VERONICA SMALHEISER, AGNP-C, CVNP-BC

Advice for Living and Looking Healthy in the Lowcountry

story by KATE HAMILTON-PARDEE      photos by SABELL SILHOUETTE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH SHAWNNA ABEL

The mild weather of Beaufort provides ample opportunities to enjoy the outdoors—a visit to Hunting Island for beach walks along the ocean, while also searching for beautiful shells and shark teeth. The scenic Spanish Moss Trail for miles of biking along with many golf courses provides abundant choices for the fitness enthusiast in this beautiful seacoast town.
While exercise is one component of vibrant living, there is a myriad of other choices to consider doing or implementing into our lives to help us reach our health goals. During a recent interview with Veronica Smalheiser, a Nurse Practitioner at Lowcountry Medical Group, she shared her well-being journey. During our time together, she revealed many simple and easy steps toward feeling healthy and looking better too.

Veronica was raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She met her future husband, Stuart Smalheiser, working as an ICU cardiac nurse at Jacksonville Hospital. He was completing his training in General and Interventional Cardiology. They were married in 2010 and soon moved to Beaufort after Stuart accepted a position as an Interventional Cardiologist at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Veronica found a job as an Emergency Department Nurse, also at Beaufort Medical Hospital. After one year of working in the ER, she decided to return to school to pursue further training as a Nurse Practitioner. She attended classes at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston.

Describing her busy schedule and curriculum while at MUSC, Veronica says, “It was challenging, but I loved the classes, especially physiology.” What was difficult, she says, was public speaking and presenting materials as part of the coursework when required at times in front of the class. However, she was committed to working hard and determined to persevere in her studies. “I started my first Nurse Practitioner job with Beaufort Memorial Hospital in transitional care, working mainly in the hospital helping high-risk patients for readmission,” Veronica states. She began her work at Lowcountry Medical Group in 2015, where her focus shifted to the holistic wellness of her patients. “I love the team effort and the results I see with my patients,” Veronica adds and then lightheartedly says, “As a plus, I work in the same office as my husband. We have long, crazy schedules and seeing him brightens my day.”

Veronica’s commitment and approach to supporting a healthy lifestyle are evident in her own life and her practice. She talks about general wellness tips that most people can incorporate right away. “It is essential to be active every day, aiming for 10,000 steps per day, eating right, and making sure to get eight hours of sleep every night.” She then said, “These top three could be simplified as consistent sleep, daily exercise, and a proper diet. Drinking water, applying at least 30 SPF or avoiding the sun, having a daily regimen of skincare, and making sure to take your make-up off when you go to bed” are useful reminders and advice for us all.

In addition to general heath, Veronica works with skin-enhancement procedures, such as Botox. Veronica says she sees great results with her patients. “Botox takes a few minutes and is injected with a fine needle into specific muscles where it temporarily reduces the formation of facial lines. It takes about five to ten days to start working and will help wrinkles look visibly smoother and lasts about three to four months.”
In addition to performing Botox, she also works with a new and exciting technique now available on the market called microneedling. Microneedling is a treatment in which fine needles are used to prick the skin, which then causes stimulation to produce collagen. Then, plasma rich platelets or PRP, taken from the blood of the patient, helps with healing and skin tissue repair. In addition, Broadband Light Therapy helps hyperpigmentation. It is a pulse-light therapy making the tone and texture of the skin more even.”

Veronica shared the importance of finding certified resources by speaking to your aesthetician. She added, “You should observe the way someone is examining your skin and how they are tailoring a specific regimen for you based on their findings.” She talked about her personal story about going to her skin professional. She said, “Susan Ciccarelli, LE, is my aesthetician, and she does a wonderful job explaining the process in skincare and helping me get great results.”

Veronica enjoys the Lowcountry both personally and professionally. She enthusiastically tells me, “I love that the commute is so much easier than Charleston, and I love the community.” We all know that life is not “All Work and No Play” and for Veronica that means being surrounded by water, spending time with her family, and enjoying her four-year-old son who loves the outdoors. She also enjoys fitting a run in her free time and baking in the kitchen. Although she and her husband have hectic schedules, they still try to find time to travel nearby and enjoy a special date night in Charleston at their favorite spot, Halls Chophouse.

Veronica loves living in Beaufort with her family. She enjoys going more than skin deep for her patients to help them feel and look stronger and healthier. All of this combined contributes to her happy, healthy, and fulfilling life.