I wanted to share a great experience I had today while treating one of my patients with the Cutera Xeo laser system. The Cutera platform has multiple functions including hair removal, vein treatment, IPL (intense pulse light) for brown and red discoloration, and Laser Genesis for anti-aging, and minimization of pores, fine lines, scars and background redness. Today, my patient came in for a “Two Dimensional” laser facial treatment which combines Laser Genesis with IPL.
As I was treating her face first with Laser Genesis to address her concerns of pore size, background redness and fine lines, we began talking about some of her other skin concerns. She expressed concern about small red vessels around her nose and chin. As well, she asked me what the small “red dots” were on her jawline. I explained that these small, slightly raised red lesions are called “cherry angiomas” and are small blood vessels that appear with sun and age. While completely benign, their appearance can be bothersome to some people and they can’t be treated by topical creams or at-home remedies. She asked me if I could help treat her facial veins and cherry angiomas. After completing the Laser Genesis portion of her treatment, without flinching, I switched the settings on the laser platform to the vascular modality and was able to treat her vessels in a matter of minutes.
She then expressed concern over a small area of facial hair on her upper lip. Again, without any hesitation, I told her we could treat these unwanted hairs today if she so desired. She had shaved the area recently (but had not plucked) which is ideal before hair removal. I switched the platform settings to hair removal and quickly treated her upper lip area. She was amazed with how many different skin issues I was able to address with just one machine.
Finally, we treated her face with IPL (Intense Pulse Light) to address sun spots and mild areas of melasma. Of course, I was cautious with the areas that were treated for hair removal and vessels as I did not want to deliver too much energy to the same areas. When we finished the IPL portion of the treatment, my patient was in awe that she was able to address all of her various skin concerns with one laser. We used Laser Genesis for general anti-aging and to address pore size, fine lines and mild rosacea (it can also be used for scarring), treated facial vessels, removed unwanted facial hair, and used IPL for unwanted pigmentation.
This was the first time I had used four different functions of the laser in one treatment on one patient. The additional treatments only added on a few minutes to the overall treatment time, and my patient left satisfied that we had addressed all of her needs. She would not have to schedule additional appointments and her valuable time was saved. Of course, we recommend patients complete these treatments in series in order to fully treat the various issues, but we were able to fit in all four treatments in one session. This is just another reason why I love our Cutera Xeo laser system!
