Category Archives: Laser Procedures

Dr. Green Visits Australia for Cutera Conference on Lasers

Dr. Green and his wife, Nancy, enjoyed a trip to one of the friendliest places in the world at the end of March.

He was honored to serve as moderator for the Cutera Clinical Forum in Sydney, Australia, a conference which brought together physicians from all over Australia, New Zealand and Asia to learn about new ways to get the most out of their medical lasers.

While there, he also took advantage of an opportunity to attend a meeting of the Rotary Club of Sydney Cove, a breakfast gathering that took place on a boat in Sydney Harbour. As immediate past president of the Vancouver Rotary Club, he was eager to meet Rotarians and their guests from the other side of the world. It turns out that they talk as much about American politics as we do!

Australia has a Medicare for All system (similar to what is being proposed here by various presidential candidates), but most Australians who can afford it still buy private health insurance so that they can access health care services in a more timely fashion.

In Sydney, sunrises tend to be more spectacular than sunsets. Dr. Green took an early walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to catch the Sunday morning sun coming up over the iconic Sydney Opera House.

Pearl Fractional vs. Secret™ RF

Comparing Treatments for Fine Lines, Wrinkles, Large Pores and Scarring

Fine lines, wrinkles, enlarged skin pores, scarring.  The approach we use to treat these conditions continues to evolve and improve.

Pearl Fractional Laser 

In 2008, we began to use the Pearl Fractional laser to resurface facial skin, thereby improving the surface texture of the skin in a single treatment. 

This laser treatment does have downtime, however, and I usually tell patients that they will look as though they have a bad sunburn for about four days.  Makeup cannot be applied to camouflage the redness until day five. Patients may expect a 40-50% improvement in scarring and skin texture. 

Secret™ RF Microneedling

Last year we added a new option for treating facial texture and scarring for those patients (and there are many) who simply don’t have four to five days of downtime availability. 

Secret™ RF is a radiofrequency microneedling device that inserts 64 tiny needles at a time into varying depths of the skin. Energy is then released from the tips of the needles to simulate a more aggressive wound.

Patients will appear flushed for a couple of hours after the procedure, but there is no significant downtime. Patients require four treatments, four weeks apart, to achieve the same 40-50% improvement in skin texture or scarring as with the Pearl laser.

Which Is Better for You?

So which laser is better? Essentially the results are equivalent, although for deeper acne scarring, the Pearl laser resurfacing may have a slight advantage. For patients with lines on the neck, or stretchmarks on the body, Secret microneedling would be a better choice. Otherwise, is simply depends upon whether someone would prefer one treatment with four days of significant redness or four treatments with no days of downtime. Always good to have options!

If you want to improve the appearance of your skin, call us at (360) 823-0860 for a consultation and details.

SCPS Adds New Laser Treatment Option for Spider Veins

Leg-Veins

If you want to see more before-and-after photos, click the photo above and the scroll down the page.

Dr. Huang and I just this month added a brand new excel V laser from Cutera to our list of spa services.

At Salmon Creek Plastic Surgery, we use lasers to treat an average of four to six patients a day for spider veins on the legs, face and other areas. Our newest laser provides significantly more comfort for the patient and has a second wavelength to go after certain types vessels which had been challenging to treat in the past.

Additionally, the laser genesis feature on excel V gives us a significant upgrade in our ability to treat the redness of rosacea, another common condition we see every day.

If you’d like to see some before-and-after photos, scroll down on this page of the Cutera site. Give us a call at (360) for more information on this new and exciting treatment for your spider veins!

Winter is the Perfect Time to Correct Skin Blemishes

What can I do to look younger? 

If I had a nickel for every time I hear that question in the office I would have well over $42.35 by now (which is a lot of nickels).  I have found during my 20 years in practice that looking younger generally equates to looking healthier.  One of the quickest ways to achieve this healthy look is by focusing on the color and tone of your skin.

Many of us “forgot” to use sunscreen regularly in our youth, and we now find ourselves with blotchy pigmentation on our face, upper chest and hands.  At SCPS, we use a laser treatment called Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) to correct both red and brown discoloration in these areas.

Our IPL, the LimeLight laser, evens out skin tone and color to restore a very healthy (and therefore youthful) look to the skin. As the treatment works most effectively on skin without any tan, Winter is the perfect time to get started with LimeLight!

LimeLight.

LimeLight2

Special on Enlighten Laser Treatments for Tattoo and Brown Spot Removal

brown-spotsWe have enjoyed treating our initial patients over the last two weeks with the new enlighten laser. If you read our newsletter last week, you may recall that this is the latest technology for laser tattoo removal without scarring. We have also been very pleased with the laser’s ability to treat brown pigmentation on the face, chest and extremities and hands. Even Dr. Green cleaned up a few brown spots on the left side of his face that his wife had noticed but was reluctant to mention!

As an introduction to this new procedure, we are offering enlighten laser brown spot or tattoo removal at 33% off if you book the procedure by April 30, 2015. Contact us or call our office at (360) 823-0860.

Cosmetic Procedures Before a Wedding: Get Good Results with Minimal Downtime

Wedding-Party-smOver the last three weeks, I have seen eight patients, each of whom has a son or daughter getting married this summer. All seemed to be handling this role quite well, but each was interested in looking her best for the upcoming festivities. None of the patients wanted anything drastic done or anything that would make them look as though they had actually visited a plastic surgeon. Additionally, none of the patients had any significant downtime availability.

This scenario presents itself quite often at our office, and not just during wedding season. Many people feel they want to look their best for school reunions, holiday parties, and even vacations. Many less intense treatment options now exist which can be very helpful in this exact situation.

Botox: Botox injections can soften stress or frown lines around the eyes and forehead quite effectively. Lines can take a full month to fully diminish after a Botox injection so be sure to plan ahead. We can even use Botox to treat excessive sweating under the arms!

Fillers: Filler injections such as Juvederm or Radiesse restore volume to folds around the mouth and chin, giving a more rested and healthy appearance. Belotero is another clear gel that is used for vertical lip lines (also known as smoker’s lines—even in non-smokers). This is a very superficial injection that lessens the visibility of the lines without looking lumpy.

Laser services: Laser peels and topical skin care products can even out the color and tone of the skin, erasing blotchy sun damage and tightening large skin pores. Laser can also be used for the elimination of spider veins on the face, something which was previously treated with painful injections. And of course, hair removal is the most common laser procedure we do here at the office.

So what did these patients choose to do? Well, I’m not telling, and hopefully the wedding guests won’t figure it out either!