Sachin M. Shridharani, MD, FACS, Reflects on 2025 Trends and Predicts What’s Next in Aesthetic Dermatology

In an era of rapid innovation and expanding patient demand, the aesthetic medicine landscape continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. In this Q&A with Dermatology Times, Sachin M. Shridharani, MD, FACS, a board-certified plastic surgeon, chief medical officer of SkinSpirit in New York, New York, and a clinical associate professor in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri, reflects on the year and offers a unique perspective on the forces shaping the future of aesthetics.

Q: What are some of the biggest trends you’ve seen in the aesthetic space in 2025?

Shridharani: The biggest trend I have seen in aesthetics is a substantial shift toward more patient interest in glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs). Along the same lines, regenerative medicine continues to pique interest. We are learning more and more about exosomes and platelet-derived growth factors, along with several other types of topical formulations that (sometimes controversially) also can be injected for the improvement of overall skin quality and tissue. There’s never been a greater time for an interest in these because of the overwhelming number of patients who are presenting with skin laxity and the manifestations of rapid weight loss from GLP-1 agents. Millions and millions of more patients are coming in who have never had aesthetic treatments at all in the past and are now troubled by these skin-quality changes from rapid weight loss.

Q: What aesthetic trends do you anticipate will be most popular in 2026 and why?

Shridharani: It’s always difficult to predict trends because things rapidly change in the world of aesthetics. But with that said, we are starting to see more patients returning who are interested in seeing some volume restoration in their face. There has been a downturn in the overall filler utilization. But knowing that people are walking around with a lot more deflation, so to speak, means that we are going to be finding an increased interest in structural “volumization” and more of a regenerative volumization. Don’t be surprised if we start seeing more interest in material for filling faces outside the typical realm of hyaluronic acid. Also, we will be seeing continued interest in skin-quality improvement and body contouring.

Q: Over the next 5 to 10 years, what emerging technology will have the greatest impact in clinical practice?

Shridharani: I think we’ll start to see technologies that can truly tighten the skin, whether it’s mechanically by removing small fragments of skin and decreasing scarring or energy-based devices that will actually make a significant impact on skin healing. Patients want to have overall improvements in tightening and contour but without having to have large scars. So I think those emerging technologies will continue to make a big difference. Also, I think looking at certain fat matrices with the extracellular matrix combined could also have a nice impact on strategic and structural volumizing without overfilling.

Finally, I think there will be continued cross-pollination between specialties, and a lot of individuals are going to be learning how to perform treatments outside of their classical training. This is an exciting time in medicine, but it is also a time to be looking at other providers with a critical eye to ensure trust. We need to look at their scope of practice and their overall comfort level with performing procedures that historically they may not have been trained to perform.

Q: What new technologies, treatments, and techniques will be popping up next year?

Shridharani: The new technologies, treatments and techniques popping up in the next year is definitely going to be an introduction of toxins, especially the neuromodulator space. We’ll likely see the launch of Relfydess [relabotulinumtoxinA], which is still pending its final FDA approval. This is what Galderma’s new toxin is called in other countries already, but [it] hasn’t been named in the US yet. The differentiation here will be that it is a liquid formulation, which can decrease the likelihood of medical errors that can occur when reconstituting or mixing toxin. Also, this increased efficiency could lead to better overall patient experiences and outcomes.

Q: How do you expect the continued influence of social media to impact the dermatology space this upcoming year?

Shridharani: Patients’ use of social media will continue to have an impact on the aesthetic dermatology space because more information just continues to be ubiquitously spread. With that in mind, I think it’s important to look at social media with a very critical eye. I always find it interesting that we will have a tremendous amount of critiques on medical literature, data, and journal articles, but a social media post can be posted just as pure opinion and millions of individuals will take it as gospel. So I do feel that social media continues to have a profound influence and will continue to have an influence. But as providers, we have to be so mindful of the source of the information and make sure that things lacking credibility do not go viral.