Dr. Jason Emer is a board certified and fellowship-trained general, cosmetic and procedural dermatologist who specializes in liposculpture and body contouring, as well as cosmetic and laser dermatology. He is one of a select few surgeons in United States (Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California) to perform 4D (four-dimensional) body contouring in which he has patients flex their muscles, move the targeted areas in real time, and have the patient in various positions such as standing or bending during the procedure to precisely and meticulously define the areas.
My greatest achievement is…
In four and a half years I was able to be the fellowship in San Francisco after training in dermatology and from scratch in Los Angeles, in such a competitive market. In an area where there are lots of doctors that do the same thing and develop the upper hand and a reputation that upholds treating patients with a lot of respect with honesty, and with the newest technology. Giving them the best results, more concierge care that you don’t see in this field. So I feel like my most significant achievement has been being to create this type of personalized aesthetic crafted in such a short period of time. I developed such a great patient following and such a fantastic team. Within the past two years, patients can see so much of my videos and our YouTube and our before and after stories that they relate and they are looking not only for procedures they are looking for someone that they can get to know and understand them and pick what’s right for them. And by watching those videos and our interactions with patients and our staff they feel like they know you before they even come in, they feel they know the results they are going to get.
How did you end up in your field?
When I was in residency I had this position, and I was doing a lot of cosmetics when nobody was. 11 years ago, it wasn’t that big, I was even doing Facebook at the time and it wasn’t even real stuff it just started. And we had a physician I did laser on him and he was so happy with the results he was in his 60s and had just gotten divorced and right after the laser he met this girl the and they started dating and he said to me “ you don’t understand what cosmetics does for people, what you do for people”. Not just the procedure I feel better about myself I’m dating now its changed my whole life when you graduate you need to open in the most expensive area in the world the most looked at place for cosmetic and put your shingle up because you’re going to be successful” And I looked back at that when I walked into my office a couple weeks ago and I thought about that conversation and funny that I actually did that. Four and a half years ago I said to myself I had never been to Los Angeles and I was in San Francisco and I had a great job Every Day I would drive home and I didn’t love what I did, I wanted to be this inspiring innovative cosmetic dermatologist that worked on clients from Hollywood but also on everyday clients as well. When I decided that I was going to go to Los Angeles I had never even been there. I just said that’s where everybody wants surgery and that’s where everybody wants cosmetics that’s where everyone is looking at cosmetics because of Hollywood so I’m going to go there and I’m going to stand out and be the best And that’s what I ended up doing and without even realizing I kind of followed a path that people told me to go on and never thought I was going to do.
The future of my field is…
There are two things I think are going to happen, patients are going to be looking for more personalized plans with people that they trust in long-term preventative treatments. People younger and younger are going to be getting preventative Botox and fillers they are going to be worried about skin cancers, wrinkles, and sunspots. They are going to be doing their monthly facials and peels. And they are going to be doing much more in skincare, I’m sure skincare sales are going to up dramatically these next 5-10 years because all these celebrities and makeup artist are promoting these preventative treatments.
Also, people are becoming more aware they need to take care of your skin just like your teeth and your hair and body long term. So I think there’s going to be a massive surge of people doing treatments and wanting improvements cosmetically I think that they are going to want it more customized, they are going to want it with somebody they can trust. I always tell people when they come to my office they get a beauty team, they get my self, the consult, they see my aesthetician, then they see my consultant that walks into all of the procedures then they meet my PA that does all the lasers and fillers, then they meet my plastic surgeon that can get anything they want, transformation with their body. Whether they are a mom and have lost weight and need a mommy makeover. Or if they want a breast implant or a patient that’s gone through trauma or injury and we fix their bodies. We have a whole beauty team, we are doing hormones and wellness, hair loss prevention, stem cell therapy for what we predict in the future may be able to cure cancer or prolong your life. I think everyone is going to go to these experts and specializes but they are going to need to be in one place. Which is why I’m building out my new location, it is 8,000 square ft., I am renaming it Emerage instead of just my being my name Jason Emer, it’s going to be the Emerage. It is going to have all the different components of a luxury team. The plastic surgeon, the aesthetic specialist, the skin care specialist the hormone specialist the regenerative stem cells specialist, therapy, referrals for yoga, food service, everything.
I also think there’s going to be a flip side for it I think there is going to be a lot of quick to go shop that is going to pop up for Botox and fillers. I think because they are so readily accessible now, that’ they are going to be able to walk down the street, walk in walk out get your Botox quick. I think this is going to lead to a lot of problems because there is going to be complication there’s not going to be individualized care, there’s going to be people just doing it for the money not for the beautification or the artistry. So I think there’s going to be a lot of these pop up shops for Botox and fillers long term, but I think the field is still going to press towards the luxury type of care and the people that care for that level of service and the real expertise and skill of the physician and less so these pop-ups.
The biggest misconception about my field is…
That even if you have these luxury type of places with the high end focused treatment plans that they can’t afford it and it is unattainable for them only the super-rich can get it. That’s not true, we have physicians trained by me that are trained under me that are less costly. I have a PA and a nurse that also do fillers that were trained under me at different tiered level prices. You don’t have to do lasers and a lot of fillers to look good preventively. You can be doing facials and peels and skincare, which is way less expensive so there is something for everybody even at the very high-end luxury place. What you’re paying for when you go there is the high level of service and you then you can tailor what your affordability is.
Some Doctors are cutting corners they are doing quick procedures without the finesse and skills of the surgical closing by hand or completing the entire lipo. So, for example, they’ll do the stomach but they won’t do the back or the arms, so if someone gains weight they gain weight there later. We’re doing the full 3 dimension, we’re making the entire contour better and if we have to cut we’re hand sewing it closed in multiple layers to get them to get the finesse it scars less, you get much better results and less likely for infection, not using staples that thing like that that can irritate the skin and cause scarring. There is an option to get it for cheaper but you’re going to put yourself in a little bit of a risk for getting a scar or an outcome you don’t want, not having a comprehensive treatment like in those mommy makeovers that I have seen the arms are off and these women have skinny waist, huge buttocks, and fat arms. When we do these we do the whole body we do 360 degrees, the arms the stomach the legs so that everything looks proportionate and beautiful and it looks natural, proportionate and people pay more for that. I’ve stayed true to my belief and my belief in outstanding results and care. You do your best all the time and you try to never cause a mistake.
What are your most requested procedures?
I do two different things. I do body contouring, a lot of people come to me for liposuction and significant body transformation, and initially, it was more Lipo sculpting, now it’s become more of natural BBL. More of the lovely curves, athletic shaping, fixing botched procedures, women who have had lousy Lipo or bad tummy tucks, discoloration and scarring. Now we can do male implants shoulder implant, chest implants. With women it’s breast so it is more body transformation, that’s one part.
The other part is fillers and Botox for prevention. To a lot of my patients, I’m known as the lips cheeks and eyes person. Now with men, it’s become more jawline and chin because that’s the look right now. I do a lot of fillers and again that natural subtle type of filling. So people are coming to me for that, the preventative filler, Botox and body contouring.
What surgical advancements are you most excited about?
I’m excited about is two things. The facial skin tightening and the hottest thing right now in those brackets is something called Morpheus 8. These are needle treatments that radio frequency treatment associated with them. The Inmode technology the Fractora and Morpheus 8 are the best ones I’ve ever seen. Originally designed to treat acne scars in patients that didn’t want a lot of downtimes or have darker skin. Then they realized the skin tightens at the same time. It’s very rare to have a laser that tightened skin. This is radio frequency energy that’s remodeling the skin and tightening in every skin type. Patients in one or two treatment see a result, although its something I do preventatively every two months and tell people its something you should do anyway and if you have scarred, its something you might have to do something long-term almost your whole life.
On the body side its also skin tightening, the difference is instead of doing it external, the Fractora and the Morpheus 8 are external treatments to do in the office, there are ones that are internal to tighten and shrink, great for women that have had kids that have a little bit of loose skin and don’t want to have a tummy tuck but want to do a small weekend procedure to tighten the skin. Great for people that don’t want an arm lift and do not want to have cutting on their arms and have to have a full radio plasty. You can do a little bit of Lipo and internal heating and getting 50 -60%smaller with not scars. One of the ways it is been used is on the breast, to do a non-surgical procedure. Which is an internal probe with radio frequency, it shrink-wraps the skin from inside you can hear it sizzle there’s another one called Renovian, it is used externally for resurfacing but we are using it internally to shrink-wrap the skin.
What procedures are you best known for?
The big one besides the six-pack sculpting procedure and the BBL, creating a women’s curve or natural curve, its acne scar and melasma. Those two things I’m well known for. There are only a few doctors in the world that are experts in acne scars because there’s no training for that. It became a passion of mine when I was originally treating these HIV patients with Sculptra. I started noticing that the Sculptra was building collagen volume in their face but then their texture improved, their scars improved and I was like this is interesting, well what happens if we start adding lasers, peels, and micro needling to that then their scars improve even more. Now its progressed to a point where we have a tiered prong approach to all different types of scars and how we treat them and patients come from all around the world to get their deep scars surgically removed or filled or used a treatment the precision to lift the scar. We do aggressive lasers to remodel the scar we get people on long-term treatment to get the texture improved. Melasma, which is hormonal, or sun-induced hyperpigmentation it’s prevalent in Middle Eastern patients, Hispanic patients, and mixed ethnicity. Very difficult to treat and these women very self-conscience because of its pigmentation on the face very noticeable and hard to cover up with makeup. Were using peel combinations were using measles therapy which is old-school techniques from Paris to be able to lift the pigmentation to get them combination skincare to really lighten the skin tone and even the complexion that’s what people come to me for. The surgical contouring and using peels and skincare and combination laser treatment and fillers for acne scars and melasma.
What is your most memorable patient reaction?
It is when patients cry. Almost every time they take off their garment for the first time, they cry, they are just so shocked. Most of my practices now are these botched procedures. When someone comes in and they have scar tissue and discoloration they don’t even take their shirt off. And then you do a surgery and in a couple days you take off the garment they feel they can run around naked. You’re so happy because it changes their lives, men that have Gynecomastia where they have male boobs these guys don’t even want to take off their shirts they are embarrassed to be in locker rooms. Sometimes it is genetic, you do a surgery on them and they have an athletic shape, you give them muscles it is like their lives have changed. What I find is that this boost their self-confidence and the artistry that I can use to get these results to make them feel amazing.
What sets my practice apart is…
I care about what I do; I even get upset when I get bad reviews. When people talk about money or being unhappy about results. The majority of bad results we have are from patients who think it’s all very expensive. But when I meet somebody I put together a whole treatment plan, I tell them the best-case scenario. Like when you go to a car dealership and they tell you every add-on and you can’t afford that car but you can get the version one or two beneath it. A lot of the patients don’t look at that we try to talk to them about all the different options and the most affordable options. It hurts me when I get reviews like that when they say “oh he doesn’t care, all he wants is money” that’s not true at all. All I do is think about my patients, I don’t even sleep half the time because all I’m doing is thinking about them. We are creating customized treatment plans, individualized care. Which is what sets the practice apart. We treat everybody like they are our family, my staff cares about our patients so much I mean it’s unbelievable.
And I think the one other thing that sets us apart, people feel like they know us before they even come in because of all the videos all the Facebook live, all the patient information that is easily accessible. For other doctors you ask to show a picture and they can’t even produce it to you or they can’t even show a video of them performing a procedure with all this technology and they can’t provide that, you should be scared. In this day in age when we have videos, Snapchat, and patient testimonials you should have easily accessible information. I think that’s what sets us apart you come in and we tell you about 20 procedures the next day you’re getting an email with every YouTube video we have on those procedures. You’re getting an email with pictures I even have a network of patients willing to talk to other patients that are interested. I am training other people in my office my PA my nurses with the same level of passion and technique so that if someone can’t afford it they can get it.
What do you love most about your profession?
What I love most about my profession is the ability to make people feel good about themselves and bring them confidence in a way that nobody else can do. I can work with my hands. I can be an artist and bring the field forward by doing this research and doing these combinations.
Tell us about a career-defining procedure?
When I moved to Los Angeles and I wanted to stand out and the big thing is that there are many cosmetic physicians here so the two areas that I have honed in on is treating men and body sculpting the abs, six pack. That got me noticed no one in Los Angeles was a younger dermatologist that was actively treating men and talking about male rejuvenation. That’s kind of a newer thing for men, to want to be doing cosmetic treatments and preventative cosmetic treatment. And also is the body sculpting everybody is doing the traditional Lipo, they are doing the fast quick in quick out type of Lipo. Mine is artistry, sculpting and defining, shaping the body and people started to notice me. And that’s how I built my career and once people started coming in for that they started telling people about everything else that I did.
What new services are you excited to offer?
The technologies are changing a lot, the things that are trending right now. We have everything I have almost 70 lasers. We have all the surgical treatment that you could do. Mommy makeover, breast lift, breast augmentation we do male implants, chest, calves, and buttocks. The things that are trendy right now are the internal heating to tighten skin. A lot of people want skin tightening without cutting. So pseudo tummy tuck, arm lift, knee lift elbow lift, all from these devices like evolved BodyTite, FaceTite. All those are devices that are made to shrink-wrap the skin and literally, in a weekend you can get a result non-surgical result but better results than what we were able to do without cutting before.
The other is micro needling radio frequency that we have talked about for acne scars. Because this is a treatment that has no downtime it delivers the energy of an intense laser deep into the skin but it can be treated on all skin types, African America skin can be treated with this and you cant typically do that with lasers. The other secondarily affect to this that they noticed is tightening of the crepey skin so women that have that type of turkey neck or crepeiness on the arms and chest, the neck and elbows. This is giving improvement with literally no downtime to those areas. The hot other treatments that are trending right now are something called ampule microinfusion where we take a little ampule and we put whatever we want in it, it could be Botox, it can be vitamins, a little bit of filler, solutions that help with pigmentation or tightening of the skin, and a little ampule that connected to needles and we just stamp it on the skin. Instead of it going very deep like micro needling it only goes to the surface and it brightens the skin, lifts pigmentation, shrinks the pores, decreases the oil, it makes people glow almost immediately.
The other two things that are trending are Vaginal and Penial rejuvenation we call this the down under treatment or the bespoke services. The O-shot the P-shot, fillers to the penis fillers to the vagina internal tightening to increase sexual satisfaction, increase the moisture for women that have low sex drive this increases the sex drive. In men that want a little more tightening this thickens the penis and it makes them feel better about themselves. People want this genital rejuvenation, it’s a hot thing happening right now, and we are doing a combination of treatments.
The last one is threading where we put sutures internally to lift and tighten the skin you can do it for the face and neck but the trending areas is to do it in the breast the knees and the elbows. To lift those areas with putting in a suture, done in the office with a little local numbing very easy treatment you go in with the suture, it lasts one or two years and it lifts the area and long-term it builds collagen. So we are manipulating tissue through a minimal procedure called threading that was popular years ago but became out of popularity because they were all permanent and caused irregularities in tissue long-term, but now these dissolve into the skin and become collagen so they are much safer.
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