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 Rosacea
is a chronic skin condition that afflicts approximately 16 million North
Americans between the age of 30 and 65. An acne-like condition rosacea
often has a significant psychological impact upon sufferers who report
that the condition affects their self confidence negatively.
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Rosacea typically starts with redness
on the cheeks, chin, forehead or nose that can come and go.
Occasionally rosacea can occur on the chest, ears, neck and scalp.
In some cases the eyes can also be affected appearing bloodshot, dry and
swollen.
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Over time the redness becomes more persistent and
visible blood vessels appear. If the condition is not treated bumps
and pimples develop and the skin can become tender and sensitive to
touch. In severe cases the nose can grow swollen and bumpy from
excess tissue (rhinophyma).
Although the condition can affect all people, fair-skinned
individuals who blush or flush more easily are more prone to
developing rosacea. While women are more likely to develop the
condition than men, male sufferers tend to develop more severe
symptoms.
Because rosacea varies from one patient to the next, a physician
should determine treatment.
Dermatologists traditionally have
prescribed a variety of oral and topical medications to treat
rosacea. Oral antibiotics such as erythromicin, minocycline and
tetracycline are used to reduce the inflammation and the formation
of bumps and pimples while antibiotic gels are used to keep the
symptoms under control. Neither oral nor topical treatments will
cure rosacea so continued use of topical treatments has proven
necessary to control symptoms. Topical treatments include
metronidazole and azeliac acid.
Laser treatment of rosacea has been
shown to be an effective way of both reducing visible blood vessels
and removing the thickening of the skin associated with rhinophyma.
To reduce the appearance of visible blood vessels the best results
are achieved using a KTP laser and/or a Nd:YAG laser. For those
patients who want to reduce the thickening of the skin around the
cheeks and nose an erbium laser is better suited since it is the
workhorse for gentle facial resurfacing.
In both cases Fotona offers relief to rosacea sufferers:
The DualisVP system combines both a KTP and Nd:
YAG laser to provide the widest range of vascular treatments
available today with one laser system. Fotona KTP/Nd:YAG laser
therapy is based on selective photothermolysis where green KTP
Nd:YAG light is strongly absorbed in smaller, superficial blood
vessels while the neighboring tissues remain unaffected. The KTP
Nd:YAG laser heats the interior of the blood vessels as well as
vessels walls and thus irreversibly blocks the vessel.
The DualisXS utilizes an erbium laser to gently
ablate the surface of the skin layer by layer without thermally
affecting surrounding tissues. The result is the removal of most
common superficial lesions, thermal rejuvenation and the stimulation
of new collagen to give the skin a youthful and fresh look.
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AFTER –
4 months post treatment |
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Call
Coastal Skin Center now to set up an appointment 207.667.2422 or
888.379.5664
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