Chances are that your practice has seen a rise in patients seeking rosacea treatment – it’s estimated that rosacea currently affects 16 million individuals. This chronic skin condition most often affects middle-aged and older adults, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases – meaning that America’s massive Baby Boom population is more and more likely to be affected by this irritating skin condition.
Rosacea is often identified by symptoms like redness, pimples, the creation of spider-like blood vessels and even swelling. However, in addition to these cosmetic symptoms rosacea can be a painful condition, to the point that it creates a burning sensation in flushed areas. Unfortunately rosacea has no direct cure. Because of this, people suffering from rosacea are often eager to find ways to control and manage this chronic skin issue.
How Medical Lasers Help Rosacea Patients
Dermatologists have used medical lasers to treat rosacea since the 1980s. Since then the effectiveness and gentleness of medical lasers have both improved. Now modern day medical lasers can target several key rosacea-related problems: dilated blood vessels; the chronic redness often caused by broken capillaries or larger vessels; and even the thickening of skin that often comes with rosacea. By using targeted laser heat that builds in the vessels, doctors can erode these sources of redness and help create clearer skin for their patients.
Modern day medical lasers also give practices to a way offer better treatments with fewer side effects to patients. For example, rather than requiring cooling techniques as older medical lasers did, many modern medical lasers can efficiently target a specific area of skin using precise technology that doesn’t lead to epidermis or dermis overheating during treatment. This avoids the unseemly marks and discomfort associated with older, less targeted medical lasers. This is particularly helpful for patients with rosacea, who must undergo at least one face laser treatment and are looking to have blemishes removed, not increased.
The Challenge With Rosacea Patients
Unfortunately, rosacea isn’t a 100% curable condition. This means that patients often face the possible of recurrence after treatment. Medical lasers are a tool for controlling rosacea, not for curing it, and practitioners who treatment patients with rosacea must always ensure that patients understand this.
Because of this challenge, practitioners should actively strive to find ways to offer as affordable and effective a treatment option as possible for their clients; this will help assure patients that they’re getting a good deal for a treatment that will last as long as possible.
Expanding Your Practice’s Options
Practices that treat rosacea patients should choose a medical laser that has versatility and can treat a variety of target areas in a client’s skin, from generally red cheeks to localized broken capillaries. Practices should also search for medical lasers with a history of minimal side effects. Finally, practices should search for lasers that don’t require anesthetics and cooling gels. Many modern medical lasers can heat a very targeted area of skin with a minimal amount of collateral heating. This makes skin cooling during treatment unnecessary and eliminates the need for skin cooling gels and sprays.
The result of these combined medical laser features is a tool that saves practitioners time and money, as well as helps create a cleaner, more welcoming office for patients. And by offering an affordable, quick and pain-free experience, practitioners can focus on expanding their client base – creating a win for them and for their patients!
