We’ve never been fans of using the term “lunchtime laser,” as it makes it sound like a laser treatment is so easy to undergo that you could skip a meal and come back to the office with fresher, glowier skin. Every time we’ve attempted to use the term in the past, members of our Brain Trust, like Denver dermatologist Joel Cohen, MD, would correct us and remind us that in reality there’s no such thing as a “lunchtime” resurfacing procedure. You can’t really leave the office, get a treatment, and come back able to resume your activities in under an hour, can you?
With the new UltraClear treatment, which can be done in as little as 10 minutes, it was Dr. Cohen himself who stated that if he were ever to call something a lunchtime treatment, it would have to be this one. “It’s incredibly exciting for patients who really want an absolute lunchtime procedure,” he explained. As the laser has just launched over last few months, doctors have seen quick recoveries of 3-5 days for their patients. “With 3DMiracl, it truly is possible to do over a lunch hour and still have time to eat lunch—patients can show up, we take photos, there’s no anesthesia and he treatment is done in 10-15 minutes. There is little downtime and there might be a small amount of peeling for a couple days, and that’s it.”
How UltraClear Works
Davie, FL dermatologist Lesley Clark-Loeser, MD says UltraClear is a win-win for patients at her practice who want a quick, effective treatment with no numbing. “This powerful skin rejuvenation platform has four distinct modalities which makes it very versatile,” she explains. “Many of us are familiar with term Erbium laser. This device utilizes a 2910 Erbium doped fluoride fiber laser versus the traditional 2940 Erbium yag. The fiber design allows for stability and precision, generating predictable outcomes.”
The 10-Minute Treatment
The UltraClear delivers “cold fractional ablation and dialed-in coagulation” at the same time and at the same location. What this means is that less heat is put into the skin with this treatment than with many other resurfacing lasers, explains Nashville, TN oculoplastic surgeon Brian Biesman, MD. “This minimizes the risks of having side effects and complications. It also makes the patient that makes the treatment much more tolerable.”
A typical fractional laser will deliver a pulse of energy into the skin but with UltraClear Dr. Cohen says the deliver mode is more like micro pulses: “It’s actually delivering these pulses with very quick micro pulses and these ‘sub pulses’ if you will, are really almost imperceptible.”
Who Is It Best For?
According to our skin experts, UltraClear will improve a variety of skin conditions including pigmentation, enlarged pores, fine lines, wrinkles, scars and acne scars, age spots, sun damage, textural irregularities, and general tone and texture concerns. Because it can be used on any skin type at a more surface level, medium depth and a deeper depth, they say it’s a good option for anyone who wants to see skin improvement. “If someone has more changes due to aging, sun damage or combination thereof, but they’re sort of medium depth,” says Dr. Biesman. “People who have more advanced sun damage can also benefit because the laser doesn’t produce very much heating can be used to treat a wide variety of skin tones safely as well. It can be used more safely on patients with skin of color because it’s known as ‘cold laser,’ which means you don’t have to produce as much heating with the skin to achieve improvements without risking skin color changes and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.”
The Benefits
From a superficial glow to smoothing out deep wrinkles, the customizable treatment has a variety of benefits depending on the patient’s needs and how deep the laser goes. “I have a 66-year-old patient I’ve been treating who, for the first time in her life, is being told on a regular basis that she has really pretty skin. She’s had three treatments and at about six weeks after her third treatment looks amazing,” notes Dr. Biesman. In addition to glowy skin, UltraClear can help improve scarring, sun damage, pigment changes, signs of aging, and broken blood vessels. “You can see improvement in aging changes and even for people who are younger and just want to get that really nice dewy, fresh, glow with a treatment that does not have much in the way of downtime or discomfort. It’s really a great treatment.”
