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Improving Your Laser Skin Treatment

Are you considering laser treatment but have been scared by outdated views of laser treatment?

Laser treatments have been associated with pain in the past. This is due to the fact that the laser itself tends to get very hot. Lasers need to be hot in order to perform the treatment adequately, whether the purpose is to smooth or tighten the skin, remove tattoos, treat damaged skin or stimulate collagen production. Regardless of the desired results, the laser will be hot! However, each laser is different and the temperature will vary.

In order to improve our patients’ experience, we have two Zimmer Cooler machines to cool down the skin and reduce pain associated with skin resurfacing treatments. Known as Cryo Therapy, this allows for increased patient comfort. The Zimmer Cooler is unique in that it can cool the skin before, during and after treatment. The increased cooling of the top layer of the skin allows us to increase the amount of energy delivered to the treatment area safely, preventing pain and burns on the skin. This allows for a more consistent result with less risk of side effects. The additional benefits associated with the use of the Zimmer cooler include a faster healing process, less swelling, less redness and fewer risks of pigmentation changes.

The Zimmer Cooler can be used for IPL or other laser procedures, as well as in connection with injectables. It provides a comfortable numbing to the skin to ensure patients can remain relaxed during the procedure. The use of this machine is associated with higher patient satisfaction and has a huge impact on the ability to manage pain.

The Zimmer Cooler delivers chilled area to the target area during the procedure through convection cooling. The skin surface temperature can decrease rapidly to 15 degrees Celsius within 8 seconds and can reach temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius without interfering with the laser. This method of cooling has been found to be safe. However, there is a risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation with continued air cooling.1 This is a temporary issue that tends to affect those with darker skin tones more frequently. The Zimmer Cooler decreases such risk, but the risk remains even with the use of the cooler.

1 Das A, Sarda A, De A. (2016) “Cooling Devices in laser therapy” J Cutan Aesthet Surg 2016;9:215-9.