Dr Siew Tuck Wah

Dermal fillers are commonly performed, but they are still medical procedures.

Rare complications can happen when filler affects a blood vessel, potentially leading to vascular occlusion, vision loss or even stroke.

That’s why facial anatomy, injection technique and early recognition of complications matter.

Before getting fillers, know the risks - not to be afraid, but to make a more informed decision.

Read more: Can Dermal Fillers Cause Blindness, Stroke or Even Death? https://www.drsiew.com/can-dermal-fillers-cause-blindness-stroke-death/

Always a pleasure to be part of the annual Merz Elevate Masterclass, which brings together experts from across the region to share ideas, techniques and innovative ways of using the Merz Aesthetics portfolio.

This year, I was very happy to speak about skin quality — in particular, how I use Ultherapy and Belotero Revive as part of a combined treatment approach to improve skin firmness, hydration and overall skin quality.

I also had the opportunity to present two of our studies.

The first looked at the BB8 technique for improving infraorbital hollows, an area where achieving a natural result requires careful assessment, precise placement and a good understanding of anatomy.

The second was our split-face study using Belotero Revive, comparing treatment with a needle versus cannula, and looking at the differences in patient experience and outcomes.

I also spent much of the event moderating the different sessions — although, judging from the photos, I may have been the coolest moderator and presenter there 😎. The sunglasses were not entirely a fashion statement: I was still recovering from cataract surgery at the time, so they became an unintended part of my Elevate look.

As always, what I enjoy most about meetings like Elevate is the exchange of ideas — hearing how colleagues from around the region approach the same problems differently, discussing the science, and continually refining the way we treat our patients.

Thank you Merz Aesthetics for having me, and to all the faculty and colleagues who made it such an enjoyable and inspiring meeting. ❤️

A look back at AMSC Malaysia 2026 last month 🇲🇾

I was very happy to be part of the Scientific Committee this year, as well as moderate several sessions and share some of my own experiences on stage.

One of the topics I spoke about was biostimulators — and importantly, that more collagen is not always better. As biostimulators become increasingly popular, we also need to recognise that repeated or inappropriate treatments can sometimes contribute to problems such as overfilled syndrome, tissue thickening and interstitial fibrosis. Knowing when not to stimulate is just as important as knowing how to stimulate.

I also shared my experience with the MultiFrax laser, and why I believe dual-wavelength technology is the future of fractional laser treatments — allowing us to target different depths and different concerns within the same treatment strategy.

As always, the best part of conferences is catching up with old friends, meeting new ones, and exchanging ideas with colleagues from around the region.

Thank you AMSC Malaysia for having me, and to everyone who came up to say hello and chat. ❤️

For the past few weeks, my inbox had quietly grown to over 1,000 unread emails.

It wasn’t because I was ignoring them. Between recovering from Influenza A, organising the Singapore Aesthetic Conference, advisory board meetings, conferences, and managing unexpected challenges in the clinic, there simply wasn’t enough time.

Eventually, I reached a point where no matter how many emails I answered, even more arrived before the day ended.

What surprised me most wasn’t the inbox itself, but how much mental space it occupied.

Only after finally clearing everything did I realise how much subconscious stress had been quietly building in the background. Every unread email represented another unfinished decision, another responsibility, another conversation waiting for closure. Individually they seemed insignificant, but together they became surprisingly heavy.

It reminded me that burnout doesn’t always happen because of one major event. More often, it develops from hundreds of small, unfinished things that quietly compete for our attention every day.

In this carousel, I’ve shared the lessons this experience taught me—including the seven things that helped me break the cycle and regain a sense of balance.
Have you ever had something seemingly small that occupied far more mental space than it should have?
I’d love to hear your experiences.

Could oxygen hold clues to healthier ageing?

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has gained attention for its potential effects on tissue oxygenation, cellular repair and even biological ageing. But can it really “reverse ageing” - or is the science more nuanced?

In our latest article, we look at what HBOT does, what current research suggests about ageing-related biomarkers, and where the evidence still has limitations.

Because healthy ageing is not about chasing one miracle treatment - it is about understanding which interventions are supported by science, and how they may fit into a broader longevity strategy.

Read more on our website.

I’m pleased to share our newly published paper introducing the BB8 Technique—an approach developed to make the treatment of infraorbital hollows more systematic, controlled and straightforward.

The under-eye region is unforgiving. Its thin skin and limited soft tissue mean that swelling, visible product and contour irregularities can be difficult to conceal.

With the BB8 Technique, Belotero® Balance is diluted with normal saline and delivered slowly in tiny amounts within the superficial subdermal plane. This allows the injector to build the correction progressively and create a smooth transition across the infraorbital hollow.

Although this publication reports a three-patient case series, the BB8 Technique is not new to our daily practice. It reflects how we have approached infraorbital hollow treatments in our clinic for the past eight years, across more than 500 cases. That accumulated clinical experience helped us progressively refine the dilution, treatment plane and delivery method described in the paper.


In our three-patient case series, hollow severity improved by one to two grades, with results maintained for six to nine months. No persistent or serious adverse events were reported.

These are encouraging early findings—not proof that any injectable procedure is risk-free. Careful patient selection, detailed anatomical knowledge and appropriate injector training remain essential, and larger studies are needed.

I hope this paper gives fellow medical practitioners a practical framework for approaching this delicate area.

Comment “BB8” and I’ll send you the full paper.