• If patients say they’re in pain, stop. Some people have a low tolerance for pain, "but that’s not the time to debate their pain threshold," Dr. Burns noted.
• Debridement and pretreatment. In Dr. Burns’ practice, the regimen for all patients undergoing ablative resurfacing includes changes of Flexzan wound dressing and debridement at 1, 3, and 5 days, cephalexin 250 mg t.i.d. for 5 days, and valacyclovir 500 mg b.i.d. for 10 days.
• Expect maintenance treatments for laser hair removal cases. "Everybody is different, but because of the hair cycle it takes four to six initial treatments, 6 weeks apart, to expose all of the hair in a given area to the laser," Dr. Bernstein said. "Maintenance treatments are always required to keep all of the hair away in a given area."
Prior to performing hair removal procedures in the perioral region, he places two folded pieces of 4-by-4-inch gauze into the patient’s mouth to protect the teeth. "Use nonstick gauze with braces or be ready for a half-hour extraction," he said.
Dr. Bernstein disclosed that he has received research support from Syneron, Cynosure, and Cutera, and Solta Medical. He also serves as a paid consultant for Tria Beauty.
Dr. Burns disclosed that he receives equipment discounts from Cutera, Cynosure, Palomar, Sciton, and Aesthetic Medical Lasers; research support from Sciton, Solta Medical, Ulthera, and Zeltiq; and consulting fees from Ulthera and Zeltiq. He also holds stock in SkinMedica and Zeltiq.
SDEF and this news organization are owned by Elsevier.