Dr. Y. Anthony Nakamura, a board-certified plastic surgeon and recognized expert in plastic surgery and body contouring, offers IPL® Photofacial to the residents of Arlington, Dallas Fort Worth, and the surrounding communities in Texas.
Photofacial treatments are used to correct undesirable skin conditions, such as sun damage, broken blood vessels, brown spots, and other unwanted facial blemishes. This treatment is ideal and unique due to “no downtime” and minimal office visits required.
The Consultation
The nurse will discuss with you how to prepare for your treatment and will develop a custom, personal treatment. Other possible treatments will be reviewed at that time.
Who Is a Candidate?
Candidates are men and women, 18 years and older, with minimal sun exposure and no current use of photosensitizing drugs or open wounds to the treatment area.
What Can I Expect?
Optimal results are achieved after 3 to 7 treatments, over 4-week intervals. You can expect your treatment to last 30 to 45 minutes. An optional topical anesthetic will be discussed during your consultation. After your treatment, you may have mild to moderate redness with darkening of brown spots and minimization of broken blood vessels. Visible results are seen in 3 to 4 days with minimal dryness. The nurse will give you samples of physician-grade skin products to achieve and maintain results concluding your initial treatment. Sunscreen is applied to the skin, and a list of how to use your products and care for your skin is also provided.
What is ActiveFX™?
ActiveFX™ is a fractional laser procedure performed in a single treatment with minimal patient downtime. During the procedure, a high-energy beam of laser light is used to smooth out lines, wrinkles, and scars; remove brown spots and other irregularities, and tighten the skin. It also stimulates the formation of new underlying collagen to continue the improvement over time. With fractional laser treatment, only a fraction of the skin’s surface is treated by the laser, leaving small “bridges” of untouched skin. This technique makes the healing process much faster and enables you to get back to normal activities sooner.
What Are the benefits of ActiveFX™?
ActiveFX™ treatment produces a dramatic effect on the skin:
- Causes immediate skin tightening
- Reduces wrinkles and fine lines and softens deeper frown lines
- Noticeably improves skin tone and texture
- Stimulates new collagen formation and plumps the skin
- Restores the skin to a healthy youthful-looking state
The results of ActiveFX™ laser treatment are long term and, with proper sun protection, can persist for many years. Most effects of treatment become visible right away, whereas others – such as new collagen formation, which leads to continued inner tightening – build up gradually and become more evident over time. Therefore, most people look even better 3 to 5 months after the procedure.
What is TotalFX “fractional” laser resurfacing?
TotalFX is a fractional CO2 laser procedure that combines both the ActiveFX™ and DeepFX treatment.
During the procedure, a high-energy beam of laser light is used to smooth out fine lines, wrinkles, and scars and remove brown spots and other skin irregularities. It also stimulates the formation of new underlying collagen to continue the improvement over time.
What’s the difference between ActiveFX™, DeepFX and TotalFX?
ActiveFX™ is CO2 laser skin resurfacing for the active person. It is a fractional laser treatment, meaning only a fraction of the skin’s surface is treated by the laser, leaving small areas of skin “untouched” and allowing for a faster healing process, which enables you to get back to normal activities sooner. The treatment causes the upper layer of skin to peel off and regenerate a layer of new, healthy skin.
DeepFX is CO2 laser skin resurfacing for deeper wrinkles and scars that have a dermal component. This treatment also uses a fractional pattern to aid in the regeneration process. The deep heating associated with DeepFX causes immediate collagen tightening and long-term collagen remodeling. The patient can expect softening and smoothing of wrinkles and scars, with improved skin texture. The Deep FX treatment is fantastic for wrinkles around the mouth and eyes.
TotalFX combines the ActiveFX™ and DeepFX systems. The results are fractional resurfacing of the surface of your skin, removing sun damage and brown spots, as well as the deeper skin, removing wrinkles, scars, and uneven skin tone. TotalFX is a complete resurfacing treatment capable of astounding results.
How Will I Know If I Need ActiveFX™, DeepFX, or TotalFX?
Patients can opt for only an ActiveFX™ treatment, depending on the areas of concern. However, Dr. Nakamura recommends using the ActiveFX™ and DeepFX treatments together for most patients since they provide optimal results.
How Long Does TotalFX Last?
TotalFX is a long-term treatment with results that can last for years.
What Are the Benefits of a TotalFX Treatment?
- Immediately tightens collagen
- Reduces wrinkles and fine lines
- Softens deep lines
- Noticeably improves skin tone and texture
- Eliminates and reduces age spots and sun damage
- Stimulates new collagen formation and plumps the skin
The results of a TotalFX laser treatment are long term and, with proper sun protection, can persist for many years. Most effects of treatment become visible right away, whereas others – such as new collagen formation – build up gradually and become more evident over time. Therefore, most people look even better 3 to 6 months after the procedure.
Fractional CO2 Resurfacing
Now a great new treatment has arrived, fractional CO2 resurfacing. Fractional resurfacing started with the Fraxel® technology. Unlike Fraxel®, however, which uses the erbium laser, a far weaker laser, the CO2 Fx by Lumenis uses fractionated CO2.
This fractional CO2 works somewhat similarly to aerating a lawn in that it punches thousands of microscopic holes into the skin, causing the skin to grow into holes which makes new skin that is younger looking, has fewer wrinkles and lines and is thicker. Our skin loses 1% of its thickness per year and the CO2 Fx reverses some of this thinning by creating new collagen growth. Again, Fraxel® works similarly, but because it is erbium, Fraxel®’s results are far less impressive than fractional CO2.
In our office, we use the TotalFX and the ActiveFX by Luminus as our fractional CO2 laser. We chose the Luminus TotalFX because Luminus has by far the greatest experience in producing CO2 lasers. The TotalFX has great versatility and works for many conditions and many skin types. By varying the settings, depth of penetration, size of the tiny holes it creates, and density of fractionated CO2 we can customize for exactly your condition and skin type.
At Accent On You, we take pride in delivering the utmost quality of care with a personalized approach. Our patients in Arlington, Dallas Fort Worth, and the surrounding communities in Texas receive nothing but the most comprehensive information on the procedures we perform because we believe that an informed decision is the best decision.
