When the Right Product Meets the Wrong Problem
Getting the right treatment for the right problem matters more than most patients realise. Dr Chia Min Shan on why fillers and skinboosters are frequently used interchangeably - and what happens when they are.
She came in nervous. Left completely surprised.
"If all aesthetic treatments are painless like this, I'd gladly come every month."
She was talking about her skinbooster. Which was exactly the right treatment for what she had - skin that looked dull and dehydrated despite a consistent routine. Not volume loss. Not structural change. Just skin that needed hydration at a level no topical product could reach.
She got what she needed and felt the difference immediately. But I see the opposite often enough that it's worth talking about.
The Misdiagnosis Problem
Most patients who come in saying they look tired, flat, or like something has changed - they're right that something has changed. The question is what.
Sometimes it's volume. The mid-face has lost structure, the cheeks have flattened, the face has a heaviness it didn't have before. That calls for filler - a structurally supportive gel placed at depth to restore what's been lost.
Sometimes it's skin quality. The skin has lost its dermal hydration, its capacity to reflect light, the subtle plumpness that comes from healthy tissue. That calls for a skinbooster - dispersed through the tissue to restore hydration from within.
Often it's both. But both in the wrong order, or the wrong proportion, produces a result that doesn't quite land.
The patients who've had filler and still feel they look tired - frequently, the skin quality component hasn't been addressed. The structure is there, but the skin sitting over it is still dehydrated and dull. The improvement is technically present but not visible in the way they hoped.
The patients who've focused only on skinboosters when there's genuine volume loss - the skin quality improves, but the structural deficit remains. They look healthier but still somehow deflated.
What Assessment Actually Involves
Before recommending either, I look at the face in two distinct ways.
First, skin quality in isolation - texture, hydration, tone, how the skin moves and reflects light. This tells me whether skinboosters, polynucleotides, or skin-focused treatments need to be part of the plan.
Then structure - where volume has been lost, where tissue has descended, what's driving the overall change in the face. This tells me whether filler, a collagen stimulator, or an energy device is indicated.
These are separate assessments because they're separate problems - even when they coexist in the same patient.
At my clinic at Journey Aesthetics, we typically address skin quality before or alongside structural treatment, because a filler result shows better on skin that's properly hydrated. The foundation matters to the finish.
Dr Chia Min Shan is the Medical Director of Journey Aesthetics Medical Clinic in Katong, Singapore. She specialises in skin quality, facial aesthetics, and natural-looking results using treatments including botulinum toxin, dermal fillers, skinboosters, polynucleotides, Ultherapy Prime, Volnewmer, Fotona 4D, and Corage 2.0. Every treatment plan she creates is built around a thorough consultation - because understanding what a patient actually wants is where good aesthetic medicine begins.