Dr. Michelle Heery
Appearances
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
So my name is Michelle Heery. I'm a physician. I do dermatology and dermatopathology, which is looking under the microscope for skin biopsies and whatnot. And so I'm seeing patients, medical patients, cosmetic patients, and occasionally surgery. And I have my own office. So I started my practice at the end of 2015 and really got into the swing of things in 2016.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
And I really didn't start seeing that uptick of younger cosmetic patients until the pandemic. Everyone was basically chronically online. They were on Zoom. They were looking at themselves. And there was the rise of TikTok and the filters. And people were really, you know, seeing these flaws, these perceived flaws that either aren't there or are so minimal and just normal anatomy.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
And they have changed. really made it front and center where it affects them, it affects their daily life. And I really feel that it has become more of a pathological thing. I did have this patient very recently who was on the younger side. She was mid-20s and really, you know, beautiful girl.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
I don't see a lot of signs of aging on her face, but she was coming in for neurotoxin, Botox, Dysport, that sort of thing. You know, I really had to kind of search for movement on her face already. So there wasn't a lot for me to treat. So I told her, you know, okay, no problem. I will do a little bit. I mean, I see maybe it helps with your 11 lines in the middle.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
You know, maybe if you're looking angry, that's fine. No problem. We'll do a little bit. And at the end of the session, you know, she was asking me, so what do you think about my nasolabial folds? Basically, it's the fold that goes from the corner of your nose, your nostril, to the corner of your mouth. And it is kind of the barrier between the nostrils. kind of upper lip and your cheek.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
And when you smile, it kind of folds like that. Of course, the more you age, the more of a line will be left behind when you're not smiling. And she was just, you know, she's pointing to her cheek as if there was something there, but there was nothing there. And so I had to tell her, like, well, I don't see that. You're perfect. It's a phantom nasolabial fold. It didn't exist.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
So I had to bring a mirror out and show her. There's nothing here, right? And so... That sort of mentality where someone really is perceiving a flaw that is absolutely not there, providers need to say no.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
Unfortunately, they're incentivized not to, especially if you have a cosmetic office, if you're a med spa, if you're a cosmetic derm or plastic surgery office, of course you're incentivized to do what the patient wants. Well, I'm not going to do that. That's not what I do.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
Absolutely. 100%. And I know this for a fact because many times those patients will come to my office to get that filler dissolved because they don't like it. In the larger practices or practices that are private equity owned, which is a huge problem in medicine, you are... Absolutely meant to sell as many products, as many procedures as possible.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
Oftentimes, I was told to sell as much filler as possible, right? Because every syringe is several hundred dollars.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
You know, and then if they're there, talk them into a laser, talk them into this, talk them into that. Then you become a salesman. I mean, I was even told for my skin check patients, you know, I'm looking for skin cancer. I'm, you know, counseling them on how to take care of their skin. I was told don't talk to them about using sunscreen.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
Because we want them to get skin cancer and come back. I was pulled out of a room. I was pulled out of the room by my boss and reprimanded for explaining why it's so important to use sunscreen. And so this is why I couldn't do it anymore. I had to start my own office and be on my own. I can't do that.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
That goes against everything that I believe in my oath, because there is harm, potential harm on many different levels.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
Well, I mean, there are just issues with cosmetic procedures in general, whether they need it or they don't. You think about this is a medical procedure. There is always risk for any type of intervention, right? So what gets me is Nordstrom is talking about having injections in their stores. This is some sideshow thing. This is ridiculous. This is a medical procedure. You can get infection.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
You can get vascular occlusion that can lead to death of the tissue overlying where you inject. It can lead to blindness. This is like a big deal. Of course, it's fairly safe if you know what you're doing, but not everyone knows what they're doing and knows how to handle the problems, the complications that can come about. So beyond that, you have financial issues.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
If someone does baby Botox in their 20s, uh and they want to do it for a long time you think about how much cost that is if you're spending five six hundred dollars every three or four months that's a lot of money especially today and then honestly i i feel like the psychological aspect of it is a big problem right so
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
At some point, you become dependent almost on these procedures to either feel happy or feel good about yourself. At what point is it kind of be not enough, right? So you're going to do more and more and more. And then you're not going to look like yourself. And it's going to be a point where you look in the mirror and it's not you. One of my colleagues actually coined this term.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
It's called perception drift. At some point, you will do these little, little, you know, incremental treatments until the end, you are an entirely different person. You look like a different person. And you might look very abnormal, right? So even if someone comes to me for something that is legitimate, it's still, once you start, it's going to be hard for you to stop.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
So if you're barely able to scrimp together enough to pay for that one thing, And you have it done, great. What about all the rest of your life that you're going to want to do something? Are you going to be able to manage it?
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
Yeah, and this is why it is a smaller and smaller and smaller percentage of what I do in my office. I love cosmetics to an extent, right? So I love to augment, make people love how they look, But when you start using cosmetics as a tool to make them feel better about themselves in a major way and that they need these sort of things to validate themselves, it's a slippery slope.
Today, Explained
How to "fix" your face
It should be more of a targeted thing, not making you look like an entirely different person because society has told you you can't age, that women just can't age. which is just, it's really disturbing to me.