Innovation & Tech Today – May 2019

46 INNOVATION & TECH TODAY|SUMMER 2019

HealthTech
Presented by

SL:I havea fewinterestingcasesandit hasso

muchtodowiththepatienttoo.I thinkwhat

makesmyvideossocialmediacompellingisthat

it’sverymuchlike“HumansofNewYork”or

“OntheRoadwithCharlesKuralt.”I have

alwayslikedthesehumanintereststorieswhere

youdon’treallyknownecessarilywhothat

personis.Oryoufollowa truckdriverthrough

thedayandyoulearnhowinterestingtheirlife

is.I feellikeI talktomypatientsandyounever

seewhotheyare,butthenyoulearnaboutthem

andyoukindoffallinlovewiththem...

Therewasoneguyearlyon;wecallhimPops.

HiswifepassedawayrightbeforeI starteddoing

amazingblackheadextractionsonhimandhe

talkedaboutit onthevideoandit actually

triggereda GoFundMeaccountandI thinkthat

weraisedtwelve or fourteen thousand dollars

forhim.

There’sa videowherewegiveit tohimtoo

andhe’sfloored.Hewasintroublebecausehe

hadtomoveoutofhishomebecausehe

couldn’taffordit.Hiswifejustpassedaway.He

wasreallydevastated.ButI thinkit reallyhelped

brightenhisdays.AndforpeoplefromEurope

andAsiaandallaroundAmericatosendhim

moneywithoutevenknowingwhat he looks

like?Thatwasamazingtome!

I&TToday: Couldyoutalkaboutyournew

skincarelineandwhatmakesitunique?

SL:I reallyalwayswantedtocreatesomething,

then I had this opportunity here. I saw that I had

thisplatformofmillionsofpeoplethatwere

followingme.I knowthattheytrustmy opinion,

andI don’ttakethatlightlyeither.

TheyknowthatI’ma dermatologistandthey

trustmyopinionaboutskincare.SoI really

wantedtocreatea medicalline,butsomething

different.[Currentbrands]arealljumbledandI

reallywantedtocreatea lineforpeoplethat

can’tseedermatologists,becausethevast

majorityofpeoplecan’t– ortheydon’thavethe

money,theydon’t have the time, they don’t have

insurance.

I feellikemyvideoskindoftricktheminto

educatingthemselves,too.Andoncetheyare

educatedaboutthings,theycanlearn:“Oh,I

havekeratosispilaris”or“That’sthiscondition!”

Nowtheycangotomylineandtheycan find

thingsthatareavailablethatweas

dermatologistswouldrecommendtoourown

patients.Andtheycansortoftreat themselves

andfeelproudaboutthattoo.

Ofcourse,that’snotgoingtohappento

everybodybecausenoteverythingisfixable

withover-the-countermedications.Butthere

aresomanythingsoutthere!There’sfoot

fungusspraythatcanbeusedtotreatotherskin

conditionsonthebody.Orthereareeyedrops

thatcanbeusedtotreatrosacea.Thereareso

manydifferentthingsouttherethatareavailable

over-the-counterbutarenotrecommendedfor

peopleinthecorrect way to treat the specific

skin conditions.

I&TToday: Howhaveyouseenskincare

technologydevelopovertheyears?

SL:Well,there’salwaysnewthingsthatcome

outthataresuperexpensiveandvery

technologicallydriven.Therearealwaysnew

lasersthatcomeoutthatpromisethattheycan

shrinkporesorgetridofhemangiomas.

Theyareusingtechnologyandallthenew

thingsthatwediscovertotrytoturnbackthe

clock.Thoseare the main things that we see,

youknow?

Therearealsonewdevelopmentsin

teledermatologywherepeoplearetryingtosee

dermatologistsremotely.There’sgoodandbad

withthat;obviouslydermatologyisprobably

themostvisualfield.But,I thinkthatisa very

greatthingtodo,especiallyforsomeonethat

livesina ruralareathatcan’tgetsomewhere and

theyneedtohavea treatment.

I&TToday: Whydoyouthinkpeople are so

fascinatedbypimplepopping?

SL:Alotofpeoplewillwatchmyvideoslikea

bedtimestory,todecreasetheiranxiety,to

maybeevendecreasetheirowncompulsionsto

pickattheirownskin.Someviewerssaymy

voiceisveryASMRand you know how that has

beena bigtrend....

But,I alwaysjokethatif moreworld

leaderswerepopaholics, I think we’d have

world peace.■

How PimplePoppingBecame aSensation