Patients can have bigger dreams when you break costs into smaller pieces.

When the economy is down, people tend to cut cosmetic procedures from their budgets, as they see it as a “want” instead of a “need.” For doctors this can mean fewer procedures in their practices. There are many credit card based financial products that can help patients realize that the procedures they have been wanting are affordable – even in today’s economy. Plans are available for 18 and 24 month no interest plans as well as 48 month extended payment plans that help break total costs into more manageable monthly payments. In addition, there are no down payments, so patients can get their treatments started faster.

Practices can save valuable time with the online reporting system that lets them submit applications electronically, view application statuses, track patient financing performance and even set goals for the upcoming year.

Practitioners should not provide links to these financing offers on their websites. Instead, publish a statement, which clearly says that financing is available and have your patients come to the office, where your staff will help them submit the application, explain all benefits and schedule the procedure.

Some people wonder why OB/GYN practices offer LHR. Isn’t it the realm of plastic surgeons and dermatologists?

For gynecologists laser hair removal is a natural transition and a perfect fit as they can perform these procedures in discrete areas of the female body in a comfortable setting of a medical office. Permanent reduction of hair in women care clinics also tends to be more affordable as these treatments are typically focused on small areas and can be combined with regular office visits.

How does laser remove hair?

Highly controlled flashes of laser beams are selectively absorbed by hair follicles lying below the surface of the skin. The absorbed light heats the hair, which damages and destroys the regrowth potential of the follicle- all without damaging surrounding tissue. Hair follicles are usually in different growth cycles at different times in relation to one another. Since the follicle must in active growth in order to be affected by the laser, several treatments spread over several months are required to assure the destruction of all hair follicles.

Areas treated: bikini area, underarms, and face.

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Doctors Arielle N. B. Kauvar from New York Laser & Skin Care and E. Victor Ross, M.D., director of laser and cosmetic dermatology, Scripps Clinic, San Diego, provided a quick overview of different aesthetic lasers for medical practice in this article published by Modern Medicine yesterday.

The overview is a good basic briefing on most of the laser modalities, applications and what different types of lasers have to offer. Dr. Ross is one of the veterans of the laser medicine and I like his comment on his personal favorite lasers: ”If my clinic were burning and I only had time to save two lasers, I’d save my KTP laser and my CO₂ laser. They do very different things, but they’re the yin and yang that allow me to cover the widest range of indications with the fewest lasers”.

There is, however, a tremendous shift towards non-invasive and affordable treatments in the last few years. The trend is also fueled by bad economy, which caused a significant drop in more expensive invasive procedures. These days most of aesthetic physicians should consider rushing in to save their YAGs if the practice were burning.

We stumbled upon an old (March 7, 2007) article in ABC News – Spa Left Woman With Skin ‘Like Raw Meat’ – a story about a 52-year-old stay-at-home mom who saw the ugly side of medical spas. She went to one in Panama City, Fla., for what she thought was a routine procedure – laser treatments to remove sunspots on her back and chest.

“They put a topical ointment on my skin called Leveline, which intensified the laser,” Miles said. “After it was over, I was already burning. During the treatment, it was very excruciating pain, but I was lead to believe that this was normal.”

The pain, which she said felt like someone pressing hot curling irons in to her back, was not normal. After leaving the spa, she said that her back was on fire and that she was vomiting from the severe pain. When she finally looked in a mirror, Miles was shocked at what she saw.

“It looked like raw meat. I had horrendous blisters all over it. It was in a zebra-stripe type pattern. It was scary,” she said.

See the graphic pictures of what an IPL machine can do in the hands of an untrained medical spa technician.

Why the newer fractional technologies are so popular?

The latest fractional laser technologies offer a better balance of efficacy, patient tolerance and lack of side effects compared to older lasers.

For better results the depth of the laser beam penetration and the depth of skin resurfacing are important. But even more important is an optimal combination of depth, microspot size, density, as well as the ratio of ablation to coagulation.

Depth is a simple term that indicates how deep the thermal damage extends into the skin tissue. It is the depth of the microcrater or hot cylinder.

Microspot size is the diameter of the microscopic wound.

Density is the percent coverage over the skin surface, e.g. 20 percent density means 20 percent of the skin surface is damaged.

The “ratio of ablation to coagulation” can be explained as follows: one pulse of laser beam produces a crater (coagulation area), which is 100 µm wide, and the lateral thermal damage (area of ablation) of 50 µm in radius (100 µm in diameter) ; therefore in this case, the total width of coagulation is 100 µm, and the total width of ablation is 100 µm, therefore 1:1. This ratio is an indication of the downtime. Coagulation is a type of thermal damage, which greatly influences wound healing.

The problem is that no one knows the precise best recipe among all of these variables to achieve the best ratio of cosmetic enhancement to days of “downtime.”

CO2 and Erbium laser skin resurfacing is a very efficient procedure to remove wrinkles, acne scars, blemishes, growths, and sun-damaged skin blemishes. The laser allows the body to produce new collagen and generate new skin. The result is usually “years younger” skin. Improvement continues as the aged and sun-damaged deep collagen areas continue to regenerate and repair for three to six months after treatment.

How long will the improvement last?

No one can say for sure, but many laser physicians believe that you can expect the results to last for several years. How long may depend on your unique skin type and upon your post-treatment skin care. Think of the laser as “turning back the clock” so to speak, so that your skin again resembles its fresher appearance of years past. Your new skin remains dynamic and alive and it should take many years before your skin appearance manages to catch up with where it was before your treatment. Much depends on how carefully you protect your new skin from damaging sun-exposure. You have a second chance at slowing down the sunlight-related aging process. Read the rest of this article >>>