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Acne Scarring Treatment

Tag Archives: Laser

Acne scarring is one of the toughest skin problems out there.

Louisville facelifts will not help.

The skin has to be resurfaced and the best technique is a CO-2 laser. The CO-2 laser is the “grand daddy” of all resurfacing lasers. A number of newer less powerful non-ablative lasers have hit the market since the CO-2 was invented, but none are capable of fully treating acne scarring. In fact, some patients will require repeat treatments even after a CO-2 laser session.

This type of treatment is typically done in the OR. The procedure takes about 45 minutes and anesthesia is required. After surgery you will need about 7-10 days of fairly vigilant care for your skin while everything heals.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

Lasers for Hair Removal hit the scene about 10 or 11 years ago. As you might expect, hair removal has become one of the most popular MediSpa procedures done in the U.S.

Here’s how they work.

When fired, a laser will emit a beam of light of a specific wave length. Different wavelengths of light are preferentially absorbed by different colors. For instance, things that are red absorb light at a 532 nm wavelength. The hair  laser family emits a wavelength of light that is absorbed by brown.

In the shaft of a hair, there are cells call melanocytes. Melanocytes produce pigment and make our hair, and skin, brown. Blondes have fewer melanocytes and people with black hair have the most in their hair.

The way the laser works is that when fired, the light beam goes into the skin, and because of its’ wavelength, it is absorbed preferentially by the melanocytes in the hair. The melanocytes absorb all of the heat energy from the light, and they get so hot that they cause that hair to die.

Now the problem is that if your skin is very dark, the melaocytes in the skin will also absorb the laser light, and this can bleach your skin. Think Michael Jackson. The ideal candidate for laser hair removal is the young version of Elizabeth Taylor…very dark hair and very light skin.

Some newer hair lasers claim to be able to treat all skin colors but I cannot speak to the certainty of this claim.

Lee Corbett, MD

www.CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

502.721.0330

All posts on this blog are presented by Louisville Laser Hair Removal expert, Dr. Lee Corbett.

This is a pretty common question I  hear in my office. Women will come in with come concerns about their facial aging and want to know their options.

After eleven years of doing Face Lifts in Louisville, I have come to realize that there are a lot of women who want to look as good as they can, without surgery. In response, I have come up with a treatment plan that you through your options from least to most.

The ‘least’ end of the spectrum is better skin care products. I have a blog on prescription strength skin care products and I recommend you take a look at it. In brief, whatever you are buying at the cosmetic counters can’t compare to the skin care you can get from your plastic surgeon. Why? Because, by law, we can sell you products that are much stronger and thus much more effective. And, some component, like Retin-A, aren’t available without a presciption. So step 1 is to start on some good skin care.

After skin care, you are looking at deeper chemical peels and lasers. Though the methods by which they work are different, they have a common endpoint. That being that they wound your skin and when it heals it is better than it was before. Now these treatments carry a bit more downside on the recovery arena, particularly with the lasers. I deep peel or laser treatment can put you out of commission for 3 to 5 days.

If you have tried all of the above, and still aren’t seeing the improvement you would like, fillers and botox are options. Fillers and botox are office treatments that are quick, easy, and very effective. They are not permanent options but the cost has gotten low enough that many can afford to re-treat when necessary.

Last but not least is surgery. On the face we offer brow lifts, face lifts, eyelid tucks (blepharoplasty), and rhinoplasty (nose reshaping). For some, surgery is just never going to be an option, and that’s fine. But, there are a lot of possibilities and significant improvements are achievable. Of course the cost and downtime are greater, but the flip side is you do get what you pay for.

You can’t have a mini procedure, with a mini cost and a mini recovery and expect a maximum result. Sounds good but like most things in life, it doesn’t work that way…except for botox. That stuff is magic!

Lee Corbett, MD

www. CorbettCosmeticSurgery.com

502.721.0330

All posts on this blog are authored by Louisville cosmetic plastic surgeon Dr. Lee Corbett. Dr. Corbett specializes in cosmetic plastic surgery including facelifts, browlifts, blepharoplasy, Louisville Botox, Juvederm, Restylane, breast augmentation, breast lifts, breast reductions, body lifts, liposuction,  and tummy tucks.