A Silver Plaque, and a Few Thoughts on REJURAN

Today, a plaque arrived at MSA. Is it a YouTube plaque?

No, its a ” REJURAN Top Clinic ” plaque. Yay!

Of course, a plaque does not determine the quality of medical care.

But still, it was a pleasant surprise, and it gave me an opportunity to reflect on REJURAN—why so many patients continue to choose it, and how it fits into our broader approach to aesthetic medicine at MSA.

My First Encounter with REJURAN

When I first saw REJURAN presented at a medical conference, the idea genuinely blew my mind.

At the time, I was working as a physician-researcher, mainly studying cell biology and the behavior of cancer cells. So when I heard that polynucleotides could be extracted from salmon, purified and processed into an injectable product intended to support skin rejuvenation, I remember thinking:

Who came up with this idea? Was this person ON SOMETHING?

Was it simply a remarkable act of imagination? Or was it the result of a much deeper scientific insight—one that recognized biological potential in a material most people would never have considered?

Either way, I was fascinated.

Medicine often advances in this way. Someone looks at something familiar from an entirely different angle and asks whether it could be useful for a completely new purpose. Ideas that initially sound unusual can eventually become part of routine medical practice.

REJURAN was introduced in Korea in 2014 and, is bigger than ever.
And in my opinion, in many ways, helped usher in what we now call the era of “skin boosters.”

A Different Kind of Injectable Treatment

Before the rise of skin boosters, injectable aesthetic treatments were generally divided into two familiar categories.

Botox reduced excessive muscular movement and softened expression lines.

Hyaluronic acid fillers restored lost volume, supported facial structures, or altered facial contours.

Both remain extremely valuable treatments. REJURAN, however, introduced a different concept.

It was not designed primarily to paralyze a muscle, fill a hollow area, or reshape the face. Instead, the goal was to improve the overall condition and appearance of the skin itself.

That may sound obvious today. The term “skin booster” is now used so frequently that it almost feels as though these treatments have always existed. New products appear constantly, each with different ingredients, mechanisms, injection techniques, and marketing claims.

But REJURAN has been around for more than a decade. It is no longer simply a fashionable new injectable. Patients continue to request it, repeat it, and recommend it to others.

That longevity matters.

Let’s Be Honest: It HURTS

I should also be honest about the less attractive part of the treatment.

REJURAN injections can be painful.

The product is injected in small amounts across multiple points, and the temporary bumps immediately afterward are not particularly glamorous. Redness, swelling, tenderness, and bruising can also occur.

And yet, patients come back.

When someone voluntarily repeats a treatment that they already know may be uncomfortable, there is usually a reason.

With REJURAN, I believe that reason is the glow.

Once the initial swelling and injection marks have settled, the skin may gradually appear smoother, healthier, more hydrated, and more luminous. It is not usually a dramatic change in facial shape. In fact, another person may not be able to identify exactly what has changed.

They may simply think:

Your skin looks really good.

That is one of the interesting things about skin-quality treatments. Their effect is not always easy to capture in a dramatic before-and-after photograph. Patients often notice it when applying makeup, looking at themselves in natural light, or seeing their skin in photographs.

REJURAN does not necessarily make someone look different.

But it can certainly make them look fresher.

My Favorite Way to Use It

One of my favorite ways to use REJURAN is before an important event.

A wedding, reunion, anniversary, graduation ceremony, professional photo session, or special trip does not always require a dramatic aesthetic treatment. Most people do not want to arrive looking like they have suddenly changed their face.

They simply want to look well-rested, healthy, and like the best version of themselves.

For this purpose, I generally think REJURAN is best performed approximately two to six weeks before the event. And this is what I always tell my patients.

This allows time for the redness, swelling, and small injection bumps to disappear, while giving the skin time to develop that smoother and more luminous appearance.

Of course, the exact timing varies between patients. I would also avoid trying an unfamiliar injectable treatment immediately before an important occasion. In aesthetic medicine, a little planning is almost always better than rushing.

Best age for REJURAN ?

REJURAN is sometimes described as an anti-aging treatment, but that description is a little too narrow.

Younger patients may benefit when the goal is to improve hydration, texture, or luminosity without significantly changing the natural features of the face.

Patients in their 40s, 50s, and beyond may use it as one part of a broader plan addressing changes in skin quality, fine lines, pigmentation, laxity, and volume loss.

The role of treatment changes with age.

For a younger patient, the goal may be refinement and maintenance. For a middle-aged patient, it may be preserving skin quality as the face begins to change. For an older patient, REJURAN may complement other treatments that address laxity, volume loss, or deeper structural aging.

There is no specific age at which everyone needs to begin. There is also no universal schedule that every patient must follow.

The treatment should match the patient—not the other way around.

MSA Is Not Only About Surgery

Because our name is MSA (Morello Surgical Arts), and because I frequently discuss rhinoplasty, facelift surgery, eyelid surgery, and other operations, many people understandably think of MSA as a predominantly surgical clinic. And yes, surgery is an important part of what we do.

I enjoy surgery, and I believe in its value. When the underlying problem is structural, surgery can achieve something that injections and devices simply cannot even touch.

But not every concern requires an operation. Not every patient wants surgery, and not every patient should have surgery.

A large part of aesthetic medicine consists of smaller, carefully selected treatments performed at the right time and for the right reason.

At MSA, the five nonsurgical treatments I find myself recommending most frequently are:

• Volnewmer
• REJURAN
• Pico laser
• Botox
• Hyaluronic acid fillers

If these five treatment categories are understood and used properly, they can address a surprisingly large proportion of the concerns we see in everyday practice.

Volnewmer is useful when we want to improve mild skin laxity and firmness without changing the patient’s natural facial structure.

REJURAN is mainly about skin quality—texture, hydration, fine lines, and that characteristic glow.

Pico laser can be useful for selected pigmentation concerns and for improving skin clarity or texture, depending on the condition of the skin.

Botox reduces excessive muscular movement and can soften or prevent certain expression lines.

Hyaluronic acid fillers restore selected areas of volume loss, support facial structures, and improve shadows or contours when used carefully.

These treatments do different jobs. That distinction is important.

REJURAN cannot replace a facelift. Botox cannot restore lost facial volume. Filler cannot correct every type of skin laxity. A laser is not automatically the correct treatment for every dark spot.

Aesthetic treatments work best when we stop asking, “Which treatment is popular?” and start asking, “What exactly are we trying to improve?”

More Treatments Do Not Necessarily Mean Better Treatment

There are now so many aesthetic treatments that even physicians can struggle to keep up with every new product and device. This abundance of choice is exciting, but it can also create confusion.

When every concern is assigned a different injectable, laser, or machine, patients may end up with a long treatment plan without clearly understanding what each procedure is supposed to accomplish. And this also doesn’t helo because nothing really sticks.

Patients keep jumping around treatments, and don’t really see it out.

This is not our philosophy at MSA.

Our goal is not to recommend the largest possible number of treatments. It is to identify the actual problem and select the smallest reasonable combination of treatments that can address it.

Yes, sometimes the answer is surgery.

But most times, it is a combination of Volnewmer, REJURAN, Botox, filler, or pico laser.

Sometimes it is a simple peel and appropriate skincare.

And sometimes the correct medical recommendation is to do nothing.

This is why I often say that vague, aimless aesthetic treatment can be the most dangerous kind.

Before performing any procedure, we should be able to explain what we are treating, why we selected that particular treatment, what improvement can realistically be expected, and—equally importantly—what the treatment cannot accomplish.

“Nonsurgical” does not automatically mean safer, more natural, or more appropriate. In the same way, surgery is not automatically excessive.

The correct choice depends on the patient’s anatomy, skin condition, degree of aging, personal goals, tolerance for downtime, and whether the expected benefit justifies the cost and burden of treatment.

Beyond our five core nonsurgical treatments, we also offer chemical peels, medical laser hair removal, and permanent makeup (tatoo makeup).

These may sound less dramatic than surgery, but they can still make a meaningful difference in everyday life.

A peel may help maintain smoother and clearer skin. Medical hair removal can reduce both unwanted hair and the repeated irritation caused by shaving. Permanent makeup can improve definition and reduce the burden of applying makeup every morning when performed carefully and naturally.

Aesthetic medicine does not always need to produce a transformation.

Returning to the Plaque

So, returning to the plaque that arrived today: I am grateful for the recognition.

But what interests me more is what REJURAN represents.

It represents a change in the way we think about aesthetic medicine—from simply filling, freezing, lifting, or removing something to paying closer attention to the quality of the skin itself.

More than ten years after its introduction, patients are still choosing it. They know it may hurt. They know the improvement will not necessarily be dramatic. And it can be costly.

Yet they return because healthy-looking skin has a value of its own.

If you know MSA mainly as a surgical clinic, I hope this plaque serves as a small reminder that our work extends far beyond the operating room.

We invite you to explore our website and learn more about our philosophy and the full range of treatments available at MSA.

There may be more treatment options than ever before, but our basic principle remains simple:

Understand first. Treat only what matters.