M22 Treatment
Preparation
There’s really not much at all to do to prepare for your treatment. Most importantly you cannot be tan. We recommend you stop using any medications that make you photosensitive. Such medications include Retin, Hydroquinone, some antibiotics such as doxycycline, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, ofloxacin, trimethoprim, some antifungals such as griseofulvin, and sulfonamides.
Recovery
After your treatment your skin might be slightly pink or red. Usually, this resolves in a few minutes but on a rare occasion can last a few hours. Often, any sun spots/dark lesions will initially get darker for a week or two. After the darkening occurs, the spots start to slough off and go away. Some of the darkness is also absorbed internally. We highly recommend using plenty of moisturizer and sunscreen! Do not scrub the skin but you certainly can wash your face gently.
How does M22 work & how many treatments are needed?
This special treatment works with your skin to remove imperfections and stimulate collagen and elastic fiber production over a sequence of treatments. Some conditions such as shallow pigmentation and age/sun spots can be cleared with as few as 2-4 treatments! Typically 4-6 sessions are needed to achieve maximum results for deeper skin concerns. Treatments are administered at 3-4 week intervals.
Our Lumenis M22 does this by eliminating freckles, redness, and brown pigmentation. It reduces pore size and fine lines all with one device. Through a process called photorejuvenation, IPL is used to help restore the skin's youthful appearance and improves the appearance of photoaged skin. IPL gives the skin a smoother look and feel and a more even tone. As a sub-epidermal procedure, IPL skin treatments produce few side effects and requires little to no alteration in the patient's normal routine. The process is ideal for patients with active lifestyles because the procedure requires minimal to no downtime and has a low risk of side effects.
The gentle, non-ablative treatments use broad spectrum light to treat almost every part of the body including the full face, chest, neck and hands--virtually anywhere that sun damage shows.
IPL works by delivering a broad spectrum of light which is transmitted through a small, smooth, transparent handpiece which is gently placed over the skin. Cut-off filters in the hand piece change the wavelength range allowing it to be optimized for different applications and skin types. The light penetrates the tissue and is absorbed by either the blood, when treating vascular lesions, or the melanin when treating pigmented lesions damaging them. The body's natural processes then remove the injured tissue giving the skin a more even and youthful appearance.