So what’s new? Well, new is not always better. In this case though, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Laser Hair removal is about 15 years old now. It has certainly come a very long way but it has also had it limitations. Still to date we cannot remove gray hair or very lightly pigmented hair. The target for hair removal laser is pigment. We have improved the manner in which we treat different skin types. We can certainly treat skin of color and we can treat various thicknesses and densities of hair. All this is very good to achieve the overall result of permanent hair reduction in most people. Until recently, laser hair removal, like most forms of hair removal, remained very tedious, time consuming, messy and often painful. This often deterred a large part of the population from getting it done, particularly men who have larger areas to treat such as backs and shoulders. One of the most recent advances in laser hair removal has come from the company that had the gold standard device in the past- The Light Sheer hair Laser. With the ability to treat all skin types with the least number of treatments necessary, this device has proven over the years to be the rolls royce of hair removal lasers. Their most recent prodigy is the Light Sheer Duet Laser. Using similar Diode technology the LightSheer Duet has two treatment heads-the traditional 9×9mm which is still great for small tough to reach areas and the duet HS or high speed hand piece which is almost 10 times the size at 22x 35mm. This allows for dramatically faster, deeper and more efficacious treatments. Backs and legs are done in 15-20 minutes as opposed to 1-1 1/2 hours. The device also uses what is known as pneumatic suction to draw the skin gently into the laser improving penetration of light, efficacy, and a dramatic reduction in pain. The overwhelming majority of patients no longer require anesthesia or treatment gel, making the treatment quick, clean and easy. Thus far i have nothing negative to say about this laser. A dramatic number of patients that would not have done the treatment in the past are coming into the office and leaving very satisfied. A large number of men are also being added to roster. Because of the speed, ease, and minimal discomfort treatment cost becomes more and more attainable as well. I do believe this is the new standard in Laser Hair removal. Feel free to watch a video about how the laser works on our website- www.pfrankmd.com

Stretch marks or striae are one of the most annoying cosmetic skin problems. The second runner up, cellulite, we will talk about another time. What is generally unknown is that stretch marks are common in men as well as women. They are basically a form of scar tissue where the elastic fibers of the skin are overstretched causing a very signature look with some variation in color and quality. Most popularly they come about during pregnancy. There are also very common during puberty during growth spurts. It is in this circumstance that young men often acquire them. In all cases, one’s susceptibility to them appears to have a strong genetic factor but obviously anyone can get them. The more trauma or stretching action to the skin the more likely one is to acquire them. Some lesser known causes include weight gain, development of muscle hypertrophy with exercise, and as a side effect of oral and topical medications particularly steroids.
Up until recently very little could be done. Billions of dollars have been spent on creams and treatments that basically do nothing. Over the past several years though laser technology has made dramatic improvements in their treatment. In the best-case scenario, stretch marks are detected early and some level of redness or inflammation is present. In this case, a pulsed dye vascular laser (V-Beam) can be used to stop their progression. Once the tissue appears stretched, whitish or dark, other technologies must be used, notably fractional non-ablative lasers such as the Fraxel Restore. In general, I am surprisingly impressed by their efficacy. Now, as expected, nothing will remove them completely and several factors such as skin type, severity, and body location will play a strong role in how much improvement can be achieved. What I could say, is that for many patients that are good candidates we can minimize stretch marks by 80+ %. Universally, several relatively simple, low downtime treatments are necessary. Often a combination of technologies mentioned above must be used in conjunction with topical agents. The good news is that we now have pretty solid protocols that will give patients much greater comfort and hope in the improvement of these common scar-like embarrassments.

So  I discussed in an earlier blog fractionated laser technology. Well, things keep getting better. I also mentioned that I preferred the original name brand that invented the technology- Fraxel. One of the reasons I dig the brand is its continued innovation. There has recently been a spectacular upgrade to their non-ablative (non cutting) technology called the Fraxel Restore. The new version is called the Fraxel Dual. Mostly because they added a second wavelength of light to the device, called the Thulium,  that is specific for superficial sundamage and hyperpigmentation. The laser is still fractionated so the safety is excellent and recovery is remarkably fast. So in the same device both superficial issues such as sun damage and deeper issues such as scars and wrinkles are treated at the same time. Depending on the patient,  the two wavelengths can be used as separate entities or together in one treatment. What I have loved using this newer version for is patients with diffuse brown sun damage. In only one treatment I can now erase 10+ years of pigment with one treatment and only 4 days of a non- painful sunburn like effect. Traditionally, it would either take other devices with a longer recovery or 4-6 photofacials to achieve this result. Thumbs up to Fraxel!