More About FotoFacial™ Pulsed Light Treatment
Rosacea is an extremely common complexion disorder characterized by facial redness, flushing of the nose, cheeks, forehead, chin and neck, dilated capillaries and occasionally acne-like outbreaks. Rosacea affects as many as 13 million Americans generally over the age of thirty. Several prescription creams and pills are available for rosacea that are effective in controlling the pimple-like outbreaks. Laser treatments have been developed to treat the unsightly capillaries. However, to date there has been no truly effective treatment to control or eliminate the embarrassing and uncomfortable flushing and redness that many rosacea sufferers experience on a daily basis.

Now, this new treatment uses pulses of light to eliminate the redness and flushing of rosacea. In the treatment of patients with rosacea, the facial redness is treated using intense pulses of light from a PhotoDerm™ (ESC Medical). This laser-like medical device allows the doctor to precisely set the characteristics of the light energy for each patientÕs skin, permitting exact treatment of the dilated blood vessels and redness without injuring the remainder of the skin. With this treatment, named FotoFacial™, the entire face is treated in 8-10 minutes using repetitive flashes of light from the PhotoDerm™. No anesthesia is necessary and patients experience only mild redness immediately after treatments. All patients are able to return to their full activities immediately.

All patients saw improvement in redness, flushing and capillaries with the first treatment. Maximal improvement was seen in three treatments. Flushing was reduced on average 80%. In addition, all patients achieve much smoother skin, and smaller pores. The doctors also observed that the pimple-like breakouts improved or even stopped entirely when the flushing was eliminated. Some patients were even able to discontinue medications they had taken for years. Redness of the neck and chest is also treatable by this method. No adverse reactions or scarring was observed. In the words of Dr. Bitter, "With FotoFacials people no longer need to suffer the embarrassment of red faces, red necks or red chests or the discomfort of flushing." The PhotoDerm not only treats the redness of rosacea but also shows promise as a possible cure for rosacea. "Few things are as dramatic as eliminating a red face that a person has suffered from for years."

FotoFacials™ for Aging Skin
Over the past six years, laser skin resurfacing has gained great popularity in the treatment of facial lines and wrinkles. A significant disadvantage with laser skin resurfacing is the lengthy "downtime" and persistent redness following the procedure. Now, dermatologists have developed a nonsurgical alternative to laser skin resurfacing using intense pulses of light. They use one of two different laser-like sources (Photoderm VL/PL™ and Multilight™ manufactured by ESC Medical Systems) to treat fine lines and wrinkles, age spots, dilated capillaries and redness of the face, neck chest, arms and legs. A series of three to five 15 minute treatments requires no anesthesia and results in dramatically smoother, softer skin that has few wrinkles, smaller pores and less redness. Patients are able to return to work immediately following treatments.


The advantage of FotoFacials™ over laser resurfacing is great. There is relatively no "downtime" or recovery time; there is no anesthesia; capillaries, redness and flushing, which may be accentuated by laser resurfacing, are diminished or eliminated with FhotoFacials™ and the series of FotoFacials™ are more affordable than laser resurfacing. FotoFacials™ are also effective for aging of non-facial skin where laser resurfacing of these areas poses much greater risks of scarring. FotoFacials™ are especially beneficial for younger patients with fine lines and early signs of aging who are not candidates for laser resurfacing or who do not want to undergo the expense, discomfort or downtime. FotoFacials™ are the ideal treatment for individuals with early aging changes who also suffer from redness and flushing.

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