Home Laser Hair Removal

Kristine Johnson at WCBS in New York just reported on laser hair removal being available at home, in conjunction with this month's Allure magazine, which I was quoted in. This is old news down at SMAC in Boca Raton, where we've been carrying the Tria by Spectragenics since April.

Effective lasers for home use are a hit. It is no surprise that such machines are finally here. In fact, it is now almost 15 years since our research team and teams at Harvard Medical School were able to show that lasers could safely, effectively and permanently remove unwanted hair. First we were only able to treat dark hair on light skin. Then lasers became available to treat unwanted hair on dark skin. Now we are investigating approaches to treat white hair – something that has always been a challenge. The enormous acceptance of this method of hair removal led me to write an entire textbook on Laser Hair Removal - a book now in its 2^nd edition.

The success of physician in-office laser hair removal now has led to the development of small at home devices. Some such as Tria and Silk’n really do work --- with some caveats. Most such systems are only safe for lighter skinned individuals. In fact the company that makes Tria requires you to call in after you purchase the device so that they can activate it. If you tell them that you are dark skinned, they will not activate it.

Another disadvantage of the home devices is that they are really slow. It will take you forever if you want to use them on large areas such the legs or back. However, if you want to treat some straggler hairs or a few hairs on your toes, these home based machines are ideal. Finally, none of the home devices are as strong as those used in a doctor’s office – they will never work as well.

The success of laser hair removal in physician offices has also led to a darker side – inexpensive laser hair removal procedures performed in many spas, often by a high school graduate without any physician supervision. In-office and in-spa laser hair removal is performed with high powered devices. If not used properly, significant scarring can and, unfortunately, does occur. Find out who is treating you and whether there is physician supervision. Yes, you will pay more money – but it will also be safer.

David J. Goldberg, MD
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center
Boca Raton, FL
Skin Laser & Surgery Specialists of NY/NJ
New York, NY

Jason Pozner, MD
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

Treating dark skin for acne with laser

Treating adult acne with lasers instead of risky pills is one of the hottest topics that plastic surgeons and dermatologists alike are focusing on. Dr. Goldberg just came from the ASDS meeting, where they talked about lasers and laser-like devices such as Isolaz that can help lead to radiant skin texture without taking antibiotics and/or Accutane.

One of the big roadblocks in all laser treatments has been the risks that darker skinned and Asian patients face, especially regarding hyperpigmentation. We posted on that here for laser hair removal.

I was just at the Sciton users group meeting in Los Angeles, where I was lecturing on advanced laser resurfacing and fractional laser resurfacing. An interesting topic related to this was presented was by Dr. Todd Besinger (who provided the above photo), a dermatologist from Hawaii. He presented some excellent data that shows that acne scarring can be treated very successfully in Asian patients with minimal post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. For laser wonks out there, he had especially good results with the smaller spot size Sciton with each spot at 250 microns.

Experienced doctors out there have figured out how to treat all skin types with lasers. This is going to be a big story in 2009 as it becomes more widespread.

Dr. Jason Pozner
Sanctuary Plastic Surgery
Sanctuary Medical Aesthetic Center

A few thoughts on laser hair removal & dark skin

Colin Stewart of In Your Face out in California had a great post the other day about laser hair removal for darker-skinned patients. From the article:

"Devices that have been FDA-approved for removing hair from darker-skinned people, Dierickx said, include:

• LightSheer diode laser from Coherent
• SLP diode laser from Palomar
• CoolGlide Nd-YAG laser from Cutera (photo below)
• A new generation of Lyra Nd-YAG lasers from Laserscope
• GentleYAG Nd-YAG laser from Candela
• Filtered Flashlamp IPL from ESC

Hair removal treatments can produce burns, scarring, or pigment changes in patients with darker skin, said dermatologist Dr. Teresa Soriano, associate clinical professor of dermatology and co-director of the Dermatologic Surgery and Laser Center at UCLA.

“However, the advent of longer wavelength devices with longer pulse durations has made laser-assisted hair removal safe and effective in persons with darker skin,” she told the Dermatology Times."

Laser hair removal for darker skinned patients (including people with dark tans, which is quite common in Boca) is challenging, but combining the right tools with experienced hands leads to satisfied patients.

We use a 1064nm Nd:YAG laser that is very safe, thanks to its longer wavelength. Most of our darker skinned patients have hair that grows curly and can get ingrown and infected very easily, which makes this procedure very necessary.

If you have darker skin and are interested in this, make sure you ask about a longer wavelength laser! Dr. Goldberg, who literally wrote the only textbook on laser hair removal, recently had a patient who is a professional model. Unfortunately, she had bad scars from a previous doctor's laser work, which can happen if you don't go to an expert. Once Dr. Goldberg switched the model to the right laser, she had great results.

Dr. Jason Pozner
Sanctuary Plastic Surgery