SMOOTHBEAM™ FOR WRINKLES AND SCARS

The Smoothbeam laser emits a beam of light that will stimulate your collagen to grow. The actual treatment is preceded and followed by a gentle cooling spray which will reduce any discomfort. Once this collagen grows, it will help fill in wrinkles at the treated sites, and may help fill in acne scars as well for the very same reason.

This treatment is non-ablative, and there is virtually no risk or downtime. You may immediately return to work, school, or other social activities. The Smoothbeam differs from other lasers for this purpose because it currently has the longest wavelength currently available for the deepest penetration into the skin. The N-Lite laser only has a wavelength of 585 nanometers, and the CoolTouch II only has 1320 nanometers. Only the Smoothbeam laser has the wavelength of 1450 nanometers which will give the deepest penetration into the collagen.

No test dose is necessary, the treatment is virtually unapparent, and the collagen regrowth will occur slowly and in a gentle yet effective fashion.

FEES

We recommend a series of three to five treatments one month apart. We do ask that you plan on completing at least three sessions as a minimum.

Multiple areas $300 per treatment session

Partial face $200 per treatment session per area

"Multiple areas" mean the wrinkles on the full face, not necessarily every bit of your skin on the full face.

"Partial" areas are: around the mouth; around both eyes; forehead; both cheeks.

All fees are subject to change. The fee is always what is current at the time of your actual treatment. Old fee schedules, handouts, or web site fees do not apply. Any quoted fees must be in writing and are only good for six months. No "verbal" quotes are accepted.

SCHEDULING

Dr. Coverman or Jennifer Jordan, PA-C must see all new patients prior to the first treatment in order to discuss your eligibility, intended results, possible contraindications, and the concurrent use of other oral and topical medicines. There is a fee for this visit. Dr. Coverman or Jennifer will examine you and discuss your care, review prior and current medications, and outline a treatment program in addition to the Smoothbeam if indicated.

If you are a current patient at our office, and have been seeing Dr. Coverman, Jennifer or our aestheticians for any kind of aging skin program, please let our receptionist know. In some cases, you may immediately schedule a treatment with Tammy or Christi without needing to see Dr. Coverman or Jennifer.

Once Smoothbeam sessions have been instituted, we suggest that you schedule your sessions in advance with either of our aestheticians such that follow-up appointments will be easy to get. You don't necessarily need to see Dr. Coverman or Jennifer during your Smoothbeam sessions. If you would like to discuss your regular ongoing care, please schedule an appointment with either Dr. Coverman or Jennifer in addition to your Smoothbeam sessions. There will be a fee for the visit.

There is a $150 non-refundable fee for missed appointments without a 24 hour notice. If you need to cancel, please record the date, time, and name of the person you spoke with.

PRETREATMENT

None usually necessary - for three days prior to the procedure, do not use any topical acne or wrinkle medication. It is best to come in without make-up, but you can remove your make-up here if you need to and you can reapply it right after the procedure.

We prefer that you lay off suntanning for a month prior. There is virtually no downtime, and you may go right back to work or your normal activities.

Do not take any oral antibiotics, antifungals, or NSAID's (Naprosyn, Advil, Aleve) on your treatment day.

You should not have any laser or any light based therapy if you have any photosensitive diseases such as lupus erythematosus, porphyria, or albinism. You must stop any photosensitive medicines at least two days before your treatment unless your prescribing doctor told you not to. Always check! These include anti-arthritis drugs such as gold or methotrexate: any antibiotic from the tetracycline group including Tetracycline, Minocycline, Doxycycline, Vibramycin, Doryx, Solodyn, and Dynacin; acne medicines including Accutane, Cipro, or any of the "quinolone medications"; oral antifungals including Griseofulvin; anti-arrhythmia drugs including Chlorpromazine; NSAIDs including Naprosyn, Advil; St. John's Wort; diuretics.

If you have ever had herpes or think you may have (cold sores or fever blisters), inform Dr. Coverman or our staff prior to scheduling your appointment. We will give you a series of anti-herpes pills to take the day before the treatment, the day of, and the day after. This should help to suppress or prevent herpes from flaring, but there are no guarantees. A herpes flare could cause pain, pigment, infection, and scarring.

Dr. Coverman strongly recommends that a numbing cream be applied prior to the treatment. Although this won't block all discomfort, often it can improve this by about 50%. You may purchase some of these over the counter (LMX) but we recommend other more potent creams.

The numbing cream, although highly effective, and generally safe topically, can be absorbed by the body. If applied for too long in too broad of an area or on inflamed skin, too much of this could be absorbed with short term toxic results. It is not dangerous if used intermittently long term just prior to these treatments. Never occlude an area any larger than the total of two palm prints. Anything larger than this just put it on without any plastic or saran wrap occlusion. If we are treating broad areas such as the back or both legs, don't use it at all. If it is from the hips to the knees, or the knees to the ankles, you may use it on these areas but not full legs at any one time. If there are any questions, ALWAYS ASK US FIRST!

Please apply this one hour prior to your intended procedure. It will work even better if you place saran wrap over the cream and then tape all of the edges airtight. Some patients don't want to come to the office with cream or plastic on their face, so if you bring the cream with you, we can apply it for you just prior to your treatment. Although it won't be on as long, a little bit is always better than nothing.

SAVE the numbing cream! It can be used again for this treatment, other treatments like it, or for waxing, hair removal, even insect stings and sunburns. You will always find a use for this cream. Never put it on a fresh burn, infected skin, inflamed skin, or ANY weeping, open, or oozing skin. Never apply to any undiagnosed rash. For any questions, always ask our staff.

TREATMENT DAY

You will wear protective goggles, and then the procedure will immediately begin. You will feel a series of quick, pinprick or needle prick type of sensations that are tolerable. Dr. Coverman has had this done himself without the numbing cream. Almost immediately after the procedure, this sensation should disappear quickly. No other pain medicine should be necessary. Women may apply make-up immediately and go right back to work or school.

Dr. Coverman's licensed aestheticians, Tammy or Christi, will perform the procedure. They have the same training on this laser that Dr. Coverman has, and they have been additionally trained by Dr. Coverman on all lasers that they use at his practice. They will consult with him freely regarding any questions about your care.

POST TREATMENT

Do not apply any topical medications for three days after your laser treatment. This would be any medication such as for acne, or any of your wrinkle medications including Retin A, Vitamin C treatments, alpha-hydroxy acids, glycolic acids and so forth. You may be a little red or inflamed, and some of these medicines can irritate you further. You may apply your make-up and go right back to work. Do not sunburn for the next week and avoid excess sun exposure for the next month.

POST-TREATMENT PAIN

For normal post-operative pain following most of the procedures that we perform in our office, we do not recommend nor prescribe any of the stronger pain medicines including hydrocodone (Lortab; Darvocet N100; Mepergan Fortis; Ultram). We feel that a combination described below of over-the-counter medicines will be enough. This is what we recommend:

Take one Aleve or Advil pill every 4-6 hours with food. Wash it down well with liquid. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime snack.
Do not take Aleve or Advil if you are allergic to aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxin, these pills, or have any type of aspirin sensitivity or the syndrome of nasal polyps, allergies, atopic eczema, and aspirin-allergy. Likewise, do not take this if you have any bleeding problems, or have ever had any ulcer disease or similar stomach disease.
We also recommend that you take two Extra Strength (500 mg) Tylenol tablets every 4-6 hours as well at the same time.
Please remember that the side effects of Tylenol have nothing to do with the side effects of Aleve or Advil, thus these may be taken together.

If you have any liver disease or potential liver problems, do not take the Tylenol. Do not take Tylenol if you are allergic to it or acetaminophen. DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL WITH THIS REGIMEN! Otherwise, follow the schedule below:

8:00 a.m. - Breakfast
One Aleve or Advil with breakfast and plenty of water.
Two 500 mg Tylenol for adults.
Noon to 2:00 p.m. - Lunch
One Aleve or Advil with lunch and plenty of water.
Two more 500 mg Tylenol.
6:00 p.m. - Dinner
One Aleve or Advil with dinner and plenty of water.
Two more Tylenol.
10:00 p.m. to midnight - Bedtime
One Aleve or Advil at bedtime and plenty of water.
Two more Tylenol.
Benadryl (diphenhydramine) 25-50 mg for sleep.

The Benadryl is a great idea. It is the main component of most over-the-counter sleeping pills. (Tylenol PM), and is not addicting. Never drink alcohol before or with this, and plan on going right to sleep and sleeping 8 hours. DO NOT take with any other sleeping pill, anti-depressant, MAO inhibitor, or anti-anxiety drug (Xanax, Valium, etc.). Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment.

Thus, in any given day you should never take more than the total of four Advil or Aleve or eight Tylenol total (two every four to six hours).

Normally you should be able to safely do this for one to three days - but never more. If the pain ever worsens or this fails to control it - call our office during normal office hours or the medical exchange (458-1121) after hours.

This combination of Aleve or Advil plus Tylenol is safe, covers you around the clock, and allows you to take two different pain medicines whose side effects don't cross react with each other assuming you are not allergic to either.

COMPLICATIONS

The laser procedure produces a brief burst of cooling spray both before and after each laser impulse. Because the cooling spray itself could be inflammatory, and likewise the laser, complications could include temporary reddening or blistering of the treated areas. This is rare. This should fade by the end of the day, and should easily be covered by make-up. It is generally not bright red, nor objectionable. Very rarely, there could be increased pigment (hyperpigmentation) in the treated areas. This would be more likely in darkly pigmented people or heavily tanned people. In the initial studies, all patients that had this complication had complete fading over a reasonable period of time. Bleaches can be used. Sunscreen protection after the treatment is always recommended.

If you have ever had herpes or think you may have had herpes (cold sores, fever blisters) in the treated areas, this treatment could flare that. Please inform our staff prior to your treatment date and we can prescribe a series of anti-herpes pills that usually should prevent this. Nonetheless, rarely the herpes could break through and you could have another attack. If you have never had herpes, this cannot cause herpes. Other potential complications and alternatives will be discussed at the time of your visit and on the consent form.

FOLLOW-UP

Discontinue your skin care regimen for three days after your treatment. On subsequent visits, Dr. Coverman or Jennifer will discuss with you how we may modify your current skin care program if necessary.

After three days, you may resume your prior skin care regimen unless you have been specifically instructed not to or otherwise modified your regimen. Dr. Coverman or Jennifer would like to see you on a regular scheduled office visit one month after your first Smoothbeam treatment (just before the beginning of your second treatment) to adjust your skin care regimen if appropriate. There will be a normal fee for this visit.

Top