Light touches

Use of lasers to treat skin conditions popular at spas

Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 26, 2005 at midnight

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Forget the idea of a miracle in a bottle to diminish wrinkles and age spots.

The solution is actually at the end of a pulsing beam of light, according to the booming medical spa industry.

Baby boomers are leading the surge of people who are spending thousands of dollars in an effort to turn back the clock. The number of nonsurgical cosmetic procedures such as laser skin tightening increased 51 percent in the U.S. last year, according to the Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

"The technology is really moving so fast that we have treatments that didn't exist just a few years ago," said Hannelore Leavy, executive director of the International Medical Spa Association.

Dermacare, which opened a Lone Tree clinic in October and one in Cherry Creek this month, is one of a growing number of clinics in Colorado that skip the pedicures and instead tout their bright lighting, staff training and on-site physicians.

"We want it to be a pleasant experience, but it is a medical experience," said Peter Hill, president of Dermacare Colorado.

Lasers were developed more than 40 years ago to precisely slice metals and plastics. As the technology evolved, lasers moved from beams that emitted continuous streams of light to short pulses of light that could be used on skin tissue.

The first mainstream cosmetic application of lasers arrived in 1988 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of pulsed dye lasers to treat blood vessel abnormalities such as port wine birthmarks.

Lasers were then refined to emit wavelengths of light that can be absorbed by colored pigments in the skin, making it possible to treat age spots, brown birthmarks, tattoos and unwanted hair.

In the past three years, laser technology has evolved to stimulate the skin's collagen in order to prompt the skin to fill in scars and wrinkles and improve skin tone. This procedure, known as "nonablative skin rejuvenation," has experienced the greatest growth of any aesthetic treatment, rising 60 percent from 2001 to 2003, according to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.

Generally, laser procedures don't cause significant pain - at worst, Hill said, some lasers can "feel like a sharp rubber-band snap."

Wendy Mooney, who has undergone three of five FotoFacial laser procedures on her face and two on her shoulders to remove age spots, said she opted for the $4,000 treatment because she thought her skin looked older than her 36 years.

The idea of plastic surgery "seemed really artificial," and she wanted to improve her skin without using an invasive procedure.

"I'm fixing all of those years when I was a teenager laying in the sun using Crisco and baby oil," she said.

Here's a rundown of some of the laser and light-based treatments on the market today:

1. Candela GentleLase - At Dermacare, this machine is typically used for hair removal on clients with pale skin and dark hair and for removal of surface spider veins. The typical regimen is five treatments about six to eight weeks apart.

2. Hoya ConBio Medlite - This machine uses an Nd: Neodymium Yttrium Aluminum Garnet crystal, which allows the laser to fire at a rapid pulse rate. The Medlite is primarily used for removal of spider veins, fresh stretch marks and hair on darker-skinned people, and it's "the rock star of tattoo removal," Hill said.

3. Cutera Coolglide Xeo - A pulsed-light laser that can be used to remove leg veins, freckles, sunspots, wrinkles and hair.

4. Fraxel Laser Treatment - Uses thousands of tiny pixels to target columns of tissue, creating tiny microscopic wounds that spur the creation of collagen to fill in wrinkles.

5. Blu-light therapy - Uses a blue light, not a laser, to target mild- to-moderate acne and skin that has been damaged by sun exposure. Blu-light therapy is typically used in conjunction with Levulan, a topical gel that makes the skin more sensitive to light.

The industry is growing so fast that there's concern that employees might not have adequate training. Some states, such as Arizona, have adopted rules that require anyone using lasers for cosmetic reasons to take 40 hours of classes and get 24 hours of hands-on training.

Consumers should exercise the same diligence in picking a medical spa that they'd use in selecting a doctor, Leavy said, such as checking on licensing and educational background and asking friends for referrals.

Dermacare is part of a nationwide chain founded in the tony Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale in 2001. It now has about a dozen franchises nationwide.

Owning a laser and skin care center is a radical career change for Hill, 45, and franchise co-owner Randal Dick, 52. Hill worked at J.D. Edwards - which was acquired by PeopleSoft in 2003 - as vice president of marketing from 1985 until Oracle took over this year. Dick worked at J.D. Edwards and then PeopleSoft for 15 years, leaving his post as vice president of sales operations in January. Under their franchise contract, they own the right to open eight Dermacare centers in Colorado.

Dick says handling the marketing for a skin treatment center and a business software company have their commonalities because most insurers don't cover the procedures, making it crucial that clients are satisfied and give positive referrals.

"In the 1990s, the tech industry was off the charts and just such a high-energy level. We're both type-A personalities, and we really enjoyed it," Dick said.

Opening a new franchise offers a similar challenge, he said.

Hill brought in two doctors, medical director Dr. Greta McLaren and associate medical director Dr. Bob Mestas, to supervise the clinic. McLaren previously was the medical director and an assistant professor for University Family Medicine with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Mestas practiced obstetrics-gynecology for 21 years before retiring in 2000.

"The people who come here really are patients," Mestas said. "Not everyone is a candidate for every procedure."

A sampling of laser treatment prices

davisj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2514

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