Laser Season is Here!
Over the summer, it is common for your face and some other areas like arms, neck, chest, back, and legs. UV rays increase the rate of breakdown of collagen, leading to earlier formation of lines, wrinkles, sun spots, skin laxity, and issues with skin pigmentation. It is important to note that the best prevention is daily SPF and aggressive sun protection. But if you may have made some unsafe sun decisions in the past or while growing up (we all have) you’re in luck! At Citrine, we can reverse or significantly improve many of these signs of sun damage with our hybrid fractional HALO laser treatments or light based treatments like BBL (Broad Band Light) and the fall is one of our favorite times of the year to get started with these treatments!
What Can You Do For Sun Damage?
If your skin has started to show signs of sun damage like sun spots, “new” freckles, laxity, fine lines, leathery skin texture, and wrinkles it’s time to take a multi-pronged approach. First, we would recommend a comprehensive skincare consultation to come up with a plan that includes a medical grade skin regimen and potentially some laser, BBL, or RF Microneedling based treatments depending on your particular concerns. The laser and light based based treatments (Halo and BBL™ BroadBand Light by Sciton) that we offer at Citrine are considered to be the gold standard modalities in their respective device categories and offer a way to rejuvenate your skin and restore fresh, youthful skin. Many patients can also benefit from combining HALO and BBL to get incredible results with no increase in downtime.
What is the difference between HALO and BBL?
HALO is the world’s only Hybrid Fractional Laser. It was created by Sciton and it stands apart from other skin resurfacing lasers that are commonly available because it delivers a non-ablative and an ablative wavelength simultaneously, which actually provides a better outcome with decreased downtime. Ultimately, at Citrine in Lincoln we use HALO to treat signs of aging like fine lines, skin laxity, wrinkles AND signs of sun damage like pigmentation issues, brown spots, age spots. The skin regeneration triggered by a HALO treatment also leads to an increase in collagen production, improves the appearance of skin texture, decreases appearance of pores, and can even treat older stretch marks, acne scarring or surgical scars!
BBL™ BroadBand Light is the gold standard technology that uses intense pulsed light (IPL) but the technology with this device is by far the most advanced on the market.
At Citrine in Lincoln, we have the most advanced version of BBL called BBL HERO (High Energy Rapid Output). This update in technology allows a faster, SAFER treatment, and expands treatment areas to include the body with minimal risk in comparison to other IPL devices currently offered in Lincoln. BBL with HERO uses smart filters that determine which issues issues will be targeted based on the wavelength used. For example, one filter is great for treating brown spots, freckles, and other pigment issues. A different filter would be used for telangiectasias, small vessels, red spots like cherry angiomas, rosacea, and newer red or purple stretch marks. Another filter is used for acne treatments to destroy the bacteria responsible for causing acne. And there are more filters used simply for anti-aging purposes! The versatility of this device is incredible and it is definitely one of our favorite ZERO downtime treatments. BBL has been scientifically shown to actually age your skin in reverse so we will also use it as an anti aging/preventative type treatment to help maintain great skin as well and makes just about everyone a candidate for this treatment.
BBL has zero downtime, works for MANY different issues, and is usually done in a series of 3-5 treatments at first with follow-up maintenance treatments to preserve the incredible results it generates. BBL can also be used almost anywhere on the body and can do wonders for spots on the arms, neck, back, chest, and legs. Almost anyone is a candidate for BBL because who doesn’t want more youthful vibrant skin?!
HALO does come with a couple days of downtime and is definitely more of an aggressive treatment because it is a hybrid fractional laser that provides ablative and non-ablative skin resurfacing. Generally we recommend 1 or 2 treatments followed by maintenance yearly.
The HALO is one of our favorite treatments that will give “wow” results within a week with continued improvement of the next several weeks to months. At Citrine in Lincoln, we love to use HALO for anyone looking to improve skin texture, tackle fine lines, wrinkles, acne scarring, and also decrease appearance of pores. But we turn to HALO for patients with more advanced skin damage because it works especially well for anyone with more advanced skin issues and helps reverse some of the damage caused by years of sun exposure.
BBL and HALO also have an incredible synergistic effect! A quick BBL treatment prior a HALO can drastically enhance pigment elimination, improve rosacea, eliminate small vessels, and overall enhance the anti-aging and UV damage reversing effects.
Still not sure if you’re a candidate for HALO or BBL?
At Citrine in Lincoln, we are all about getting stellar results safely and therefore will provide a full consultation and skin care plan prior to scheduling these treatments so don’t be scared to talk with your provider if you have additional questions or want to know if you would be a candidate for one or both of these treatments!
Also check out our Instagram stories to see some great before and afters as well as timelines post treatment!
