The Gold Standards for Laser Dermatology

If you’ve been reading online about laser treatments for a particular skin problem that you’d like to improve, you may have come across the term “gold standard.” It refers to the idea that a device or technology is the “best around” and the “bar” we use to measure other devices against it.

You may also wonder if the term “FDA-approved” relates at all to this concept? Surprisingly, it doesn’t! It simply means that the FDA has deemed the device safe to use on people and has little to do with how effectively it does what it claims to do.

Unlike “FDA-approved”, “gold standard” is more of a subjective term. People in laser medicine tend to use it as a consensus term, meaning that they believe it to be the best option. Sure, there are clinical trials and data showing that a device can be effective, but many people get too caught up in the hype that often surrounds a new device and will often tout it as the new “gold standard” before they treat enough real-world patients to really know for sure.

At Celibre Medical, we want the laser devices and technologies that we offer our patients to be BOTH safe and effective.  We understand there is a group of patients that just want the “latest and greatest” laser dermatology treatments out there. We know we might miss out on taking care of this group of people because of this, but we’d rather offer proven options, true gold standard treatments, and have happy patients than offer sub-par services that are the fad of the moment.

We believe that safety and efficacy can go hand-in-hand. We only offer laser treatments that are FDA-approved for the conditions they treat and know from personal experience give us superior results. This means we often don’t have the latest, hottest devices that may be “trending” at any given time.  We’re okay with that! We’ve built our practice with over 20 different devices that have stood the test of time and we know how to consistently deliver results patients are looking for.

If a laser practice the term “gold standard”, carefully consider if this is a self-imposed term. This is especially true if a practice only has a handful of lasers that it claims can treat almost any skin condition.  This kind of “jack-of-all-trades but master-of-none” mentality is very common in our field.  Ask questions and make sure you feel comfortable that your laser provider has your best interest in mind.

Stretch marks come in all different colors—red, brown, and white are the most common. They can affect both men and women, and can occur anywhere on your body.  They happen because of a (fairly) rapid increase in size of the body where your skin just cannot keep pace. Pregnancy, puberty and rapid weight gain can cause stretch marks.

*Photo courtesy of ritesofpassage at blogspot.com.

Why the different colors, then? The reason is due to both the underlying color of your skin and the age of the stretch marks. New stretch marks tend to be red or brown whereas older ones fade to white.

At Celibre Medical, we have many different help with the color and texture of your stretch marks. We think it is important for you to know, however, that since stretch marks are a type of scar, the goal of any laser therapy is to improve the way they look, not remove them completely.

Red, brown and textured stretch marks are the easiest to treat, because our lasers are good at targeting excessive blood vessels (red), pigmentation (brown) and lost collagen (textured) that cause them to look that way. White stretch marks are a a different story. Hypopigmentation is the medical term for lightened skin or loss of skin pigmentation. White stretch marks are the hardest type to treat.

Although we can sometimes improve the appearance of light stretch marks, this is associated with improving the texture of indented stretch marks at the same time.  For flat, white stretch marks, we do not have an option because lasers cannot add color to the skin.

Stretch marks are difficult to treat, but there are options available.  Call today to see if we can help improve your stretch marks.

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If you’re pregnant or recently delivered a baby, congratulations! You’ve seen and felt a lot of changes with your body since you first found out you were pregnant. And while you wouldn’t trade anything for that sweet, little baby that’s either in your life or about to be, we’re sure you’ve welcomed some of those changes a lot less than others. One of the biggest concerns for new moms or moms-to-be are stretch marks. These happen when your skin is stretched by your growing baby faster than it can keep up with. There’s no single, sure-fire way to predict who will have stretch marks with pregnancy and who won’t, but research suggests that you may be pre-programmed to get them from the many hormonal changes that occur with pregnancy and nursing.

As anxious as you are to get your pre-baby body back, Celibre Medical recommends holding off on having any laser treatments on your stretch marks until you’re done nursing. Lasers and hormonal changes are not a good mix, and some women may either have no response to treatment or have an exaggerated or hypersensitive response to the lasers which can make things worse.

In fact, we often discuss waiting to treat stretch marks with lasers until you’ve totally completed your childbearing as they can return during subsequent pregnancies. Our commitment to you is to provide you with the safest and most effective laser treatments possible and we wouldn’t be doing that if we treated you during your pregnancy, while you were nursing or didn’t discuss the recurrence rate of stretch marks with you.

But don’t worry! We promise we’re not going anywhere! We will be here, happy to treat you when you are ready!

Demystifying Laser Tattoo Removal: What You Need to Know

Many patients that we talk to about laser tattoo removal come to us thinking that the procedure is a one shot deal. In reality, it takes multiple treatments to completely remove your tattoo.

Laser tattoo removal is a customized process that requires both a knowledgeable, experienced laser practitioner and the proper technology to perform effectively. To estimate the number of treatments necessary, many factors are considered. Each of them is unique to the individual. Here are a few pointers that can help determine the most accurate answer to this question:

• How many colors are present in the tattoo? More colors – more treatments.
• What is your skin type (color)? Darker skin types can require more treatments.
• Are you willing to accept more aggressive treatments? Aggressive treatments carry a higher risk of change in the underlying skin color but fewer treatments.
• What kind of experience does your laser tattoo removal practitioner have? The more experience generally the fewer treatments.
• Will the most current, effective laser technology be used for your laser tattoo removal? Use the most appropriate technology to minimize the number of treatments.

It is crucial to ask and answer all these questions to correctly estimate the number of necessary laser tattoo removal treatments. For most of our patients, we can provide results in 4 to 12 treatments. We know that is a broad range, but every tattoo is different. The key to your satisfaction and success with laser tattoo removal really depends on knowing how the process will unfold up front.

If you’re thinking about laser tattoo removal and didn’t discuss any of the above questions during your consultation, then you may want to keep looking. Finding a practice that is comfortable discussing and educating you on laser tattoo removal is ultimately more valuable than the one that simply has the lowest price.