In conjunction with the opening of the new D.C. flagship facility, all Alase facilities will now accommodate both laser hair removal and new non-surgical skin aesthetic services that include medical grade chemical peels, microdermabrasion, physician-grade skin care products, Botox??, Restylane and the all-new technology of FotoRejuvenation RF including the patented FotoFacial RF?? treatment.

In line with its reputation for providing knowledgeable, medically-trained staff and professional service, all procedures will continue to be performed at Alase by medical providers in a comfortable spa-like environment.

The new services now offered by Alase are a natural addition for the company because of its expertise in laser and skin treatments. The new additions will compliment the laser hair removal services by promoting total skin health. Utilizing the most advanced equipment and products available in the aesthetic industry today, Alase will help individuals achieve their goals of beautiful, and more importantly, healthy skin, by reducing the appearance of sun damage, wrinkles, acne and acne scars, rosacea and other troubling skin conditions.

Alase has always offered the latest and safest technology for hair removal services, and brings the same technology to its new services, including:

??? Diamond-based microdermabrasion systems, rather than dust-causing crystals, for the most effective treatments and consistent results

??? FotoRejuvenation RF technology which uses a combination of radiofrequency energy and pulsed light to correct uneven pigmentation while stimulating your bodys own natural production of collagen, helping to lift, tighten and tone the skin.

Dr. Chris Blasy, Maryland and D.C. medical director at Alase states, ???At Alase, all treatment regimens are overseen by our medical directors using the highest grade FDA-approved technology. We ensure our clients safety and treatment quality by providing ongoing training and reviews of our medical staff. In addition, Dr. Bruce Freedman, a board certified plastic surgeon and clinical assistant professor of plastic surgery at Georgetown University, has joined our Medical Advisory Board to lend his knowledge and expertise in facial rejuvenation.??

???Since Washington, D.C. is a very diverse community, with people from all over the world, it is also important that we let our current and future clients know that our services are appropriate for everyone, regardless of age, gender, nationality or race.??

Founded in 1999, Alase is the leading hair removal specialist in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Alase uses the highest-quality, FDA-approved innovative technology and continuously updates services in order to provide the latest technological advancements the industry has to offer for all types of clients. Trusted by over 60,000 Washington area women and men, Alase owns and operates six centers in the D.C .metro area: Fair Oaks, Tysons Corner, Reston and Springfield, Virginia; as well as Rockville, Maryland. For more information on Alase, visit: http://www.getalased.com

Contact:

Julie Phillips-Turner

410-490-0033

E-mail: jbpturner@aol.combr
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Why Is It There?

Individuals who are dealing with hirsutism want to know first of all how it happens. In most cases, the problem for women is excessive levels of male hormones. It is important to understand that women have these hormones usually, but at much lower levels. When there are excessive amounts of them, specifically androgens, there are often results that are less than favorable such as with the occurrence of hirsutism. Individuals will likely have a deeper voice; they may have acne and menstruation cycles that are not balanced and regular. They may have more muscles than other women do. It is also important to point out that hirsuitism can also occur due to the follicles reaction to these excessive levels of hormone.

If you are taking medications such as birth control pills or steroids, the symptoms of hirsutism will also be noted in some women. Also, there are some cases in which women have the condition as a hereditary condition.

What Can Make Hirsutism Go Away?

- Overweight individuals often have the symptoms of hirsutism. If you are overweight, the best remedy for the condition is to actually lose weight. As you do so, your hormone levels will go back to a normal level.

- Depilatories are another option to use. You can use hair removal creams to help you as well. Make sure to insure you have no allergic reaction to these conditions prior to using them on large areas.

- If you pluck these hairs, they will likely come back faster. That is due to an increased amount of blood flow to the area.

- Bleaching products also work. Again, test for allergic reactions when using chemicals of any type.

- Electrolysis or laser hair removal are other options. Here, the follicle that produces the hair is damaged and this keeps the hair from re-growing. Although expensive, this can be a permanent solution to your condition.

- There are also a number of prescription medications that can help. Anti androgen medications will be regulated by your doctor.

The bottom line is that hirsutism is a condition that you can treat and you do not need to live with. To choose the right solution for you, consider your condition and severity of it. Also, find out from your doctor what is causing it as many medical conditions that can should be treated. Then, choose the method that fits with your preferences as well as your budget.br
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Getting rid of unwanted hair from your body can sometimes be a very painful process. But knowing the right procedure can help you to avoid unwanted rashes and acne. Everybody has a different skin type, so knowing which hair removal method suits your skin is important.

The different methods of hair removal are:

Shaving: With the help of a razor, you can cut off the tip of the hair shaft which has grown out through the skin. You can get disposable razors, razors with disposable blades, and also electric razors. Men use these razors to shave their faces, and women use them to shave their underarms, legs, and bikini areas. Always use blades with safety guard wires to minimize nicks and cuts on your skin.

Shaving is an inexpensive method. You can do it yourself; all you need is a razor and a shaving gel. But this method can cause burns, cuts, and bumps on your skin, and can be rather uncomfortable. Even ingrown hairs occur, as while shaving the hairs are cut below the level of the skin, so when the hair grows back, it grows within the surrounding tissue and not out of the follicle. The hair curls around and starts growing into the skin, and irritation, redness, and swelling can occur at the hair follicle.

Plucking: With the help of tweezers, you can pull the hair out from its root. You have to stretch the skin tightly, grip the hair close to the base, and then pull it out. Plucking will last for about 3 to 5 weeks. Though this is time consuming, it is inexpensive, as you do not have to go anywhere to get it done. It can be painful, and you may notice temporary red bumps, as the hair follicle gets swollen and irritated.

Depilatories: Depilatories are hair removal creams or liquids. This is an easy method, as depilatories can remove hair from the skin’s surface. They work by reacting with the protein structure of the hair, so the hair dissolves and can be washed or wiped away. It can last up to 2 weeks. They are easily available and are inexpensive. You can use it on your legs, underarms, and bikini areas. It has a bad odor though, and some people can even have an allergic reaction to it, which may cause rashes or inflammation. People with sensitive skin should be careful.

Waxing: In this method, a sticky wax is spread on your skin, and then a cloth strip is applied over the wax and quickly pulled off, taking the hair root and dead skin cells with it. Normally the wax should be warmed, but some can be applied cold. It can be done at a salon or at home. Waxing makes the area smooth and is long lasting. It lasts for about 3 to 5 weeks. The hair regrowth also looks lighter than it does after other methods of hair removal such as shaving. This can be a painful procedure and you may even get bumps and inflammation after waxing, but the result you get is worth the pain. Professional waxing is also expensive compared to other hair removal methods. Diabetic patients and those under acne treatment should avoid this method.

Electrolysis: In this method a professional electrologist would insert a needle into the hair follicle and send an electric current through the hair root to kill it. This gets done over a series of several appointments. It is a long procedure, and even a small area like the upper lip may take a total of 4 to 10 hours, and a larger area such as the bikini line may take 8 to 16 hours. This is a permanent method, but it is expensive and time consuming. The process can be painful, and dry skin, scabs, scarring, and inflammation may result after treatment.

Laser: Here a laser would be directed through your skin to the hair follicle and stop growth. Large areas of skin can be treated at the same time. It can last up to 6 months. This method is best suited for light-skinned people having dark hair, as the melanin in the hair absorbs more of the light; thus making treatment more effective. The treatment can be expensive and may cost up to $500 or more.

Prescription Treatments: Medicinal creams are available by prescription, such as eflornithine for treating facial hair growth. The cream is to be applied twice a day until the hair becomes softer and lighter. Side effects may include skin irritation and acne.

Another method that doctors prescribe is antiandrogen medications to reduce the appearance of unwanted hair. Androgen hormone can be responsible for hair growth in unwanted areas, and antiandrogens can block the androgen production.

It’s your personal choice whether or not you want to remove your body hair. Hair removal would not affect your health in any way, so you shouldn’t feel pressured to remove it if you don’t want to. But if you do wish to get rid of unwanted hair, choose a method that would suit you best. Remember that each person is beautiful in his/her own way, so always respect your body.

IPL, Intense Pulsed Light treatments, also called Photofacial skin treatments can treat a very wide range of skin problems. Whether you have aging skin, Rosacea, broken blood vessels, unwanted hair, brown spots, acne, or sun damage, IPL treatments are a safe, easy, no down time method to correct these problems.

What Is IPL or Photofacial Therapy?

IPL is not a laser, but rather a much gentler and safer form of skin care treatment. IPL uses a flash of visible light, like a very powerful flash bulb or digital flash, not laser energy to remove unwanted pigment, blood vessels, red spots, hair, acne and sun damage from the skin.

IPL however uses sophisticated filters that only allow a very specific color or wavelength of the visible spectrum to pass through on to the skin. The IPL is tuned or set to flash only the color that is needed to remove a specific target, such as hair, a blood vessel or brown spot. For example, if you want to remove a blood vessel from the skin, IPL flashes a color which matches the color of blood in the vessel. The IPL energy is absorbed by the blood in the vessel, the blood is heated and the vessel is damaged and removed, but all other tissues around the blood vessel are not affected.

This method is called target specific photothermolysis. What it involves is using light energy to heat a target such as a brown spot to dissolve the unwanted pigment. Photo means light, thermo means heat and lysis means to dissolve. The most important feature of IPL is that this form of energy can be tuned to only target a specific color and leave the normal skin around the pigment, or other target, undamaged. Unlike surgical removal of a brown spot, which damages normal skin as well as the brown pigment and leaves a scar, IPL can be tuned to only remove the brown spot and leave the normal skin intact without damage or a scar.

The key to successful IPL or laser therapy is to find the perfect color or wavelength that is specifically absorbed by the target that you want to remove. Once you find an IPL or laser wavelength that is specific for hair, blood vessels, brown spots or other skin abnormality, then this therapy can be used to remove the problem with less skin injury than surgical methods and less scarring.

Why Is Intense Pulsed Light Better Than Laser?

Intense pulsed light is less powerful than laser. Since all photo therapies work by producing heat to dissolve the target, less heat means less danger of burn injury and scarring. Intense Pulsed Light is capable of producing enough energy to remove many skin abnormalities, but is able to do so with less energy, less heat and less risk of over treatment and scarring than with lasers.

Intense Pulsed Light treatments are less painful than laser treatments and do not require a topical anesthetic. There is minimal to no down time or visible marks following treatments, unlike laser skin treatments.

There are still skin care applications that require the more powerful laser treatments. For example, skin resurfacing to remove wrinkles still requires laser treatment like fractional laser skin resurfacing such as the Starlux 2940 ablative fractional laser. Deep scar removal such as acne scars and skin plumping treatments require non ablative fractional laser skin resurfacing like the Starlux 1540. These treatments require very deep penetration into the skin that only the more powerful laser energies can achieve. Skin tightening requires even deeper skin penetration and other forms of energy such as infrared used in the LuxIR Deep and Titan, and radio frequency energy used in Thermage are used.

But for the most common skin disorders that can be treated with photo therapy, Intense Pulsed Light is very effective and safe and has become the preferred method of treatment for many skin conditions. In my practice Photofacial treatments are the treatment of choice for hair removal, acne, brown spots, sun damage, red spots, broken blood vessels, Rosacea, spider veins of the legs, and general facial and chest skin rejuvenation treatments.

Photofacial Skin Treatments for Sun Damage and Skin Aging

Photofacial skin treatments of the face and chest produce remarkable skin rejuvenation by removing brown spots and broken blood vessels from the face and décolletage. It is amazing how much younger you look when the skin is cleared to a uniform smooth appearance without blemishes.

Removal of Brown Spots, Sun Spots and Pigment

Larger discreet brown spots and pigment can easily be removed with Intense Pulsed Light.

Hair Removal

Hair removal using Intense Pulsed Light is very effective and less painful than laser hair removal. Hair removal treatments are quicker.

Removal of Spider Veins

Intense Pulsed Light can effectively remove spider veins from the legs. Larger veins can also be treated with the 1064 laser or sclerotherapy

Removal of Broken Blood Vessels on Face

Small blood vessels and capillaries and Telangiectasias occur on the face, especially around the nose in many fair skinned people. These abnormal blood vessels occur most commonly as a result of sun damage and aging changes in the skin. The Photofacial is the treatment of choice for these small facial blood vessels.

Treatment of Rosacea

Rosacea is a skin condition that causes facial flushing and a red face. In time, Rosacea can also cause acne type lesions. Photofacial treatments can produce remarkable improvement in Rosacea.

Photofacial and Photodynamic Therapy for Acne

The newest and most effective treatment for moderate to severe acne and cystic acne is called photodynamic therapy (PDT). Using Intense Pulsed Light, or blue or red wavelengths combined with a skin photosensitizing agent, remarkable acne removal results are possible. The photosensitizing agent, called Levulan. Levulan, a product containing Aminolevulinic acid (ALA), is applied to the skin to make the skin more sensitive to photo energy. After a waiting period of 30-60 minutes, Photofacial treatment is done to the skin.

This combination therapy helps remove acne by three methods. First, the acne causing bacteria, Proprionibacterium Acnes, is killed. Secondly, skin exfoliation occurs to remove skin debris. Finally, sebaceous gland oil production is reduced. This combination therapy is effective for severe and cystic acne. PDT can also be used to remove sun damage and rejuvenate the skin.

Find a Good Doctor’s Office for Your Photofacial Treatment

While these treatments are safer than laser treatments, safe effective phototherapy treatments require expertise, skill and knowledge. Your results will only be as good as the experience and skill of the person who does your treatment. These therapies are best done under physician supervision. The machines used in Spas are less powerful and thus less effective than those used in a physician’s office.

Do your homework, search the net and find an experienced board certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist who uses phototherapy techniques. A combined approach involving a physician, medical aesthetician and or nurse will provide the best combined medical and photo medicine therapies to give you the best result.

See before and after pictures of IPL Intense Pulsed Light treatments for skin rejuvenation, removal of brown spots and broken blood vessels, hair removal, acne control, and Rosacea. Learn more about modern cosmetic skin treatments using light and laser techniques.