Dermatology (Medical Aesthetics)

The Department of Dermatology (Medical Aesthetics Department) of Shuguang Hospital was established in 1956 and can be traced back to the 1930s; to date, it has accumulated more than 80 years of profound experience in Haipai traditional Chinese medicine dermatology, and is also one of the earliest public hospitals in China to establish a specialty in integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine dermatology. The department carries on the skills of renowned masters: its first director, Shi Guanghai, pioneered cosmetic dermatologic surgery; Xia Shaonong carried on Xia’s Surgery and pioneered the scarification procedure for rosacea, which has continued to the present day and enjoys renown both in China and abroad! The department currently serves as Deputy Chair of the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Quality Control Center (Dermatology Specialty), Deputy Chair of the Dermatological Cosmetology Branch of the China Association of Chinese Medicine, and the institution to which the First Chief Editor of the National Higher Education Press “15th Five-Year Plan” undergraduate planning textbook Chinese External Medicine belongs. It is a Shanghai municipal advantageous specialty in traditional Chinese medicine dermatology and has the municipal intangible cultural heritage “Xia’s Surgery Dermatology Treatment” and the Sun Shidao Famous Traditional Chinese Medicine Physician Studio. It is also a National Demonstration Base for Clinical Trials of Traditional Chinese Medicine Dermatology Drugs (GCP) and for Disfiguring Skin Diseases, and is a core department of a key discipline of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Its overall strength ranks in the top echelon of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine dermatology in China; it has led the development of multiple industry standards and won multiple provincial, municipal, and national science and technology awards in traditional Chinese medicine.

The department’s East and West hospitals implement homogeneous management, with a well-developed talent structure; it currently has 5 chief physicians, 5 deputy chief physicians, and numerous core members with master’s degrees, doctorates, and postdoctoral experience. Professor Li Fulun, the academic leader, is a Chair Professor at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a national-level high-level talent, a Young Qihuang Scholar of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the fifth-generation representative inheritor of Shanghai municipal intangible cultural heritage (Xia’s Dermatology). He has served as editor-in-chief of multiple national-level planned textbooks and led team members in publishing more than 60 papers in international journals including JID, Nano research, Advance science, Composites Part B: Engineering, and Phytomedicine; his main areas of focus are chronic inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and wound repair. Professor Wang Wuqing, director of the department, holds a doctorate in dermatology and venereology, is a Standing Committee Member of the Dermatology and Venereology Branch of the Chinese Association of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, and specializes in “regulating the intestines to treat the skin,” as well as the diagnosis and treatment and chronic disease management of disfiguring skin diseases. Department members have led and completed more than ten National Natural Science Foundation of China projects. All young and middle-aged core physicians have overseas visiting-study experience.

The department currently operates specialty clinics for psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, acne, rosacea, melasma, scars, vitiligo, dermatologic cosmetic surgery, and other conditions, implementing distinctive protocols featuring refined diagnosis and treatment and the integration of multiple methods. First, for refractory inflammatory skin diseases, based on the traditional Chinese medicine “gut–skin axis” theory, it provides integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment for eczema, urticaria, senile pruritus, and other conditions, supplemented by phototherapy to reduce recurrence; second, various disfiguring skin diseases constitute a core specialty of the department. For rosacea, it uses the five-blade scarification procedure based on an independently developed patented technology, which has been included in the national diagnosis and treatment guidelines, forming a stepped regimen of “internal-regulation preparations + photoelectric therapy + minimally invasive treatment”; for melasma, since 1998 it has pioneered a standardized therapy combining traditional Chinese medicines with tranexamic acid, using type-specific oral in-house preparations, together with traditional Chinese medicine drug-delivery membranes and low-energy laser, and standardizing treatment with the aid of Visia testing; scars are treated with a three-dimensional protocol of traditional Chinese medicine, fire needles, and photoelectric therapy, with a self-developed scar-removal cream to improve various scars; acne, vitiligo, alopecia, viral warts, and other conditions are also diagnosed and treated in a standardized manner. Third, it performs surgical procedures such as excision of skin masses and surgery for axillary osmidrosis, provides standardized diagnosis and treatment for various dermatological and venereal diseases, and fully protects patient privacy.

The department has independently developed and possesses multiple distinctive in-house preparations, such as Danqin Xiaoyu Mixture, Babai Powder, and Heijin Scar-Removal Ointment, respectively corresponding to pigmented spots, scars, rosacea, and other conditions; it carries on the distinctive techniques of Xia’s Surgery and provides diverse traditional Chinese medicine external therapies, including fire needles, traditional Chinese medicine fumigation and washing, and acupoint catgut embedding. It is also equipped with China’s first-generation dual-wavelength ultra-picosecond laser, the Gold Edition Ultrasound Cannon, gold microneedle radiofrequency, the C6 Q-switched laser, CC phototherapy, 308nm excimer light, NB-UVB narrowband ultraviolet light, CO₂ fractional laser, red and blue light, a photodynamic therapy device, a hydropuncture injection device, a fruit-acid chemical resurfacing system, a Visia professional skin analyzer, and other equipment, and offers botulinum toxin injections and medical filler injection procedures.

The department undertakes more than ten National Natural Science Foundation of China projects and a large number of provincial- and municipal-level projects, holds multiple invention patents, has published more than 100 high-level papers, and has had multiple distinctive technologies incorporated into national diagnosis and treatment guidelines; it undertakes major responsibilities in university teaching and standardized physician training, relies on the Famous Traditional Chinese Medicine Physician Studio to pass on Haipai traditional Chinese medicine dermatology techniques, and continuously trains professionals in integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. The department adheres to the principles “master traditional Chinese medicine and be proficient in Western medicine, remain devoted to traditional Chinese medicine while drawing on Western medicine,” applies pattern differentiation to prescribe one formula for each person, and provides stratified, stepped treatment; for chronic diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, melasma, and scars, it has established a long-term follow-up mechanism that takes into account the elimination of skin lesions, regulation of the body’s intrinsic constitution, and prevention of recurrence, providing personalized, long-lasting integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine dermatological diagnosis and treatment services.