Nikki Sommer, a nurse with Key West Surgical Group, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5 FM for Medical Matters this morning.
Key West Surgical Group and MedSpa has brought very unique laser treatments to our area – and you will need more than one treatment.
Sommer explained, “Treating pigmentation, melasma, fine line, wrinkles, it takes more than one. It’s years of not taking care of your skin, and then you go in with the idea, like people come and they sit in the chair and they’re like, first thing is, what can you do? How many treatments? How much is it going to cost? Then when you say three, they’re like, oh, it takes three? Yeah, it takes at least three because you can’t get a total transformation in just one treatment.
Consistency is the key and it does create pretty phenomenal results.
Sommer said, “It does, and we have three really great lasers, and they don’t have downtime. So the PicoSure Pro that we have, it’s picosecond pulses. It’s not heat, it’s energy, and it breaks down the pigment, and stimulates the collagen. It also is great for discoloration for sun damage, texture, but when you talk about pigment, we’re talking about several layers that the pigment goes down to into the skin. The first treatment, I would say, we shock the skin. We shake it up. We’re stimulating it, and we keep hitting it again and again to keep stimulating that collagen and elastin and the goal is that that’s going to last you several months to a year to keep your skin looking happy and healthy, and then you would need maintenance along the way.”
There are a number of different lasers at Key West Surgical Group and MedSpa to help the skin.
Sommer said, “The Elite iQ, what makes it great, all three of them are wonderful, but Rosacea is a problem down here because it’s exacerbated by the sun and heat, and it’s a vascular issue, and the other two lasers don’t address vascular, so the elite IQ does. One of the reasons why we got the Elite iQ is one it does laser hair removal, which people were coming in and asking if we had laser hair removal. So that’s a popular service, but I was seeing people that have a lot of those little spider veins that are called telangiectasias on their face, and a lot of fair skinned people tend to have them, because they’re not made to be out in the sun all the time, and we are in the sun here all the time, whether we want to be or not.”
The lasers help the skin produce new collagen.
Sommer said, “It’s a big topic of discussion, because a lot of people tell me, I don’t see any results after one treatment. You may not see results after one treatment. That’s why it’s a series of three. You don’t go to the gym and do a set of push ups or sit ups and you don’t see muscle right away. You don’t get a six pack after you do 50 sit ups and be like, oh, I did it today. It’s kind of the same idea. We’re trying to, I don’t want to exercise your skin, but get your skin in shape.”
It also varies by age.
Sommer said, “There is a saying that you need a treatment for every decade of life. We were at a conference, and that came up as a topic. So it really depends on what you’ve been doing your entire life with skincare, like somebody in their 50s, if you’re taking care of your skin, you may not need more than three treatments initially. You could do the three, get the results, and then do maintenance every four to six months to a year. But there are people, especially that have been down here for 20, 30 years or born and raised here. They have never put sunblock on their face and it’s going to need more than three treatments. So, I mean, it’s not a rule that you need a treatment for every decade. It really depends on what you’re doing at home to maintain your skin. Are you using SPF? Are you using serums and trying to protect your skin from the radicals that that we experience every day? You may not need more, but somebody that has significant amount of sun damage or hyperpigmentation or melasma. Melasma is that tricky, hormonal like skin disorder, that there really is no cure for it. It’s treatment. It’s trying to keep it at bay. You’re going to need more than three treatments.”
Living in paradise means sun and humidity.
Sommer said, “The humidity and the heat can aggravate skin conditions like we talked about, worsen inflammation, rosacea, increased oil production. So if you’re somebody that has acne, young kids, or even adults that have adult acne, a lot of people have come in that move here from the northern climates, and they have an outbreak of acne. It’s because the heat and humidity is aggravating or increasing your oil production and your skin. So maintenance is key in a harsh environment. So the three lasers we have, they’re really great to treat these conditions. There’s no downtime with them. So you’re kind of red for 24 to 48 hours, you’re not going to peel, you’re not going to ooze. There is some aftercare, but it’s also aftercare that leads to maintenance, on maintaining so your results last, but it’s an easy regimen, once you get into it.”
Melasma can be tricky.
Sommer said, “Pigment is pesky. That’s what I tell people, and that’s why, again, we go back to at least three, maybe more, maybe four to six, maybe seven. It really depends on the condition of your skin. But melasma, there isn’t a cure for melasma, so we’re trying to treat it to keep it at bay, and trying to slow down the production of melanocytes in your skin that produce those darker patches on your face. So with a good skin regimen, and laser treatments, we could get that accomplished. The pigment and the collagen take time to respond. So just have patience. Six to 12 months after you’ve had your series of treatments, your body is still making new collagen and elastin.”
Remember, everybody’s skin does respond differently.
Sommer said, “Just because you don’t see big changes doesn’t mean your skin’s not doing anything. Collagen is remodeling and the pigment is breaking up. So with consistency, you will get the results. It’s a frustration, because people will be like, I had one treatment. I don’t see anything. Okay, can you come back in and let me look and they don’t come back. I always take before and after pictures and usually you can see something. You see some progress, especially with pigment, maybe not with aging with the fine lines and wrinkles, that’s going to take some time, because that’s when we stimulate that deeper collagen. But usually with pigment, it will definitely lighten after one treatment. Again, it depends, though, how deep the pigment goes. So patience is what you need for pesky pigment is what I always say. You’ve seen the movie, I use this analogy all the time, The Money Pit? They buy an old house. It starts to fall down, and it takes, I don’t know, it was supposed to take two weeks, but it probably took over a year. I don’t know the movie that was the whole premise, two weeks, two weeks. But the house ended up looking great in the end. That’s kind of like how your skin is after years of abuse and neglect, that that we all do, and it’s nobody’s fault. I wasn’t educated on this when I was younger to take care of my skin. You worried about that when you got older. So I always say, like our skin is like a fixer upper. We’re a fixer upper and we’re going in and targeting the foundation, and we’re going to get our beauty from within. So, that’s how I always refer to The Money Pit, because for months it looked like an eyesore, and then all of a sudden it started to all come together, and it was beautiful in the end.”
For more information, click here: https://www.keywestsurgicalgroup.com/