Aesthetic Medicine

The Department of Aesthetic Medicine of Dongguan People's Hospital is a medical aesthetics specialty with accomplished skills and comprehensive services, and the department has strong overall capability: it records 12,000 outpatient visits per year and performs more than 3,000 operations per year.

The department currently has several functional areas, including outpatient clinics, inpatient wards and laser treatment rooms, with 20 open beds. In November 2016 the department received funding under the construction subsidy programme for key specialties (municipal level) of Dongguan's municipal public hospitals; this became an important milestone in the department's development and laid the foundation for its leap-forward growth.

The department has a strong team: 2 Chief Physicians, 3 Associate Chief Physicians, 2 Attending Physicians and 2 Resident Physicians, among whom 1 has doctoral-level education and 2 have master's-level education. The nursing team comprises 1 Associate Chief Nurse, 2 "zhuguan hushi" nurses and 2 nurses.

Relying on the hospital's modern dedicated operating rooms, the department is equipped with a full range of medical equipment, including the most advanced microscopes, surgical power systems, intelligent high-frequency electrosurgical units, multi-wavelength medical laser systems, CoolGlide series skin lasers, semiconductor (diode) laser hair-removal devices, carbon dioxide laser systems, FUE-series skin tissue punches and resonance liposuction devices.

With the dual advantages of specialists and high-end equipment, the department has in recent years, on the strength of its solid technical capability and advanced diagnostic and treatment techniques, provided diagnosis and treatment for common and frequently occurring conditions in medical aesthetics as well as for acute, severe, difficult and diagnostically challenging cases of all kinds, including plastic reconstruction of various superficial (external) organs and various minimally invasive aesthetic treatment techniques. Combined with the multidisciplinary collaboration advantage of a general hospital, it can better resolve clinical problems spanning every area of medical aesthetics, and its one-stop service removes the concerns of those seeking aesthetic care.

The department has maintained a fine tradition of carrying out research closely linked to clinical practice. It has successively conducted a number of research projects, including rapid skin expansion technology (which received a third municipal Science and Technology Progress Award and one national patent), development and application technology of acellular dermal matrix (which received a second Dongguan Science and Technology Progress Award), and research on continuous improvement of plastic techniques for secondary lip deformity (a second Dongguan Science and Technology Progress Award). In recent years, under the leadership of Director Liu Yusheng, the department's research has continued to gain strength: the series "Serial studies on continuous improvement of plastic techniques for cleft-lip nasal deformity" received a second Dongguan Science and Technology Progress Award, and the department has undertaken 4 provincial and municipal research projects. At present the department has 1 research project in progress; in recent years its medical and nursing staff have published more than 40 papers in China and abroad, including 3 SCI papers.

In 2016 the department formally became a plastic surgery specialty training base of the national standardised residency training programme, taking on the important task of training plastic surgery professionals for Dongguan. It also undertakes clinical internship teaching for Southern Medical University and Guangdong Medical University. The department hosts a large number of academic activities every year.

Scope of care

The department is committed to providing those who seek care with the most scientific and objective treatment plans, and, taking into account individual differences and different needs, to giving the best individualised treatment. At the same time, for those with special requirements it provides advanced customisation and overall design services, comprehensively resolving every detail of the person's concerns.

At present, the featured and key services offered by the department have reached a first-class service level in the country and have earned a very good reputation. In addition, the department works closely with other clinical departments to provide better solutions for complex and difficult cases in plastic and aesthetic surgery, which further strengthens the safety and effectiveness of treatment for everyone seeking aesthetic care.

Specialised techniques of the department

1. Breast plastic surgery and aesthetics: augmentation mammaplasty with silicone implants, augmentation mammaplasty with free autologous fat grafting, breast reconstruction after mastectomy, reduction mammaplasty for macromastia, correction of breast ptosis, reduction of the nipple and areola, correction of inverted nipple, and reduction of enlarged male breasts. 2. Facial rejuvenation: face lift (facial rhytidectomy, skin-tightening surgery), involving the forehead, temporal region, midface, and face and neck. 3. Periocular plastic surgery and aesthetics: double-eyelid surgery (by incision or buried suture), lower eyelid bag correction (internal or external approach), medial and lateral canthal (eye corner) enlargement, brow lift (brow excision), correction of enophthalmos, and others. 4. Nasal plastic surgery and aesthetics: augmentation rhinoplasty; correction of hump nose, saddle nose and crooked nose; and plastic and aesthetic procedures of the nasal tip and nasal ala. 5. Facial contour plastic surgery and aesthetics: chin augmentation, buccal fat pad removal, and others. 6. Lip plastic surgery and aesthetics: formation of the lip tubercle, excision of a double lip, augmentation of thin lips, repair of secondary nasolabial deformity after cleft-lip surgery, and others. 7. Body contour plastic surgery and aesthetics: liposuction (abdomen, waist, buttocks, upper limbs, lower limbs, face and neck), free autologous fat filling, abdominoplasty, and others. 8. Repair of congenital or acquired deformities: auricular reconstruction, nasal reconstruction, penile reconstruction, vaginal reconstruction, surgery for pectoralis major deficiency with syndactyly (Poland syndrome), repair of polydactyly of the hands or feet, repair of craniofacial bone defects and deformities, and others. 9. Comprehensive treatment of scars and wounds: free skin grafting, pedicled or free flap transfer repair, skin and soft-tissue expansion, scar release, intralesional scar injection, and others. 10. Excision of skin and soft-tissue tumours and wound repair: aesthetic suturing after removal of naevi, sebaceous cysts, lipomas and haemangiomas; excision and wound repair for squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. 11. Minimally invasive plastic aesthetics and injectable aesthetics: minimally invasive surgery for axillary bromhidrosis, skin microcrystal dermabrasion, hair transplantation, botulinum toxin injection (for facial slimming, wrinkle removal, etc.), hyaluronic acid injection (for wrinkle removal, filling of depressions, etc.), and others. 12. Other featured treatments: repair and reconstruction after breast tumour surgery, and comprehensive treatment of upper-limb lymphoedema.

Featured technique

Laser skin rejuvenation, a medical-grade spa treatment

As we age and as sunlight damages the skin, our skin gradually shows signs of ageing: more pigmented spots, a dull and uneven complexion, more fine lines and enlarged pores. Laser skin rejuvenation uses laser equipment of specific wavelengths acting on the skin to reduce pigmented spots, shrink pores and stimulate subcutaneous collagen proliferation, thereby brightening the complexion, making the skin finer and smoother and improving the signs of ageing.

The Department of Aesthetic Medicine of Dongguan Municipal People's Hospital has an advanced imported dual-pulse Q-switched laser, which it describes as the first Q-switched laser approved by the FDA and CFDA for the treatment of melasma. It has several skin-clearing and rejuvenation modes that can remove dullness, even out skin tone, tighten pores, smooth fine lines and improve acne marks. The treatment is comfortable and convenient, requires no recovery period, and is described as a medical-grade spa treatment.

Who is this medical aesthetic technique suitable for? Mainly the following groups:

1. People who want to change skin texture and hope for better skin elasticity, smoother skin and less dullness. 2. People whose face is beginning to show laxity and fine wrinkles and age-related skin changes. 3. People with uneven facial skin tone. 4. People with excessive sebum secretion, recurrent acne, rough skin and enlarged pores.

How can people who care about their appearance get rid of the trouble of "scars"?

Summer has arrived, and short sleeves, shorts and short skirts come out. It should be a lovely occasion for showing off one's figure, but every summer some people who care about their looks begin to worry, because the scars that were previously covered by long trousers and long sleeves can no longer be hidden.

Human skin is both strong and fragile. Abrasions, cuts, burns and scalds - hazards are everywhere in daily life. When the injury reaches the deep dermis or deeper, a scar appears. These scars cling silently and firmly to the surface of the skin and become a person's second birthmark.

The factors influencing scar formation are many, including trauma and skin diseases. A deep degree of injury, or repeated infection of the skin, favours scar formation; in addition, scar hypertrophy occurs readily in areas of high tension, such as the joints. Scar formation is also related to skin colour, age and constitutional type.

For people who care about their appearance, especially young women, how can scar formation and hypertrophy be prevented and reduced to the greatest extent while undergoing normal surgical diagnosis and treatment, so as to avoid unsightly "marks" after surgery?

Doctors explain that tension-reducing sutures, good wound care and avoidance of infection can effectively prevent and reduce scar hypertrophy. And once a scar has formed, how should it be treated? It is not unchangeable. At present, medical treatment of scars is mainly divided into two kinds, surgical treatment and non-surgical treatment.

The surgical options mainly include direct excision and closure, flap transfer repair, skin grafting, fat filling, fat-gel injection and PRP injection. It should be noted that all scar contractures accompanied by functional impairment require surgical treatment. Non-surgical methods are more numerous and include compression therapy, topical scar-removing medications, drug injection, laser, radiation and radionuclide therapy.

Many people have this doubt: surgery is one of the causes of scars, so would treating a scar with surgery not cause a second injury? In fact, the surgical technique in the Department of Aesthetic Medicine is gentler and more meticulous, the suture needles are sharp and fine, the incisions are made as small and as concealed as possible, and healing is also better. This means that old scars caused by various reasons may also be lightened, reduced or altered in appearance through surgery in the Department of Aesthetic Medicine.

At present, the Department of Aesthetic Medicine of Dongguan Municipal People's Hospital performs the full range of scar treatments on a mature basis and can meet the scar-removal needs of people who care about their appearance. Doctors remind patients that scars vary in form; please consult the hospital for professional advice on which treatment is suitable, so as not to miss the best time for treatment.

Department highlights

Doctors performing surgery Director Liu Yusheng organising a departmental discussion