Halo with Ablative Resurfacing
For patients that do not wish to have a deep resurfacing treatment on their entire face, they may choose to have a halo on their face and then selectively treat areas of concern with a deeper laser treatment. For example, around the eyes or mouth – which often have deeper wrinkles – a deeper laser treatment may be required.
Halo with BBL
Halo with BroadBand Light have a synergistic effect. We can safely perform a gentle BBL treatment on the skin prior to a Halo treatment to optimize the results on sun damage and pigmentation.
Microlaser Peel (MLP) with Profractional
The MicroLaser Peel procedure uses the 2940 nm Erbium YAG laser to precisely vaporize (ablate) predetermined layers of skin. The MLP is a superficial peel that addresses texture and tone of photo-aged or damaged skin. The ProFractional™ fractionated laser resurfacing procedure uses the 2940 nm Erbium YAG laser delivered into a scanning device that fractionally vaporizes (ablate) micro laser channels at a predetermined depth into the skin. The ProFractional device addresses texture and tone in conditions such as fine lines and wrinkles, and various scars. These two treatments work well in combination because the MLP treats the entire surface of the skin in a gentler way, removing pigmentation, while ProFractional treats just a fraction of the skin but at a deeper level, targeting lines and wrinkles.
Laser treatments are noninvasive, safe, and effective, and can be used on most patients and skin types. Book a complimentary consultation with our Registered Nurse/ Laser Technician to find out which treatment is best suited for your skin type and concerns. Call 403-571-3141 for a consultation today.
Laser FAQs
This depends on your lifestyle. If you can avoid prolonged sun exposure then yes, you can get laser treatments in the summer. If you plan on being outside in the sun without protection (SPF & a hat) then we would recommend that you postpone your treatments until the fall or winter.
Typically no. Our registered nurse/laser technician can assess you to determine whether you are a candidate for laser. Depending on the treatment and the area being treated there are different recommendations but in general, the skin must not be tanned in order to have a laser treatment.
This depends on what type of treatment you are undergoing. BBL treatments are not painful. The halo laser will feel hot and you will experience some pain for about 45-60 minutes after the treatment but then it completely goes away and is quite tolerable. Deep resurfacing laser treatments are painful but our office provides many forms of pain relief including oral, topical and local anesthetic.
This depends on what type of laser treatment you are having. There is no downtime associated with BBL. Halo has 5-7 days downtime. Deep resurfacing has a 2 week downtime and then prolonged redness (few months) which can be covered with makeup.
Our laser is a state of the art medical grade laser called the Sciton Joule. This platform has many different lasers built into it. We have a Broad Band Light (BBL) system which is the world’s most powerful IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) device on the market. We also have a 1064nm Nd:YAG laser; the Halo laser which is a hybrid of two laser wavelengths (1470nm and 2940nm); a full resurfacing Erbium YAG laser (2940nm) and a Profractional ablative laser, which is also the 2940nm wavelength but instead of treating the entire surface of the skin it just treats a fraction of the skin – creating channels in the surface.
Many including: unwanted hair growth, spider veins and small facial vessels, rosacea, acne, pigment and wrinkles.
Broadband light treatments are often mistaken as lasers. They're not, which makes BBL a great complement to laser resurfacing! A BBL treatment works by sending rays of light to the deepest layers of the skin. There, the energy that is absorbed targets dark spots and hyperpigmentation as well as the signs of aging that relate to collagen loss. Broadband light is a type of intense pulsed light that can address numerous concerns at one time without ablating the epidermis. Concerns like rosacea, uneven tone and texture, sun damage, acne and acne scarring, and more.
It's advantageous to understand how ablative lasers work and how nonablative lasers work. This can help you know what to expect based on your treatment of choice. Knowing what to expect, you can plan accordingly for any necessary downtime and follow-up skin care. Clinically speaking, ablative is the term that is used to describe tissue removal. An ablative skin resurfacing treatment will remove a layer of skin cells. Conversely, nonablative laser treatment does not remove skin cells. Instead, the nonablative laser delivers energy to deeper layers of the skin, heating them to a precise degree at which collagen stimulation occurs. All laser treatments work by inducing some type of stress on the skin. The purpose of this controlled stress is to stimulate cellular turnover and tissue remodeling with more abundant amounts of collagen.
Historically, laser skin resurfacing has been perceived as a more aggressive form of treatment. Removing a layer (or multiple layers) of skin may result in prolonged peeling, redness, oozing, and other side effects. Modern laser skin resurfacing is not nearly that dramatic. Even ablative laser resurfacing is often performed in a fractional manner. Fractional laser resurfacing removes tiny dots of skin rather than the entire surface. Taking away only fractions of the overall surface achieves remarkable results without the same side effects and downtime associated with fully ablative laser treatment. That said, there is value in ablative laser treatment, which we use discerningly to address more significant cosmetic concerns, such as deep creases around the nose and mouth.
Ablative laser resurfacing creates a wound that forces more collagen, elastin, and other restorative substances into the target area. The full recovery process may take up to six weeks. However, this occurs in stages. Initially, ablative laser treatment causes swelling, redness, and scabbing. Moderate discomfort should be expected in the treated areas, but this should be manageable with over-the-counter medication. Cold compresses can also be applied to the area to soothe inflammation. Within one to two weeks, the completion of the cellular turnover process is usually complete. Old, damaged cells have sloughed off and healthy new cells now blanket the epidermis. Because these new cells are so young and delicate, the skin may continue to appear red or pink for a short time.
We love performing all of our combination laser treatments because we know that each of them offers significant results. As a standalone treatment, Halo™ combines ablative and nonablative technologies into a fractional procedure that targets micro-regions of the skin. This conservative approach gives you the benefit of low downtime. You may return to work as soon as a few days after your appointment. Keep in mind that if you combine Halo laser resurfacing with BBL or targeted ablative laser treatment, you may need a few more days to completely recover. Another benefit of Halo laser treatment is the correction of moderate sun damage and also improvement in pigmented spots and lesions. Overall, Halo laser treatment, combined with other technologies or as an individual procedure, restores a more youthful appearance and cellular activity to your skin!
