The Beauty Standard with Dr. Roy Kim

Needles, Choices, and Natural Faces - August 19, 2025 - What You Missed in Plastic Surgery

• Dr. Roy Kim

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The Reality of Healing After Facial Injectables: What to Expect

Join Dr. Roy Kim on 'The Beauty Standard' as he explores the healing process after facial injectables like Botox and dermal fillers. Learn what to expect during recovery, from normal swelling and bruising to signs that warrant a call to your provider. Dr. Kim shares practical tips for pre- and post-treatment care, using real patient stories to illustrate the journey. Whether it's your first or fifth procedure, gain insights to help you bounce back quickly and confidently. Don't miss this essential episode for anyone considering facial enhancements.

00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
00:29 The Reality of Healing After Facial Injectables
01:10 Patient Story: Emily's Experience
02:28 Understanding the Science of Healing
04:20 Tips for a Smooth Recovery
05:09 Common Questions and Concerns
05:48 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Join us next week as we explore another fascinating topic in the world of beauty, and remember: your body, your choice, your standard!

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Beauty Standard with Dr Roy Kim. Stop doom scrolling and listen up. There's Alicia Silverstone posting a close-up selfie, proudly showing her laugh lines with the caption this is my story. Then you swipe to see someone injecting themselves with DIY Botox they bought online for 50 bucks. Next doom scroll Eva Murray sharing her breast reduction journey and the relief it brought her back pain. Your final swipe shows the TikToker getting a Botox brow lift that promises fox-eye results.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Beauty Stand with Dr Roy Kim. I'm Dr Kim and this week we're going to be talking about the wild spectrum of choices people are making with needles and natural aging. Let's get oriented with some startling numbers. Illegal DIY injection products like Innotox are flooding online marketplaces with seizures up to 400% this year, according to regulatory agencies. The Botox brow lift has generated over 200 million TikTok views, with procedures increasing 150% among women under 30. Meanwhile, breast reduction surgery jumped 25% in 2024, with 95% of patients reporting improved quality of life. Cosmetic acupuncture bookings have surged 300% as people seek Botox alternatives. The average Botox brow lift costs $150 to $400 and lasts 3 to 4 months. These numbers tell a story about our relationships with needles, choice and aging.

Speaker 1:

Let's start with the scariest trend. I'm seeing people injecting themselves with products they bought online. The Guardian investigation revealed that Innotox, marketed as Korean Botox, is being sold illegally on social media platforms and e-commerce sites for as little as $50 per vial. Here's what makes this terrifying from a medical perspective Innotox contains botulinum toxin type A, which is the same ingredient as legitimate Botox, but these are not pharmaceutical-grade products. Innotox is unregulated, untested and often contaminated. The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has issued urgent warnings after seizing hundreds of these products. The appeal is obvious A professional Botox treatment costs $300 to $800, while these DIY kits promise the same results for under $100. Social media influencers are literally filming themselves injecting these products, making it seem simple and safe, but here's the reality.

Speaker 1:

Botulinum toxin is one of the most potent neurotoxins known to science. In the wrong hands or wrong concentration, it causes botulism, respiratory paralysis and possibly even death. Professional injectors spend years learning facial anatomy, proper dilution ratios and sterile techniques. Complications that are being seen from DIY injections include facial paralysis, drooping eyelids that last months, asymmetrical results, infection and something called botulism syndrome, where patients experience muscle weakness throughout their entire body. What's driving this trend? Social media normalization, financial pressure and accessibility, when your feed shows dozens of people getting injections daily. It stops feeling like a medical procedure. The $50 price point removes the financial barrier that normally makes people pause and consider whether they really need the treatment. The psychological component is crucial. People buying DIY injections often have body dysmorphia or unrealistic expectations about what these treatments achieve. They're chasing the image they saw on Instagram and not addressing a genuine aesthetic or cosmetic concern.

Speaker 1:

Speaking of social media influence, let's examine the Botox brow lift phenomenon. The hashtag Bot Brow Lift has exploded with over 200 million views, and practitioners report that patients are asking for the Botox Brow Lift by name. Here's the medical explanation. The orbicularis oculi muscle surrounds your eye in a sort of circular or circular formation. This muscle pulls your eyebrow down or downward. When you inject Botox into the upper portion of this muscle, you relax the downward pull, which allows your brow to lift naturally. This technique also involves strategic injection of the corrugated muscles which activate when you frown, and sometimes the frontalis muscle across your forehead. This combination lifts both the outer and middle portions of the eyebrow, creating what practitioners call a naturally youthful appearance.

Speaker 1:

Why is this trend exploding now? Several factors. First, social media content around the procedure is highly visual and dramatic. You see immediate before and after comparisons that look striking on camera. Second, younger people are seeking preventative treatments and brow lifting addresses aging concerns before they become severe. The procedure strikes a perfect balance for social media culture. It delivers noticeable results while maintaining a natural appearance. You're not dramatically altering your face. You're enhancing what's already there.

Speaker 1:

From a technical standpoint, the Botox brow lift requires precision. The injection points aren't one size fits all. Everyone's anatomy differs slightly and skilled injectors assess your facial expressions before determining exactly where to place each injection. The typical cost ranges from $150 to $450, depending on your location and whether you combine it with other treatments. Most patients need 10 to 20 units of neuromodulator. The results last a few to four months following the typical botulinum toxin timeline. The risks are relatively low, but real Bruising can occur because the injections are around the eyes and the skin is pretty thin. More serious, but very rare, is ptosis, which is unwanted eyelid drooping. That happens when the injection goes too deep and affects the wrong muscle. What concerns me about the social media hype is expectation management. A Botox brow lift isn't equivalent to a surgical brow lift. You won't get a dramatic elevation and it works best on mild to moderate concerns. The viral TikTok videos often show the most dramatic examples, not typical results.

Speaker 1:

Now let's talk about the celebrity making headlines for what she's not doing. Alicia Silverstone, the 48-year-old actress, recently posted close-up selfies showing her natural aging process, including laugh lines and expression marks with messages about embracing her authentic face. This is significant because celebrity influence shapes beauty standards more than we acknowledge. When stars like Ms Silverstone publicly reject cosmetic procedures, it gives permission for regular people to make the same choice. Silverstone's approach represents a growing movement I call intentional aging. Rather than fighting every sign of aging, she's choosing which aspects of the process to embrace and which to address through non-invasive methods like skincare, nutrition and exercise. From a medical perspective, her skin shows exactly what natural aging looks like when you take good care of yourself. She has volume loss consistent with her age, some texture changes and expression lines in areas where facial muscles create repeated movements over decades. What's interesting about a public stance is the psychological impact. Social media creates pressure to maintain a frozen-in-time appearance, but Silverstone's authenticity challenges that standard. She's demonstrating that you don't need to choose between looking good and looking natural. The broader trend here is celebrity transparency about cosmetic procedures. We're seeing more stars discuss their choices openly, whether that's having work done or choosing not to. This transparency helps normalize both approaches. On the other side of the choice spectrum, we have Eva Murray, susan Sarandon's daughter, who recently shared her breast reduction journey.

Speaker 1:

This represents surgical intervention for medical rather than purely aesthetic reasons. Breast reduction surgery, also known as reduction mammoplasty, removes excess breast tissue, fat and skin to achieve a more proportionate look to your body. But, as Ms Amore highlighted, the primary benefit is often relief from physical symptoms. Large breasts can create significant medical issues, including chronic back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, shoulder indentations from bra straps, intertrigo, which is known as skin irritation, and difficulty with exercise and physical activity. Ms Amore specifically mentioned severe back pain and how it affected her daily life.

Speaker 1:

Breast reduction surgery involves removing tissue from the lower portion of the breast and repositioning the nipple and areola to maintain natural proportions. Recovery takes several weeks, with restrictions on lifting and exercise during the healing process. What's medically significant about breast reduction is the high patient satisfaction rate. Studies show that 95 to 98 percent of women who undergo the procedure report improved quality of life, reduced pain and better self-image. Insurance can cover breast reduction when it's performed for medical rather than cosmetic reasons. Patients need documentation of symptoms, failed conservative treatments and specific criteria for breast size relative to the body frame. Ms O'Murray's openness about the procedure helps to destigmatize surgical choices made for health reasons. There's sometimes shame around needing surgery to feel comfortable in your own body, but her transparency really shows that these decisions are legitimate medical interventions.

Speaker 1:

The New York Times investigation into cosmetic acupuncture reveals another fascinating trend People seeking needle-based treatments that aren't injections. Cosmetic acupuncture, also called facial acupuncture, involves placing hairs and needles at precise points on the face to stimulate collagen production and improve circulation. At least that's the theory. So the theory draws from traditional Chinese medicine principles about energy pathways, but modern practitioners focus on mechanical effects. Tiny deals create micro-injuries that trigger healing responses, potentially improving skin texture and reducing fine lines. A 2024 study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that patients who received 8 sessions of cosmetic acupuncture over 4 weeks showed measurable improvements in skin elasticity and hydration. Compared to control groups, the effects aren't as dramatic as botulinum toxin, but they were statistically significant. So measurable improvements in skin elasticity and hydration. Compared to control groups, the effects aren't as dramatic as botulinum toxin, but they were statistically significant.

Speaker 1:

The appeal is pretty obvious you get needle-based treatment without injecting foreign substances into your body. Sessions cost about $100 to $200, comparable to skincare treatments, and the only side effects are occasional, mild bruising. The limitations are equally clear. Cosmetic acupuncture doesn't paralyze muscle or add volume. It is essentially a sophisticated skincare treatment rather than the true alternative to cosmetic injectables. What's interesting from a psychological perspective is how cosmetic acupuncture satisfies the desire for intervention without crossing into the line of artificial enhancement. Patients feel they're working with the body's natural processes rather than against them.

Speaker 1:

Recent research reveals fascinating insights about patient psychology and treatment outcomes. A 2024 study in Aesthetic Surgery Journal examined why some patients choose mentally invasive treatments while others opt for surgery. The findings challenge assumptions about age and conservatism. Younger patients are more likely to choose aggressive treatments, while older patients prefer gradual approaches. The key factor was social media usage. Patients who spent more than three hours daily on image-focused platforms had higher treatment expectations and lower satisfaction rates. Another study looked at the psychological impact of transparent celebrity disclosure about cosmetic procedures. Transparent celebrity disclosure about cosmetic procedures Patients who followed celebrities who openly discussed their treatments had more realistic expectations and higher satisfaction rates than those influenced by celebrities who denied having worked up.

Speaker 1:

The research on DIY cosmetic treatments is very sobering. Er visits related to self-administered cosmetic injections have increased 600% since 2020. The most common complications are infection, asymmetry and overcorrection, requiring professional intervention to correct. A Springer research paper examined the long-term effects of repeated botulinum toxin treatments. While the treatments remain safe with proper administration, some patients do develop resistance over time, requiring higher doses or alternative neuromodulators. The Oxford study on cosmetic acupuncture efficacy found that, while measurable improvements occurred, patient satisfaction correlated more strongly with the ritual and the self-care aspect of treatment rather than with visible results. This suggests that the psychological benefits of taking action might be just as important as physical changes.

Speaker 1:

Another school of thought suggests focusing on comprehensive approaches rather than single treatments. For brow lifting, surgical options include endoscopic brow lifts, which uses small incisions and, occasionally, camera to lift up the entire forehead area. Threadless provide temporary lifting effects which last 6 to 18 months. Non-surgical alternatives include radiofrequency treatments that tighten skin gradually over months and microcurrent devices that stimulate facial muscles. While less dramatic than botulinum toxins, these approaches tend to have known infection risks and definitely lower than DIY approaches.

Speaker 1:

For those concerned about aging but wary of procedures, medical-grade skincare regimens with retinoids, chemical peels and prescription products address many concerns without any needles at all. Led light therapy and professional facials provide measurable improvements in skin quality. The key is matching interventions to individual goals, risk tolerance and lifestyle. Some people need dramatic intervention to feel confident. Others achieve satisfaction with subtle improvements over time. For breast size concerns, alternatives to surgical reduction include supportive bra fittings, physical therapy for associated pain and weight management. When appropriate, sports medicine will address the biomechanical issues in some patients.

Speaker 1:

I think the most important principle here is informed consent and patient safety. So whether you choose Alicia Silverson's natural approach, eva Murray's surgical solution, cosmetic acupuncture or something in between, the decision should be based on accurate information and shouldn't really be based on social media pressure or marketing claims. So this week's stories reveal the incredible spectrum of choices people make about needles, procedures and aging. We've seen dangerous DIY injections, viral brow lifting trends, celebrity authenticity, necessary surgical inventions and ancient techniques modernized for contemporary concerns. Celebrity influence is powerful, but remember their faces, their problems and their solutions might not match yours. Make choices based on your goals, your health and your values.

Speaker 1:

Here's my question for you In a time where both natural aging and cosmetic intervention are increasingly accepted, how do you maintain authentic self-expression while looking at a ton of options? So this is a disclaimer. This podcast has been for educational purposes only. Always discuss your needs with a board-certified plastic surgeon, injector, dermatologist or doctor where you have a patient-physician relationship. This wraps up another episode of the Beauty Standard with Dr Roy Kim. If you have any questions, please let me know and, as always, thanks so much for listening or watching, wherever you may be. Thank you for listening to the Beauty Standard with Dr Roy Kim. Make sure to follow for future topics and episodes.