Arizona Trends
Seeing the Light
Lasers - the Future of Skin Care
by Marnie McGann and Leslie McCarver

With all of the buzz about lasers and their potential to diminish skin imperfections without surgical intervention, we were curious to do our own Trends investigation into this potential fountain of youth. We visited Dermacare and North Valley Plastic Surgery and here's what we found.

Marnie and the Foto Facial:
I went to Dermacare for a "foto facial," a relatively new high-tech process using intense pulsed light to stimulate collagen to regrow (the regrowth builds support for sagging skin) and to remove unsightly broken capillaries, spider veins, brown spots and age spots. With the added benefits of reducing irregular pigmentation, smoothing skin, reducing pore size and fine wrinkles, I discovered it is an excellent way to fight the natural aging process and cosmetically repair skin from sun and environmental damage. While it can be done on any part of the body, it is usually performed on the face, neck, chest and hands. Unlike plastic surgery, foto facialing needs no down time and the results are immediate. Five treatments are recommended initially, with a one-to-two year wait before a "tune up" session (one treatment) to keep collagen stimulated or remove any further imperfections.

I had to know more about this process as my obsession with having good skin really began 15 years ago when I developed a "rash" I thought was the onset of adult acne. I was wrong...it was rosacea, a reddening of the skin caused by broken capillaries and flushing, a genetic condition often due to ethnicity (unfortunately for me, many Irish women in their 30s and 40s are affected). At that time, there was really no cure for this condition. By using a topical ingredient and avoiding anything which brings the blood to the surface of the skin — stress, spicy foods, red wine, Jacuzzis — my rosacea could be controlled.

So, I learned to live looking more rosy than I actually felt and continued my quest for better skin. In the last decade I've slathered myself in sunblock, worn big hats and carried sun umbrellas, exfoliated more layers than I could count and had a dozen stinging glycolic peels. Now it was time to try the futuristic foto facialing — a procedure initially developed by Dr. Patrick Bitters, Jr., to actually treat rosacea.

I made an appointment for my first foto facial at Dermacare — a skin care oasis offering several treatments under one roof. The staff was professional and warm and the office was contemporary and stylish, yet clean and clinical. I was instructed ahead of time to smooth a numbing cream over my chest (the first area to be treated with IPL or intense pulsed light) about an hour before. I was greeted by a physician's assistant (Dermacare also employs an RN and MA) who provided me with protective glasses, and applied a thick, icy gel on my chest area, which acted as a receptor for the laser. She started off on a low level of light and raised it a little on each visit as my skin became more resilient. I felt a slight sting each time she "shot" the light. It was all over in half hour. Sunblock and moisturizer were applied and I was told to treat the area as if it were mildly sunburned. I scheduled another appointment with the required three-week wait. This was so skin could rebuild collagen undisturbed. I noticed my chest had turned light pink but within a few hours it looked normal.

Continued >>