Demand for resurfacing procedures is on the rise, as is a cosmetic surgeon’s income potential for skin resurfacing procedures with lights, lasers, radiofrequency and needles, according to Suzanne Kilmer, M.D., founding director of the Laser and Skin Surgery Center of Northern California and clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California
“[The challenge now] is to control downtime,” Dr. Kilmer says. “Often, that is the parameter we are trying to diminish.”
Dr. Kilmer presented “Resurfacing the skin with lights, lasers, RF and needles,” at ASLMS 2016, the 36th Annual Conference of the American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery, Boston, Mass.
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Dr. Kilmer’s top take-home points from the presentation:
- Cosmetic surgeons, dermatologists, plastic surgeons and facial plastic surgeons can get good results with CO2 fractional resurfacing, with deep and localized treatments by low density.
- Aesthetic physicians should consider using a combination of fully ablative and fractional ablative options to maximize results in a given patient. One example: Use a fully ablative laser for the upper eyelids and lip lines; then, a fractional laser or a light pass of the fully ablative technology for the rest of the face.
- Use the hybrid fractional and fully ablative laser in combination on the face to maximize results, with no extra downtime.
- The future looks bright for lasers and lights, according to Dr. Kilmer, with more deeply penetrating fractional ablative resurfacing options on the horizon. These will optimize results with less downtime, according to Dr. Kilmer.
“[And we’ll continue to work on] perfecting the combinations of ablative and nonablative fractional and fully ablative resurfacing,” she says.
Disclosure: Dr. Kilmer is on the medical advisory boards for Cytrellis, Lumenis, Miramar, Sienna Labs, Zeltiq and Zift. She receives research support from: Allergan, Cytrellis, Candela-Syneron, Cutera, Cynosure, Kythera, Lumenis, Lutronic, Medicis, Merz, Miramar, Sciton, Sebacia, Solta/Valeant, Ulthera, Zeltiq.
