Facial plastic surgeon Steve Dayan, MD opened NewBeauty\u2019s first The State of Aesthetics <\/em> with a history lesson. \u201cI don\u2019t think people realize they\u2019re in a revolution until after the fact,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really in hindsight we recognize we\u2019re in a revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n The revolution he was talking about? GLP-1s. At SHiFT Midtown in New York on Oct. 19, dermatologists, plastic surgeons, an endocrinologist, a menopause specialist and industry leaders gathered to discuss how weight-loss medications are reshaping aesthetic medicine, from facial treatments and breast surgery to patient care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Moderated by Dr. Dayan, the 90-minute conversation brought together experts and executives representing NewBeauty and event partners Artemis, Merz Aesthetics, Motiva and Novo Nordisk. As NewBeauty CEO Mike Glaicar put it, the goal was to uncover \u201cthose little gold nuggets\u201d that could help providers navigate what’s coming next.<\/p>\n Dr. Dayan framed the numbers bluntly. By his math, the GLP-1 boom could double the number of aesthetic patients within five years. \u201cAre we ready for another eight to 10 million patients in our space?\u201d he asked. \u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019re ready for that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n New York endocrinologist Rekha Kumar, MD joined the table as a guest of Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy. Triple board-certified in internal medicine, endocrinology and obesity medicine, she has watched that patient evolve firsthand. \u201cThe GLP-1 patient today is very different than who the GLP-1 patient was five years ago, 10 years ago and even 20 years ago,\u201d she said. She recalled prescribing older diabetes drugs off-label for weight management when the treatment still carried real stigma. \u201cWe would see patients that would have tremendous success, and they would tell other people that they got that way from various lifestyle intervention programs, but we obviously knew the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, the stigma has largely flipped. Dr. Kumar, who also practices primary care on Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side, said some patients now ask why they weren\u2019t offered a GLP-1 sooner. She was encouraged by the room, too. \u201cIt seems like this group is excited about seeing more patients, whereas the traditional mentality in medicine is people don\u2019t want more patients,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The sharpest debate of the night centered on who should prescribe and how closely patients should be followed. Austin, TX plastic surgeon Johnny Franco, MD also attended as a Novo Nordisk guest and has spoken publicly about losing 90 pounds on the medication himself. He argued that sending patients away until they hit a goal weight is a missed opportunity. His practice splits care into four phases: preventive, active, treatment and maintenance. \u201cAs long as you\u2019re actively losing weight, you should be actively treating your skin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n New York dermatologist Doris Day, MD described the other extreme: a patient who arrived \u201cliterally skin and bones\u201d after ordering medication online with no follow-up. \u201cWe\u2019re creating medically induced anorexia because it\u2019s become commoditized telemedicine, and patients are getting it everywhere,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Palo Alto, CA plastic surgeon Dean Vistnes, MD said SkinSpirit, the aesthetics practice he cofounded, stopped offering GLP-1s once they became commoditized. \u201cWhatever we\u2019re going to do, we should do it well, and we should do it the right way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Dr. Kumar cautioned against locking access down too tightly, though. \u201cI fear that the more we gatekeep, the more sketchy, non-clinically guided opportunities we\u2019re creating,\u201d she said. As employers pull back coverage, she explained, patients turn to compounded versions without knowing how to judge quality. Her middle ground: aesthetic doctors don\u2019t need to become obesity specialists, but they should have \u201csome very close connection, collaboration or somebody in the office\u201d who is.<\/p>\n Jennifer Pearlman, MD is a Toronto-based physician focused on women\u2019s health and menopause medicine. She attended as a guest of Artemis and pushed the group to think beyond the scale. In her view, the medication works best when it is layered onto real medical infrastructure. \u201cGLP-1 is just part of the story,\u201d she said. \u201cThis must stack.\u201d<\/p>\n She pointed to the overlap she sees most: menopausal skin and the GLP-1 face. An observational Mayo Clinic study published this year found that postmenopausal women on hormone therapy lost about 35 percent more weight on tirzepatide than women taking the drug alone, though the researchers noted it doesn\u2019t prove cause and effect. For women weighing menopause care and weight loss at the same time, it\u2019s a conversation worth having.<\/p>\n By the end of the night, Dr. Pearlman had reframed Dr. Dayan\u2019s thesis entirely. \u201cI disagree that it\u2019s a GLP-1 revolution. I think it\u2019s a four-factor revolution,\u201d she said, naming metabolic medicine, women\u2019s health, regenerative medicine and AI. On women\u2019s health in particular, she said the field is \u201crecognizing the ovary as the architect of female longevity.\u201d<\/p>\n On the device side, demand is already visible. Artemis offers two treatments built for this moment: Neogen, which uses nitrogen plasma energy to support collagen in the face, and T-Shape 2, which combines radio frequency, low-level laser, vacuum and massage to target laxity on the body. The company also runs consumer advertising for its partner practices, and CEO Simon Mansell said the GLP-1 effect shows up in his numbers. \u201cWe are driving about 3,000 new patients into our clients per month now through the consumer advertising,\u201d he said. \u201cSo definitely, we are seeing the demand because of the side effects of the GLPs.\u201d<\/p>\n Another Artemis guest, San Diego dermatologist Tess Mauricio, MD said starting regenerative treatments early can change the outcome. Her combination approach pairs energy-based treatments such as CO2 laser or RF microneedling with platelet-rich plasma and, in some cases, exosomes. \u201cI have patients who are in their 70s being put on GLP-1, and we do not see the Ozempic face, which to me is amazing for that age,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n New York dermatologist Amanda Doyle, MD attended as a guest of Merz Aesthetics and explained why the GLP-1 face looks different from ordinary aging. Rapid, medication-related weight loss tends to hit the superficial fat pads, while age-related loss happens deeper. \u201cAddressing that specific type of population is really important in knowing how to inject them appropriately with the right type of products,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She pointed to Merz\u2019s expanded Belotero line, which added Belotero Volume (+) for the midface and Belotero Intense (+) for lips with FDA approvals in September. \u201cI think that there\u2019s some really unique things coming out of Merz with the Belotero Balance and Volume and Intense portfolio that add a unique component to our toolbox,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Austin, TX oculoplastic surgeon Sheila Barbarino, MD tackled the most common objection she hears from patients who \u2019ve just lost weight. \u201cIf you place filler in the correct anatomical position, you should always, always, always look like you\u2019ve lost weight and that you look more sculpted, not that you\u2019ve gained it,\u201d she said. Meanwhile, New York dermatologist Marina Peredo, MD said biostimulators are having \u201ca huge comeback\u201d in her practice.<\/p>\n DJ Sethares, vice president of U.S. marketing for Merz Aesthetics, whose portfolio also includes Radiesse, Ultherapy and Xeomin, named the risk underneath all that choice. \u201cI think where we are is at this inflection point of risk because the innovation is outpacing the education,\u201d she said, calling for shared industry standards. \u201cI don\u2019t believe in starting with product first at all. I believe in starting with the patient first.\u201d<\/p>\n New York plastic surgeon Anna Steve, MD specializes in small-volume breast enhancement and joined as a guest of Motiva. She doesn\u2019t prescribe GLP-1s, \u201cbut probably more than 80 percent of my patients are on a GLP-1,\u201d she said. Many of them weren\u2019t overweight to begin with. She described volume loss that stacks up over time: pregnancy, then perimenopause, then medication. \u201cThey almost get a second hit with perimenopause, and then a third hit with GLP-1.\u201d<\/p>\n Malavika William, who leads global corporate communications and marketing at Motiva maker Establishment Labs, said the market is moving in the same direction. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing the shift towards smaller volume implants,\u201d she said, adding that the company recently received approval for smaller sizes.<\/p>\n Patients have noticed. Beverly Hills, CA plastic surgeon Charles Galanis, MD said women now arrive asking for the brand by name. \u201cNow you have patients coming in saying, \u2018I want the Motiva implant,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t something they were that specific about a few years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Misinformation came up again and again, and not always where you\u2019d expect. \u201cI think actually the biggest problem is not influencers. I think it\u2019s actually other providers,\u201d said Dr. Galanis. His fix is to explain his reasoning to patients rather than tear down someone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n Dr. Mauricio said credentials matter more than ever because \u201cdiscovery doesn\u2019t equal trust,\u201d especially as patients start asking AI for treatment advice. And with GLP-1s having \u201copened up the door to peptides,\u201d as Dr. Dayan put it, there\u2019s more to sort through than ever.<\/p>\n Vero Beach, FL plastic surgeon Alan Durkin, MD is chief medical officer of VIO Med Spa, and he made the case that medspas are part of the answer, not just the problem. \u201cWhether we like to admit it or not, they\u2019re a health-care delivery system, and they are here to stay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Dr. Dayan closed with a lightning round: A generation from now, what will people write about this moment? Glaicar predicted the line between health and beauty will disappear. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be like, remember when we only did aesthetics?\u201d he said. Dr. Galanis described \u201ca transition from a vanity exercise to an acknowledgement that this is about quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n Sethares had the last word. Twenty years from now, he said, she hopes his kids will tell her grandkids she helped \u201ctransform something that may have been perceived as superficial to something that is deeply meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n NewBeauty\u2019s The State of Aesthetics <\/em>Roundtable was presented in partnership with Artemis, Merz Aesthetics, Motiva and Novo Nordisk.<\/p>\n Moderator<\/strong><\/p>\n NewBeauty<\/strong><\/p>\n Artemis<\/strong><\/p>\n Merz Aesthetics<\/strong><\/p>\n Motiva<\/strong><\/p>\n Novo Nordisk<\/strong><\/p>\n NewBeauty Guests<\/strong><\/p>\n Facial plastic surgeon Steve Dayan, MD opened NewBeauty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nichebeaty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Image\/Sonal](\"https:\/\/cdn.sanity.io\/images\/0vv8moc6\/newbeauty\/4ebaef13a2e0485e92f702e9d247aaec26a448f6-2606x3909.jpg?w=1200&auto=format&q=70\")
The GLP-1 Patient Has Changed<\/h2>\n
Who Should Hold the Prescription Pad<\/h2>\n
![\"Image\/Sonal](\"https:\/\/cdn.sanity.io\/images\/0vv8moc6\/newbeauty\/e9f446dd6965d4ed813855388be34eec964bac2f-4128x2752.jpg?w=1200&auto=format&q=70\")
Menopause Changes the Equation<\/h2>\n
Getting Ahead of the Changes<\/h2>\n
Filler Isn\u2019t Going Anywhere<\/h2>\n
Smaller, Subtler Breasts<\/h2>\n
The Trust Problem<\/h2>\n
What History Will Say<\/h2>\n
Around the Table<\/h2>\n
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