Feb. 28, 2023

Picking the Right Device w/ Dr. Joel Cohen

Picking the Right Device w/ Dr. Joel Cohen

To help you find the best laser or energy treatment for your goals, dermatologist Joel L. Cohen, MD,  joins Dr. Bass for a conversation about the devices which have changed the aesthetics game and how treatments can be modulated to fit your goals.

Finding the right device means first consulting with and building a relationship with an expert dermatologist or plastic surgeon, who will help you select the treatment that will best address your concerns.

Getting to your goals requires an entire toolbox, not a singular device. If you already have lines etched in the skin, Dysport or Botox won’t help. Neuromodulators are for prevention, not rejuvenation, and you need laser resurfacing to remove them. 

Mild improvements in fine lines can be obtained with the new superficial fillers, but when lines are deep and etched, slight improvement is made with chemical peels and more significant improvement is made with laser peels (laser resurfacing). What you choose depends on where you are in the aging spectrum and how much downtime you are able or willing to take.

Learn more about laser skin resurfacing offered at Bass Plastic Surgery 

About Dr. Joel Cohen

Board-certified dermatologist Joel L. Cohen, MD, is the director of AboutSkin Dermatology and DermSurgery and an internationally-recognized expert on skin cancer and aesthetics. He has won various awards and recognitions, including US News and World Report’s Top Dermatologist and one of Denver’s Top Doctors in 5280 magazine.

Learn more about Dr. Cohen 

About Dr. Lawrence Bass

Innovator. Industry veteran. In-demand Park Avenue board certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Lawrence Bass is a true master of his craft, not only in the OR but as an industry pioneer in the development and evaluation of new aesthetic technologies. With locations in both Manhattan (on Park Avenue between 62nd and 63rd Streets) and in Great Neck, Long Island, Dr. Bass has earned his reputation as the plastic surgeon for the most discerning patients in NYC and beyond.

To learn more, visit the Bass Plastic Surgery website or follow the team on Instagram @drbassnyc

Subscribe to the Park Avenue Plastic Surgery Class newsletter to be notified of new episodes & receive exclusive invitations, offers, and information from Dr. Bass. 

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Welcome to Park Avenue
Plastic Surgery Class,

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the podcast where we explore controversies
and breaking issues in plastic

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surgery. I'm your co-host Doreen Wu,

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a clinical assistant at Bass
Plastic Surgery in New York City.

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I'm excited to be here with Dr. Lawrence
Bass Park Avenue plastic surgeon,

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educator, and technology innovator.

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The title of today's episode is
"Picking the Right Device." Dr. Bass,

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we've talked about various
devices in these podcast episodes.

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What's the idea behind this one?

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There are multiple devices on the
market designed to treat a given beauty

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condition,

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even multiple devices with
specific FDA clearances for those

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conditions.

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Doctors do a lot of research and
speak with multiple colleagues

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before purchasing a device
to use in their practice.

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And then they spend time learning how
to use those devices to best advantage

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once they get them.

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What can patients do to
find the best devices?

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This is a much harder task
put in practical terms.

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How should you approach
finding your device care?

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What are the hot new devices
that really represent progress?

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But before we dive into that topic, we
have a special guest joining us today.

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I'm happy to introduce my friend
and colleague, Dr. Joel Cohen,

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who's a dermatologist in Denver, Colorado.

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Dr. Cohen is extremely
involved and active in clinical

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research and lecturing and teaching
about the latest advances in

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aesthetic dermatology.

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So Dr. Cohen,

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what are the big groups of devices and
how would you break it down for us?

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So in our practice we have a lot
of devices and as Larry indicated,

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some of these actually can
treat the same conditions.

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But I like to really focus on devices
that allow us to treat lines and

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wrinkles etched in the
skin as well as scars,

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and then devices that allow us
to treat pigmentation and then

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devices and procedures that allow
us to treat areas of redness

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such as rosacea or telangiectasias.

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Do you have preferences within these
different classes or does it depend on

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patient specific details?

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You know,

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I think that there are some really
solid platforms that are out there

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that allow you to treat
many of these conditions.

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And the Sciton platform,
the Joule X is one of those.

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So with 1/2-20 plug,

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you can treat patients with a fractional
blade of erbium called ProFractional.

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You can use full field erbium resurfacing,

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which is what I do a lot
of and published a lot on,

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especially around the
mouth and around the eyes,

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to really give patients huge results
with oftentimes just one treatment.

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And then also it has the
hybrid fractional called Halo,

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which combines non-ablative
fractional on the bladed.

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Fractional has broadband light where
you can treat on a stamping mode

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or you can treat on the new
high intensity rapid output,

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the hero mode, which is in motion.

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And then there's single shot
erbium and micro laser peel.

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So essentially by plugging the
device in once into 1/2-20 plug,

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you can calibrate different hand
pieces that you want to use.

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And it's a very efficient laser and a
very popular laser in our practice such

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that we have two of them.

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That leads me to wonder,

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how do you evaluate patients for
device treatments versus other options?

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So many of my patients come in
asking specifically about an

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area such as lines and wrinkles
around the mouth or the eyes.

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And in many cases those are the
first areas that really date them.

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They're focusing in the mirror.

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So I always express to them that you
really have to pick the right tool to the

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job.

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You can't use a neuromodulator
like Dysport or Botox to treat

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lines that are already etched in the skin,
such as around the mouth, their eyes.

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You really need to do something to help
with effacing those lines and that would

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be laser resurfacing.

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Yeah, I think that's a critically
important point. You know,

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a lot of people have heard of some
aesthetic treatment or another,

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or maybe their friend
had it and they don't

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really understand exactly what the
treatment is designed to accomplish.

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They kind of think it fixes everything.

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So it's really important to get the right
tool for the right job, as you said.

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I think that's beautifully put.

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and I agree with you a hundred
percent that one of the

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main features that it's essential
for whatever aesthetic provider

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you work with to be able to address,

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is lines and wrinkles,

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because that's definitively
an aging change.

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Leaving that behind, even
if you fix something else,

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really doesn't leave
you looking your best.

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And the ability to address that is
just critically important for anybody

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who's trying to work in the
area of facial rejuvenation.

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So the area around the mouth,

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I really divide things
into three subtypes and I

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actually published a scale on
this in dermatologic surgery.

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But for people who have prominent
muscle around the mouth from the

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orbicularis oris muscle,

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but it has not imprinted
those smokers lines yet,

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I think it's perfectly helpful to
use a neuromodulator like Dysport

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or Botox to try to minimize
that muscle from imprinting

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the lines.

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And I say minimize and not completely
prevent because I think it's important to

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be realistic with people that we're
not using high doses in the lower face.

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We're using very low
precise dosing to really try

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to decrease some of the muscle bulk
but not make the muscle not function,

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which can feel funny.

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If people have some lines that are etched
in the skin but they're not deep and

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they're not numerous,

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then I think you can get into those
lines in many cases with a filler.

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And we all have our favorite fillers in
terms of fine line fillers to get into

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those.

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But when people have really significant
number of lines and they're deep and

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they're etched, then resurfacing
really makes the most sense.

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And for those patients, I like to
use full field erbium resurfacing.

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It's something where you can recognize
your endpoint of pinpoint blading.

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I don't use epinephrine in
my block around the mouth,

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so I can recognize that
endpoint more clearly.

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And I really see a tremendous amount
of improvement usually with just one

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treatment.

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Whereas fractional bladed of resurfacing
may take multiple treatments and not

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still get to the point where you
can get with full field erbium.

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And I think full field erbium is,

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is very different than CO2 in the fact
that we can recognize our endpoint and it

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has more water binding coefficient.

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It doesn't go as deep and it hasn't been
associated with that delayed pigment

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loss that we saw many years ago.

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I saw in my fellowship 20-something
years ago from full field CO2.

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Yeah, I mean, I've always been
on the erbium side of things,

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not the CO2 side of things.
And that perioral area,

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the lipstick bleed lines,
full field is the way to go.

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It does involve short
interval of recovery time,

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typically a raw period of
about five to seven days

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depending on how
aggressively you need to go.

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But compared to the cumulative recovery
time of doing multiple fractional

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treatments and given the,

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the amount of improvement
that's typically obtained,

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I think it's preferred
to figure out how you can

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squeeze that into your schedule. Now
I'm curious to hear, because there,

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you know, there's sort of been
the introduction of some more

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superficial filler materials in
the United States and likely a

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couple more coming.

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Does that tilt the scale a little
bit in favor of the fillers

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or it does hasn't improved things

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enough to really change your initial
stratification that you published in Derm

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Surge?

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I don't think it really changes
the way that I presented that.

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I think where people have numerous lines,

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it's just not realistic that we can get
into all those lines, especially if,

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you know,

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they are more deep and of different

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calibers in terms of the
morphology of all those lines.

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But I do think that some of
the fillers really have been a

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very significant advance
in what we had before.

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So the most common filler that I use for
the perioral lines is Restylane Kysse.

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I find it to have less swelling than
many of the other products and I think it

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integrates into the skin really
nicely and it's very common for me to

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use it not only into the lip substance,

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the mucosa and the red part of the lip,

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but also to some of the
fine lines around the mouth.

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I think that the RHA Redensity
product is also really nice product

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for etched lines around the mouth.

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But when patients again
have numerous lines and it's

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just not realistic to
fill all those areas,

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and in many cases there's textural
change to the skin that we call actinic

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elastosis or sun damage type changes
where you can't treat that with

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filler. And really that's where
resurfacing comes into play.

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And you get a durability of result.

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That filler is just
never going to give you.

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Agree.

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And I do like to use
neuromodulators to prevent

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patients from contracting the muscle
in those exact spots which could

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recapitulate the lines
and etch them over time.

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They're not going to go back
to where they were at baseline,

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but I think it makes sense to see
patients every four months or so

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for tiny little aliquots of
Botox or Dysport or Jeaveau or

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Xeomin into the orbicularis oris
muscle on the upper lip as well

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as on the lower lip. And to talk
about the lower lip for a moment,

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you know,

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I always was much more aggressive on the
upper lip than on the lower part of the

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lip. And at one point I asked a
colleague and friend, Jason Pozner,

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to do OCT

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analysis of the characteristics
and compare between the
upper and the lower lip

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because he had that device and I
have the pictures in my lecture.

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And since then he really showed
me that the lower lip and the

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mucosa changing over the vermilion
border to the area be before

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you get to that little crease in the
chin is very similar to the upper lip.

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So I now treat that very
similarly between upper and lower

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lip.

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And I'm seeing better results in terms
of the etch lines and wrinkles on the

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lower lip. And in addition,

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I've always treated the red part of
the lower lip in our fair complected

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patients who have these etched lines
on the entire area around the mouth

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because they're fair complected,

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they've had a lot of sun exposure to
lead to some of those imprinting in the

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lines.

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And they do have skin changes we
call actiniculitis and the lower

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lip in many cases, which is
a pre-cancerous condition.

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Yeah,

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that's an important point that
resurfacing reduces the actinic

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burden and therefore your
risk of skin cancer in

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addition to providing
a cosmetic improvement.

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The point about neuromodulators is,

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is also important and
illustrates how particularly as

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changes get more advanced,

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a multi-modality approach is
usually going to get you to the most

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complete correction that's obtainable.

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Agree. And I think, you know,

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when patients quote clinical trials or
we talk to them about a trial that we

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may have done that's using monotherapy,

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we're using one tool to really look at

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the duration and the efficacy and the
degree of improvement that patients get.

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But in real life,

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we're using our entire toolbox to try to
get to patients to that point that they

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look at themselves in the mirror and
they're happy with the improvement.

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And then it comes to a point where we
talk about let's try to maintain that

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improvement. So from a
resurfacing perspective, you know,

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I don't think it's reasonable that every
few years somebody is going to want do

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a heavy full field erbium resurfacing
and take a week or more in terms

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of the actual healing time. So
after they've done that once,

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I like to do lower density
fractional erbium or lower density

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fractional CO2 perhaps every
six or eight months just

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to get them a little bit more improvement.

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And I think that that's where things
like microneedling can come into play

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to allow them that stimulation
and new collagen formation.

219
00:13:31,130 --> 00:13:35,550
But one of the lasers that I'm really
excited about is a new laser called the

220
00:13:35,550 --> 00:13:37,510
Acclaro laser. It's called UltraClear.

221
00:13:37,730 --> 00:13:40,110
And there are multiple
modes on this laser.

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00:13:41,190 --> 00:13:44,450
And the lightest mode is
called the 3D miracle.

223
00:13:45,110 --> 00:13:48,490
And it really truly is
a lunchtime procedure.

224
00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:51,090
Patients can come in to the office,

225
00:13:52,410 --> 00:13:54,580
take standardized photos,

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00:13:55,430 --> 00:13:57,740
no anesthesia is actually required.

227
00:13:57,850 --> 00:14:01,740
Patients can have the treatment
in as little as 10 to 15 minutes,

228
00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,460
and the discomfort is one out of 10.

229
00:14:05,461 --> 00:14:08,580
And I consider myself pretty
wimpy and my wife would agree,

230
00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:13,540
and truly that is one out of 10
discomfort for me. So it really,

231
00:14:13,541 --> 00:14:18,540
it's not much more than just feeling the
vibration and a little bit of heat on

232
00:14:18,541 --> 00:14:19,374
the skin.

233
00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:24,530
And patients have a little
stinging for a few hours and

234
00:14:24,531 --> 00:14:29,450
that's it. So they're pink
and dry for about two days.

235
00:14:29,580 --> 00:14:31,650
So I've done the
treatment on Friday night,

236
00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:35,650
I've gone out with people on Saturday
night and they don't really realize unless

237
00:14:35,651 --> 00:14:39,850
I take my glasses off that I'm a little
bit pink on the rest of my face and by

238
00:14:39,851 --> 00:14:41,690
Monday I look absolutely fine.

239
00:14:41,780 --> 00:14:46,730
So I think that that's important
for people who want to do

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00:14:46,731 --> 00:14:50,090
treatments but don't want a lot of
downtime and understand that there'll be a

241
00:14:50,091 --> 00:14:54,880
cumulative effect and be people who've
reached the endpoint that they want

242
00:14:54,881 --> 00:14:55,161
to,

243
00:14:55,161 --> 00:14:59,560
such as with full field orum resurfacing
around the mountain eyes and they just

244
00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:01,720
want to continue that type of improvement.

245
00:15:02,150 --> 00:15:07,040
Yeah, that points up another
important concept with device,

246
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,720
which is if you're doing
an aggressive peel,

247
00:15:12,690 --> 00:15:14,920
as you said, you know, once maybe enough,

248
00:15:15,100 --> 00:15:19,360
and then some maintenance treatments
down the line in the years ahead.

249
00:15:20,140 --> 00:15:21,600
But I'm in New York City,

250
00:15:21,601 --> 00:15:26,560
a lot of people have a crazy work schedule
or a crazy social schedule or both,

251
00:15:27,020 --> 00:15:29,840
and they can't take the downtime.

252
00:15:31,350 --> 00:15:36,160
It's okay to proceed with
other treatments and if

253
00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:40,120
you don't yet have
pronounced aging changes,

254
00:15:40,260 --> 00:15:44,200
you may not need the bigger
treatment that's recovery based.

255
00:15:44,900 --> 00:15:49,760
But a lot of the lighter treatments
need to be done in a series.

256
00:15:51,780 --> 00:15:56,720
And doing a treatment without
doing the requisite number of

257
00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:03,400
typically required treatments is likely
to get you a disappointing result.

258
00:16:03,401 --> 00:16:07,040
So a lot of the devices,
particularly fractionated treatments,

259
00:16:07,070 --> 00:16:12,000
need to be used in a series
and a maintenance fashion.

260
00:16:13,170 --> 00:16:14,960
If you don't do enough of them,

261
00:16:14,961 --> 00:16:18,680
you're predictably not going
to get a meaningful result.

262
00:16:18,690 --> 00:16:23,520
So that's a really important
part of understanding what
you're getting into when

263
00:16:23,521 --> 00:16:28,480
you start with a treatment
and going with some of

264
00:16:28,481 --> 00:16:32,720
that advice from your
dermatologist or plastic surgeon

265
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:38,920
who's going to advise you in their
experience what's likely to be needed

266
00:16:38,921 --> 00:16:40,720
to get you where you're trying to go.

267
00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,670
So practicing in Denver,

268
00:16:43,671 --> 00:16:48,550
and we have patients that
are still attorneys or people
who are very visible and

269
00:16:48,551 --> 00:16:53,470
work for some of the big companies
in the tech world or in some of the

270
00:16:53,471 --> 00:16:55,510
defense department world. So, you know,

271
00:16:55,511 --> 00:16:58,310
not everybody can take
downtime throughout the year,

272
00:16:58,311 --> 00:16:59,910
but everybody takes vacation.

273
00:17:00,330 --> 00:17:05,150
And I think that it's realistic to
say that for somebody who wants to see

274
00:17:05,151 --> 00:17:09,710
major improvement and may have some very
significant social event on their radar

275
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:13,870
in four to six months, like their
daughter's wedding or something like that,

276
00:17:14,060 --> 00:17:16,710
they really need to pick
the right tool for the job.

277
00:17:16,770 --> 00:17:20,230
And I really encourage
those patients to come in.

278
00:17:20,590 --> 00:17:23,790
We'll do the resurfacing,
they'll take at least a week,

279
00:17:23,791 --> 00:17:25,310
a week and a half off of work.

280
00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:29,910
They're usually re-epithelialized at
that point and their skin is healed over

281
00:17:29,911 --> 00:17:33,790
and they may just have some pink and
that's going to last several weeks.

282
00:17:33,790 --> 00:17:38,190
And we try to give them a tinted
sunscreen that is an effective sunscreen,

283
00:17:38,191 --> 00:17:40,910
but also a camouflage so that
they can go back to work.

284
00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:46,310
So that seems to work for my patients
and I do take care of a lot of

285
00:17:46,311 --> 00:17:48,990
patients who come here
specifically for me to,

286
00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,640
to resurface and then they'll
take vacation in the mountains.

287
00:17:51,930 --> 00:17:56,640
So some of these people live
in California in the media

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00:17:56,641 --> 00:18:00,040
world, and some people live
in New York. And it's just,

289
00:18:00,041 --> 00:18:04,160
we make it work for them, but for the
people that it just never seems to work.

290
00:18:04,161 --> 00:18:08,800
I think having alternatives like
the lower density fractional CO2 or

291
00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:13,480
fractional erbium where you can heal
up in probably about four days or a

292
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:15,880
extended weekend is important.

293
00:18:15,940 --> 00:18:20,920
And those sequences of doing multiple
treatment sessions is really critical to

294
00:18:20,921 --> 00:18:21,754
success.

295
00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,240
We've discussed many types of
devices, their various modalities,

296
00:18:26,241 --> 00:18:30,680
their functions in the episode so far.
I'm curious, where's the special sauce?

297
00:18:30,681 --> 00:18:33,160
Does it lie with the
device or the provider?

298
00:18:34,140 --> 00:18:38,990
I think really seeing an
experienced physician who has done

299
00:18:38,991 --> 00:18:42,790
a lot of resurfacing is
critical to success. So Larry,

300
00:18:42,791 --> 00:18:45,710
as a plastic surgeon who's done
a lot of erbium over the years,

301
00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:49,670
me as a dermatologist who's done
a lot of erbium over the years,

302
00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,990
we both lecture on it at national
and international meetings.

303
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:54,670
We both publish on it.

304
00:18:54,790 --> 00:18:59,750
We're showing patients our
results because showing patients

305
00:19:00,380 --> 00:19:03,990
pictures of what you might be able
to accomplish that aren't yours,

306
00:19:04,310 --> 00:19:09,110
isn't really going to get patients
to that point where they feel that

307
00:19:09,111 --> 00:19:10,550
they're seeing the right person.

308
00:19:10,690 --> 00:19:14,430
And that may not give them the results
that they're looking for unless they are

309
00:19:14,431 --> 00:19:18,910
seeing the right person and really
recognizing the endpoint and using

310
00:19:19,050 --> 00:19:22,830
and knowing how to use this
equipment is really key to success.

311
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:25,690
Yeah, I agree with that completely.

312
00:19:25,750 --> 00:19:30,270
The devices have precision

313
00:19:30,970 --> 00:19:34,390
and very controlled parameters,

314
00:19:35,450 --> 00:19:40,350
and that's a virtue compared to a hand

315
00:19:40,380 --> 00:19:44,590
rendered process like a chemical
peel where there's a lot of

316
00:19:45,310 --> 00:19:50,190
input and variability that can't
be controlled to anything like the

317
00:19:50,191 --> 00:19:53,710
level of precision that a device has.

318
00:19:53,710 --> 00:19:57,030
The output from a laser
when the settings are a

319
00:19:57,031 --> 00:20:00,790
certain way is going to only
vary the tiniest amount.

320
00:20:01,410 --> 00:20:05,550
But selecting those
parameters, applying them,

321
00:20:05,551 --> 00:20:09,350
applying them to the right person
for the right reasons takes years of

322
00:20:09,351 --> 00:20:10,470
experience to learn.

323
00:20:12,050 --> 00:20:15,310
And that's brought to you by the provider.

324
00:20:16,270 --> 00:20:18,630
so finding someone
who's willing to listen,

325
00:20:18,631 --> 00:20:23,590
who's going to customize
the plan for you and knows

326
00:20:23,591 --> 00:20:28,270
how to apply these devices backwards
and forwards is going to work heavily in

327
00:20:28,271 --> 00:20:29,104
your favor.

328
00:20:30,030 --> 00:20:34,010
And what do you think is the ideal
setting for these treatments?

329
00:20:34,100 --> 00:20:37,930
In a med spa, a clinical office,
or some other type of provider?

330
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:39,031
No,

331
00:20:39,031 --> 00:20:43,950
I think when you're talking about big
procedures like heavy resurfacing and

332
00:20:43,951 --> 00:20:45,030
ablated resurfacing,

333
00:20:45,490 --> 00:20:49,200
I'm most comfortable recommending
this be done in a medical office.

334
00:20:49,270 --> 00:20:50,920
I think first of all,

335
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,360
we do nerve blocks for
these types of treatments.

336
00:20:54,890 --> 00:20:59,880
We oftentimes will have nitrous
on hand to get people through the

337
00:20:59,881 --> 00:21:01,480
procedure and make them comfortable.

338
00:21:01,990 --> 00:21:06,040
I think it's really important to
understand how to prep the patient and the

339
00:21:06,041 --> 00:21:08,800
different modalities that
we use to prep patients.

340
00:21:08,801 --> 00:21:12,920
I've written a lot on that as well out
of my academic department at University

341
00:21:12,921 --> 00:21:15,440
of California Irvine, even
though I'm based in Colorado.

342
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:21,360
And then finally really
understanding what potentially

343
00:21:21,361 --> 00:21:25,600
can go wrong and having the ability to
write a prescription for prophylactic

344
00:21:26,590 --> 00:21:28,400
antivirals, which is what we do,

345
00:21:28,620 --> 00:21:33,120
but also seeing patients in follow up
and knowing when something may be going

346
00:21:33,121 --> 00:21:33,441
wrong,

347
00:21:33,441 --> 00:21:37,720
when to suspect something like infection
and how to be able to treat that.

348
00:21:38,090 --> 00:21:42,520
So for all those reasons, I'm most
comfortable with the ablative resurfacing,

349
00:21:42,710 --> 00:21:47,320
especially the heavier full field
resurfacing being done in a medical

350
00:21:47,321 --> 00:21:52,080
office, and a physician who has used
and trained on this type of device

351
00:21:52,260 --> 00:21:53,240
for a long time.

352
00:21:54,170 --> 00:21:56,020
I think that all of that is right.

353
00:21:56,021 --> 00:22:00,900
And the other thing which I've
talked about a lot on this podcast

354
00:22:01,310 --> 00:22:04,700
is this notion that this is medical care.

355
00:22:04,701 --> 00:22:08,980
Medical care is very safe,

356
00:22:08,981 --> 00:22:10,180
very predictable,

357
00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:15,060
but in the hands of someone
who is properly trained as

358
00:22:15,061 --> 00:22:17,500
part of their residency training,

359
00:22:17,590 --> 00:22:21,540
as part of their specialty
to perform a given treatment

360
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,940
and who is watching what
is going on the ability

361
00:22:26,990 --> 00:22:30,620
to coordinate a plan of care as well,

362
00:22:30,690 --> 00:22:35,620
rather than just render
a certain product like

363
00:22:35,621 --> 00:22:40,260
a Botox injection or a BBL treatment with

364
00:22:40,780 --> 00:22:45,690
the pulse light is another important

365
00:22:45,691 --> 00:22:48,050
part of having an efficient beauty plan,

366
00:22:48,250 --> 00:22:51,050
a cost effective beauty plan,

367
00:22:51,270 --> 00:22:53,930
and one that gives you the
results you're looking for.

368
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,700
And I think it's very important
for physicians to show patients

369
00:22:59,340 --> 00:23:02,740
their own results, show
them their pictures,

370
00:23:02,741 --> 00:23:06,380
not the company's cherry picked
pictures of the best case scenario,

371
00:23:06,381 --> 00:23:10,630
but show them multiple
examples of your own work.

372
00:23:10,631 --> 00:23:12,710
Show them what the downtime looks like,

373
00:23:13,020 --> 00:23:17,350
what the final result can look
like in a few different examples.

374
00:23:17,370 --> 00:23:21,270
And that's the best way to actually
do things. And for a patient,

375
00:23:21,340 --> 00:23:25,030
I think it's important to ask, "how
long have you been using this laser?

376
00:23:25,650 --> 00:23:29,070
How many treatments have you
done in the past few years?

377
00:23:29,071 --> 00:23:33,030
How many treatments have you done
in the past year, past month,

378
00:23:33,100 --> 00:23:37,590
past week?" to make sure somebody is
truly comfortable using that device.

379
00:23:38,470 --> 00:23:42,990
Those are fantastic points. Lastly,
before we conclude Dr. Bass,

380
00:23:42,991 --> 00:23:45,640
what should our listeners take
away from today's episode?

381
00:23:46,570 --> 00:23:49,040
In modern aesthetic medicine,

382
00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,480
there's a whole range of devices to

383
00:23:52,490 --> 00:23:57,320
address all of the common
beauty needs in our face

384
00:23:58,380 --> 00:23:59,213
as we age.

385
00:24:00,210 --> 00:24:04,970
Selecting which device is
right is a product of a

386
00:24:04,971 --> 00:24:08,770
consultative relationship
with an expert provider,

387
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,050
a dermatologist, a plastic surgeon,

388
00:24:11,051 --> 00:24:14,530
someone who's been trained
to perform these treatments.

389
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:19,770
It's important to plan
for the recovery you need

390
00:24:20,220 --> 00:24:24,530
or understand what's going to
be involved in the treatments,

391
00:24:25,110 --> 00:24:26,450
the number of treatments,

392
00:24:26,451 --> 00:24:31,330
the time course over which results are
going to be obtained so that you're

393
00:24:31,331 --> 00:24:34,330
sure this is a good
fit for you. And again,

394
00:24:34,860 --> 00:24:39,450
an experienced provider will work
to customize something that's

395
00:24:39,890 --> 00:24:40,930
a good fit for you.

396
00:24:42,430 --> 00:24:45,020
Dr. Cohen, any takeaways
you would like to add?

397
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:50,650
I think that there's a lot of different
modalities that we can use to help

398
00:24:51,130 --> 00:24:55,450
patients achieve their goals in improving
lines and wrinkles. In many cases,

399
00:24:55,890 --> 00:25:00,050
to see more significant improvement,
it's going to be lasers, but to see less,

400
00:25:00,250 --> 00:25:03,890
it may be things like chemical peels and
it really depends on what the patient

401
00:25:04,250 --> 00:25:06,890
can do, what they can afford,
and what their downtime is.

402
00:25:07,410 --> 00:25:12,330
But seeing an expert physician who
performs these procedures all the time is

403
00:25:12,570 --> 00:25:16,130
really key. And then understanding
that there are different densities.

404
00:25:16,730 --> 00:25:21,210
And sometimes when I see a patient and
I recommend a procedure, they might say,

405
00:25:21,490 --> 00:25:24,410
you know, "I had a friend
who had fractional CO2,

406
00:25:24,690 --> 00:25:27,770
or I had a friend that had the
procedure you're talking about,

407
00:25:28,010 --> 00:25:32,050
and the downtime was too much." They
don't realize that it's apples to oranges

408
00:25:32,730 --> 00:25:36,010
comparisons. We are in control
of the density that we can treat,

409
00:25:36,290 --> 00:25:37,490
which is the percent coverage,

410
00:25:38,130 --> 00:25:43,050
and we could modulate that to be more
specific to usually the downtime that

411
00:25:43,051 --> 00:25:43,884
a patient can do.

412
00:25:44,170 --> 00:25:49,170
So you can modulate it to maybe be
a range of just a few days versus a

413
00:25:49,410 --> 00:25:50,770
heavier range of a week.

414
00:25:51,980 --> 00:25:53,860
Thank you, Dr. Cohen, Dr. Bass,

415
00:25:53,861 --> 00:25:57,340
for sharing your perspectives and
expertise on this often pondered topic.

416
00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:00,100
And I'll add my thank you to Dr. Cohen.

417
00:26:00,330 --> 00:26:05,100
I think this was an outstanding
perspective on what's going on with

418
00:26:05,101 --> 00:26:09,860
devices and how to apply them to best
advantage from someone who's truly an

419
00:26:09,861 --> 00:26:10,900
expert in the area.

420
00:26:11,380 --> 00:26:14,500
Thank you, Larry. I appreciate it.
It's a pleasure to join you all.

421
00:26:15,420 --> 00:26:19,020
Thank you for listening to the Park
Avenue Plastic Surgery Class podcast.

422
00:26:19,450 --> 00:26:20,900
Follow us on Apple Podcasts,

423
00:26:21,020 --> 00:26:23,180
write a review and share
the show with your friends.

424
00:26:23,630 --> 00:26:26,780
Be sure to join us next time to avoid
missing all the great content that's

425
00:26:26,781 --> 00:26:30,380
coming your way. If you want to
contact us with comments or questions,

426
00:26:30,381 --> 00:26:31,380
we'd love to hear from you,

427
00:26:31,610 --> 00:26:36,020
send us an email at podcast@drbass.net
or DM us on Instagram,

428
00:26:37,100 --> 00:26:37,500
@drbassnyc.

Joel Cohen, MD Profile Photo

Joel Cohen, MD

Dermatologist

Board-certified dermatologist Joel L. Cohen, MD, is the director of AboutSkin Dermatology and DermSurgery and an internationally-recognized expert on skin cancer and aesthetics. He has won various awards and recognitions, including US News and World Report’s Top Dermatologist and one of Denver’s Top Doctors in 5280 magazine.