One of the defining moments of my career as a cosmetic surgeon is the first time I treated a patient with a dermal filler, over fifteen years ago during my dermatology residency at the University of Chicago. The patient was a woman who had been plagued with acne throughout her adolescence, and the resultant scarring had ravaged both her face and her psyche.

She had passed through her formative years defined by herself and others as "the girl with bad skin." Now in her late 30's, her acne...