Once You Go Laser, You Won’t Need a Razor

Last week, as I was thinking about what to write for this week’s newsletter,  I realized that I have not yet written about laser hair removal, which is actually my most common procedure.  So far, my hair removal patients are predominately female, and frequently have unwanted strands expunged from areas including the face, underarms, forearms and legs.  However, more males are coming in for removal of back and chest hair.

Laser hair removal is a medical procedure that uses laser light to eliminate unwanted hair.  Of course, waxing and plucking have the same purpose, but the effects are far more painful and often times not permanent.  Instead of just removing strands of hair from the skin’s surface, the laser light passes through the skin and targets the pigment melanin in the hair root.  When the laser beam hits the root, provided the hair is in its active growth phase, the intense heat produced by the laser destroys it.  Once the root is destroyed, the hair is killed permanently and never grows back.  Think of it this way: once you go laser, you won’t need a razor.

Since only 10 to 15% of hairs in a particular area of the body are actively growing on any given day, multiple laser treatments are needed to remove unwanted hair indefinitely.  Hair color and skin type are important factors in the speed of success of laser hair removal.  This treatment is most successful in the darkest hair, and is a much more prolonged process in grey, blonde or red hair.

Laser hair removal is also most effective when the hairs are growing and visible.  Therefore, it’s okay to shave the unwanted strands prior to treatment, but waxing or plucking them are not recommended.  In fact, for many patients who pluck hair daily, they are frequently amazed by much hair they need treated when they stop plucking.  From now on, you all can consider waxing and plucking a thing of the past; so 20^th Century, if you will. 

When the laser light produces the heat at the root, the patient feels a snapping sensation, like a rubber band hitting their skin.  This sensation is most intense in body areas where the hairs are most concentrated (such as the chin) and where the nerve endings are most plentiful (such as the upper lip).  There is a brief moment of pain, but it is very quick and goes away as fast as it came. In fact, it is probably more painful to wait for that feeling than it is to actually receive it.  Don’t worry, though.  Just remember that the long term advantages of the procedure far exceed the short term consequences.

I recommend that all hair removal patients be pretreated with an anesthetic cream for 30-60 minutes prior to the operation.  As with all laser procedures, the patient wears special protective goggles.  Immediately before the excision, I place a cold gel on the hair removal target area to cool the skin because the laser does generate a lot of heat.  The tip of the laser probe is also cooled by a cold solution circulating through the tip.  When the procedure is complete, I place a cold compress over the treated area to reduce the redness of the skin produced by the laser heat.  This redness is temporary and is generally gone in the next several hours at most.

Over the next several days following the procedure, some patients will notice hairs actually falling out, especially in areas where the hairs are most dark and coarse.  Over the next several weeks and especially as multiple procedures are done, there will be noticeable reduction in hair growth in a particular zone.

Acne:  What To Do Regardless of Age

Last week, my blog post concentrated on acne causes and other facts.  I also discussed the nasty problem of adult acne that seems to be increasing in frequency in recent years.  This week, I will discuss more treatments and new developments of this difficult problem.

In past decades, acne treatment was very singular in focus, meaning that only one type of remedy was used at a time.  Such a medication concentrated on treating only one aspect of the many causes of acne.  Recently, the latest philosophy is to attack acne on all fronts, and understandably so.  Current topical therapies that work best use combinations of ingredients to keep the acne in check.  These combined elements help to stop bacterial growth and reduce inflammation, sebum (oily matter in the hair follicles) production, & skin cell proliferation.

The best products for acne contain a combination of ingredients including retinols (that clear pores of excess cells and oil which can form pimples), benzoyl peroxide (that kills bacteria and increases oxygen into pores), salicylic acid (that kills bacteria and exfoliates) and glycolic acid (that eliminates old skin cells and fights inflammation).  The acne products I recommend contain these ingrediants in various combinations.  Maine Laser Skin Care’s own Acne Kits contain instructions on how and when to use the products and in what amounts.

For some acne patients, it may be necessary to use oral antibiotics to attack bacteria from the inside out.  Doxycycline and tetracycline are among the most common prescriptions that work for acne.  These antibiotics directly combat bacteria that feed off the oil and dead skin cells, and therefore treat and prevent pimples.

For many acne sufferers, topical products and antibiotics are not, by themselves, enough.  In 2002, the FDA approved the use of lasers to treat acne.  Since 2003, I have been using the 532 nanometer Aura Iridex laser to treat acne with excellent results.  This laser treats the root cause by destoring bacteria, shrinking oil glands and reducing pore size without damaging surrounding tissue.  Using the initial four treatment protocol over a period of two weeks can reduce active acne by as much as 70%.  Old and new acne scarring can be eliminated or significantly reduced by using a combination of several lasers that can target both superficial and deeper scars.  While the deepest scars will never completely go away, they can become much less prominent and can blend more easily into the person’s skin tone and complexion.

I am also looking to add to my regimen of acne treatments in the next year.  The most likely to be added soon is Photodynamic Therapy (or PDT) which involves the use of a topical prescription called Levulan.  Levulan highlights oil glands allowing the laser light to penetrate and destroy overactive glands also destroying bacteria.  PDT helps to treat severe cystic acne, acne rosacea, and even some types of skin cancer.  Another new treatment is the use of LED light for less severe acne cases (Blue Light is one brand name I have been looking at) with or without the use of Levulan or PDT.

When new treatments are available, I will let you know by this blog as well as adding the information to the website.  If you have any specific questions about these or any other skin care issues, call our office at (207) 873-2158 or email through our website.

This entry was originally written as an e-newsletter exclusively for our subscribers on May 12, 2008.  The following information has been edited to illiminate dated references, but the main points of the article remain unchanged.  As always, feel free to contact us with any questions, or post any comments (within reason) you may have:

Technology Advancements Part II

I am writing this blog to give you more information that I couldn’t quite fit into my last posting.  While I was at the conference in Orlando, I heard another interesting report from the Lupo Center for Aesthetic and General Dermatology, located in New Orleans.  Researchers from that institute were there discussing their studies on the treatment of severe nasolabial folds.  Nasolabial folds are the lines from your nose to the area down around your mouth that form especially as we all grow older.  Some people call them “parentheses lines” because they form into that semicircular line around your mouth.  
 
During this study, 87 patients were treated with with Juvederm Ultra Plus on one side of the face and collagen on the other, similar to demonstrations on television commercials.  The patients had a mean age of 49 years, and they were evaluated every 4 weeks for about six months using a 0-4 scale (with 4 indicating the most severe lines).  Before treatment, the average folds were rated as 3 in the study group.
 
Over the study period, the collagen-treated folds improved to an average of 2.5 while the Juvederm treated areas improved to an average of 1.3 (which is equivalent to a mild wrinkle).  96% of the Juvederm-treated wrinkles were considered clinically significant improvements, and 81% of the patients maintained the improvement for one year or longer. No serious treatment-related adverse side effects were noted.  This report adds to the growing and accepted evidence that Juvederm provides improvements in treatments from previous available products and also provides durable correction of severe nasolabial folds.
 
I have been using Juvaderm for nasolabial folds and other facial wrinkles since it was approved by the FDA in the past several years.  I too have had excellent results with high patient satisfaction, and this study further confirms my experience with this product.  If you have any questions concerning dermal fillers including Juvaderm, give us a call or send us an e-mail and I would be glad to discuss this information further.
 
In upcoming posts, I will provide you with plenty of information from the national laser meeting that I will share with you in the near future.  Summer is coming if it’s not here already.  And even though I stress that sunblock is necessary for every time of year (including winter), you will especially need it during the summer.  Hence, now is the time to stock up on it while it’s hot, particularly now since our brand of SPF-36 replenishing sunblock is on sale.

Thanks again for reading this, and for your consistent support!  You’ll be hearing from me again soon.