Medical Aesthetic News

 How far can the results of monopolar RF be pushed? At Cheongdam CIRCLE Clinic (Seoul, Korea), Dr. Heewon Suh looks for the answer along two axes — temporal fascia–oriented lifting and basement membrane support — using the Pulsar handpiece and Quasar tip of SHENB's Sunny. With its IMCT (Individual Movement Control Technology) structure of 25 individually moving pins, the Quasar tip delivers RF energy evenly to the scalp and to curved facial areas that flat tips struggle to reach, expanding treatment options beyond conventional flat-tip RF. The scalp lifting mode, running monopolar at 1 MHz to reach deep toward the temporal fascia, uses RF heat to promote contraction in the temporal fascia region and contribute to facial lifting, while the subsequent Base Toning mode at a 2:8 monopolar-to-bipolar ratio supports basement membrane remodeling with minimal discomfort, helping optimize the absorption and response of a subsequent skin booster. The final step is P198 ExoNature SB PLUS — a ...

 Held at Lieul Dermatology Clinic in Seoul on May 26, the DermEden Pre-Launch Expert Session gathered Korean key opinion leaders in pigmentation care. Ahead of French dermocosmetic brand DermEden's Korean debut, local partner Primoris International shared early field-test results and examined where the line might fit in Korea's pigmentation market. The session ranged across the mechanism — how tranexamic acid (TXA) suppresses the plasmin pathway to act on pigment formation, melanosome transfer and PIH; the 5% TXA–niacinamide formulation; clinical cases in which Dr. Eunyoung Kang and Dr. Kyungtae Bae combined the line with lasers and exosome boosters; and a KOL panel discussion on indication selection and positioning. Notably, presenters and panelists converged on using DermEden alongside procedures such as lasers, exosome boosters and microneedling while narrowing its indications and patient groups: non-sensitive patients with non-severe melasma; post-procedure PIH prevention; ...

 For many people, vitiligo is remembered as "a condition you can do nothing about" or "something you have to live with forever." The spreading white patches, the stares from others, and the long-standing misconception that "there is no treatment" have only added to the weight patients carry. Yet phototherapy, which sits at the center of vitiligo treatment, has been evolving quietly but steadily. Unlike the gas-based excimer lasers long used as the standard, a solid-state UVB laser that requires no gas replacement has emerged — eliminating the gas-related odor during treatment and maintaining a more consistent output, marking a step forward. With minimal discomfort, this approach can also be considered for children and, when clinically indicated, for pregnant patients, and it helps ease the burden of a treatment that may need to continue two to three times a week over a long period. We sat down with Dr. Mingyeol Cho of Oaro Dermatology Cheongnyangni to ask ...

 Candela, a global energy-based device (EBD) company, held the China-Korea Gentle Premium Hair Removal Institution Leadership Summit in Seoul on May 20. Bringing together leaders of premium hair removal clinics from Korea and China to share market trends and operational insights, the summit reflected Candela's strategic ambition in the APAC market: to evolve beyond a device supplier into an "ecosystem partner" that helps clinics succeed. At the summit, Medical Aesthetic News sat down exclusively with Indra Suardi, SVP & GM, Asia Pacific Commercial at Candela. He described Korea as "the beauty capital not just of Asia, but of the world," emphasizing that the Korean market holds strategic value far beyond its revenue contribution. He also highlighted Korea's use of the GentleMax Pro Plus in the male hair removal market as a model other APAC markets can learn from. "Candela is no longer just a company that sells devices," he added. "We aim to...

 We met Dr. Jongho Jeon of MizSlim Clinic, the newly inaugurated 13th president of the Korean Primary Care Society (KPCS), at the 2026 Spring Conference. Founded in 2003 and now with some 6,000 regular members, KPCS is a primary-care society spanning aesthetics and pain management, as well as reimbursed and self-pay areas of care, and it runs specialized academies in pain, dermatologic disease, and integrated aesthetic dermatology alongside its spring and autumn conferences each year. Dr. Jeon distilled the society's identity into "a society built on idealism—one where what you learn today can be applied in the clinic tomorrow," and named the bond among officers who regard the society as their professional home as its greatest asset. Announcing plans to hold this year's autumn conference independently at the ST Center on a larger scale, he stressed that mutual growth between the society and the industry matters above all. From an operating philosophy that nurtures jun...

 On May 19, Daewoong Pharmaceutical and DNC Aesthetics held the "DEEP Symposium" for Korean physicians at the Sofitel Ambassador Seoul. The gathering was designed to take an in-depth look at how Facetem—the K-CaHA biostimulator now exported to 30 countries, known in Korea as DCLASSY CaHA—can be applied in domestic clinical practice. Opening the event, Dr. Carmelo Crisafulli of Dubai highlighted Facetem's lattice-pore structure and uniform microspheres as its key differentiators, sharing a surgical follow-up case in which the treated area showed almost no scar tissue. Continuing the discussion, Dr. Giwoong Hong of SAMSKIN Plastic Surgery Clinic argued that a product's material properties matter more than "how it builds collagen," presenting his rheology-based injection protocol, the CAST Code. Dr. Jisoo Kook of It's Me Clinic then extended the day's theme—standardizing practice through data rather than experience—into clinical territory with his ...

 As the monopolar RF market grows increasingly crowded, combination protocols that move beyond simple tightening toward structural skin remodeling are drawing attention. At Cheongdam CiRCLE Clinic, Dr. Heewon Suh pairs SHENB's Sunny — a monopolar RF–based platform — with the plant-derived exosome skin booster P198 ExoNature to pursue a multilayered total anti-aging approach spanning superficial tightening, temporal fascia–oriented lifting, basement membrane support, and skin barrier recovery. Sunny's dual RF architecture and the IMCT (Individual Movement Control Technology) of its Quasar tip let a single device address both superficial tightening and temporal fascia lifting, while the Base Toning mode at a 2:8 monopolar-to-bipolar ratio supports the basement membrane to help optimize the response to subsequent treatments. Adding the ginseng-derived plant exosome P198 ExoNature brings anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immune-modulating support for skin recovery into a single s...

 Surgery feels daunting, and EBD monotherapy has limitations in the durability of results. The periorbital region, with its thin skin and proximity to the globe, leaves minimal margin for error, making it one of the most challenging areas to treat. A combination of two distinct mechanisms is drawing attention: Eye Thermage, a monopolar RF treatment using an eye-specific tip that contracts and remodels existing collagen through thermal stimulation, paired with Juvelook i, a PDLLA-based biostimulator that promotes neocollagenesis, in a periorbital-specific protocol. We spoke with Dr. Byonghan Song of Renewme Dermatology, Hongje Branch, whose practice centers on anti-aging treatment and who has actively applied this combination in clinical practice. He shared practical, immediately applicable details: patient selection by Grade 0–3 classification, the rationale behind the "Thermage-first" sequencing that accounts for potential infection risk related to coupling fluid and RF ther...