeable results in a fraction of the downtime that older technology offered them,” says Amy Alderman, MD, MPH, FACS, of North Atlanta Plastic Surgery and The Spa at NAPS (dramyalderman.com). These days, some procedures can even be squeezed into a long lunch break, with your co-workers none the wiser.

P. Pravin Reddy, MD, FACS, and founder of The Reddy Aesthetic Institute (reddyai.com), agrees. “Advances in plastic surgery have been largely driven by improved surgical techniques, energy-based devices and deployment in imaging for surgical planning,” he explains. Both Alderman and Reddy also cite the use of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) in minimizing patients’ need for traditional narcotics, making procedures safer while speeding up recovery and adding to accessibility and affordability.

While the explosion of noninvasive techniques and products over the past decade has made aesthetics procedures more affordable, Reddy cautions that cheaper isn’t always better. He recommends seeking out properly trained and credentialed physicians to ensure the best results.

Real-world studies show the professional skincare market has experienced a similar boom in the past decade, for many of the same reasons. According to Dr. Alisar Zahr, senior director of research and clinical development at Revision Skincare, that growth could be the result of several factors, including “increased concern in external factors including UV exposure, pollution and blue light that can lead to skin aging. We have a consumer base wanting and demanding more from their skincare products.”

The first brand to incorporate peptides and create the neck at-home therapy category for skincare professionals, Revision is just one of many brands innovating in the medical aesthetics space. In 2020, Endo Aesthetics launched QWO, the first and only FDA-approved injectable for cellulite, while miraDry remains the only nonsurgical, permanent and FDA-cleared option to treat excessive sweat on the market. Combined with IDEAL IMPLANT, with its low rate of rupture and “structured” saline to retain a natural shape, and Avéli, a cellulite release device recently cleared by the FDA, these brands are leading innovators in the aesthetics industry. –Laura Scholz

AVÉLI

PHOTO: BY SERAFIMA LAZARENKO/UNSPLASH

Revelle Aesthetics recently released Avéli, an FDAcleared device designed to reduce the appearance of cellulite on buttocks and thighs long term. The device allows providers to identify, target and release septa— the fibrous bands that are the structural cause of the condition’s characteristic dimples—all in real time in a single in-office treatment. “For the first time, we have a lasting solution for cellulite that works because it was designed based on a deep understanding of women’s anatomy and the complexity of cellulite,” says Anna M. Paré, MD, board-certified dermatologist and president of Dermatology Associates, P.C. “Unlike other treatments that try to address cellulite from the outside in, Avéli treats cellulite from the inside out and delivers the long-term results women, and frankly physicians like myself, have been longing for.” myaveli.com–LS

PHOTO: COURTESY OF REVELLE AESTHETICS

Where to Find It in Georgia:

Atlanta Plastic Surgery and AYA Medical Spa, atlplastic.com, ayaskincare.com

Dermatology Consultants, dermatology consultants.org

Marisa Lawrence Plastic Surgery, drmarisalawrence.com

MIRADRY

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIRADRY INC.

The only nonsurgical, permanent and FDA-cleared option on the market, miraDry uses thermal, energy-based treatments to permanently reduce sweat, odor and hair for the underarms. Unlike other products, it requires only one or two treatments for optimal results. Julia Lee, PA-C of Olanksy Dermatology & Aesthetics calls the technology a “game changer.” “Hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, can really be debilitating as it can affect your social life as well as your work life. Patients feel so liberated after undergoing the treatment, no longer worrying about how they look on a hot summer day.” miradry.com–LS

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIRADRY INC.

Where to Find It in Georgia:

Dermatology Associates of Atlanta, dermatlanta.com

Olanksy Dermatology & Aesthetics, olanskydermatology.com

WIFH, wifh.com

REVISION SKINCARE

PHOTO: BY FLEUR KAAN/UNSPLASH

The DEJ system is a trio of age-defying products—eye cream, face cream and night face cream—that targets the dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ), the area of tissue that joins the epidermal and dermal skin layers. Made with prebiotic and postbiotic innovations like Pseudoalteromonas Ferment Extract, the products enhance the skin’s natural ability to balance the microbiome, promoting skin health and decreasing the effects of aging. According to Revision Skincare senior director of research and clinical development Dr. Alisar Zahr, the DEJ eye cream, a comprehensive, 360-degree treatment, “has undergone extensive testing and has been clinically demonstrated to improve upper eyelid laxity, lower eyelid creepiness, and under-eye fine lines and wrinkles, as well as lines and wrinkles at the crow’s feet.” revisionskincare.com–LS

PHOTO: COURTESY OF REVISION SKINCARE

Where to Find It in Georgia:

Atlanta Plastic & Reconstructive Specialists, atlplasticsurgeon.com

Dermatology Consultants, dermatology consultants.org

Georgia Skin Specialists, georgiaskinspecialists.com

QWO

PHOTO: COURTESY OF QWO

QWO, a collagenase clostridium histolyticum-aaes injectable, is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for cellulite. Here’s the breakdown: Cellulite is caused by strands of collagen pulling down on the skin’s surface, resulting in depressions and pushing fat upward. “Patients are administered injections, which take less than 15 minutes; then, over the course of three sessions (one every three weeks), the collagenase enzyme treatment will release the fibrous bands causing the dimpling,” says Dr. Laura Beaty of Beaty Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the first practices in Georgia to offer the injectable. “It’s great to finally have an easy injectable treatment—and a solution that really works—to offer patients for this pervasive problem,” says Beaty, sharing that the treatment really is the trifecta: quick, easy and painless. qwo.com–Claire Harper

PHOTO: BY AIONY HAUST/UNSPLASH

Where to Find It in Georgia:

Beat Facial Plastic Surgery, beatymd.com

Peachtree Plastic Surgery, peachtreeplasticsurgery.com

Steele Dermatology, atlantadermatologists.com

IDEAL IMPLANT

PHOTO: COURTESY OF QWO

Founded in 2006 by Robert S. Hamas, MD, IDEAL IMPLANT’s “structured” saline implants have an internal structure that helps to more safely retain shape while resisting wrinkling and feeling as natural as silicone gel. According to a 10-year clinical study for breast augmentation, the brand has a lower rate of rupture and capsular contracture than silicone options. As Hamas explains, “Patients benefit from advances in design, technology and manufacturing that result when companies improve their products based on feedback from patients and surgeons.” For example, the company’s recently introduced Generation 2 IDEAL IMPLANT “feels more natural and does not wrinkle when held upright because of refinements in manufacturing that were developed and implemented over the last two years,” he continues. idealimplant.com–LS

PHOTO: BY AIONY HAUST/UNSPLASH

Where to Find It in Georgia:

Horizon Plastic Surgery, horizonsplasticsurgery.com

Vinings Surgery & Hair Restoration Center, colgrove.com

Williams Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, joelwilliamsmd.com