Pain During Laser Treatment

Dr. Vanek Translation:
Well, I probably did 15 lasers today. Most people characterize it as a snap of a rubber band. And on three of the patients I did ‘Forever Youngs’ (specific laser procedure) and on them they had probably 2000 pulses of laser energy on their face.
We take our time first to numb you and then we put gel on you, and then we reassess you during the procedure.
As I’m doing it, I’m asking you, “Hey are you comfortable and are you good?”
Because if you’re not, I stop, I put some more gel Lidocaine on you, or it’s called LP. And make you really comfortable.
So that, I’m not going to race through this just because I wanna blast your face, and get you out to the next thing. I am going to make you have a very comfortable experience.
Because these laser treatments, sometimes they’re the only treatment you have forever. But I want to make sure you’re having a really good, comfortable experience.
Sometimes I see patients that have had laser treatments elsewhere. And they say “well it was miserable for me.”
And I can assure you that is not the experience my patients tell me they have. I get feedback from them in real time. I’m monitoring you during the procedure.
I’m making sure the energy wave-lengths I’m selecting are appropriate for your skin.
Sometimes we have goals that are mutual. Let’s say they’ve got this dark spot, I’m really gonna go for it. And that’s gonna give you a little more recovery time.
But I try to share that with you before we are in the arena with lasering you in my laser office.
So, does it hurt a lot? Depends on what your temperament is. Some patients I recognize that they have some anxiety issues I recognize their pain thresholds aren’t that good.
I’ll give you some pre-medication. I basically give you a prescription that you get some Valium and some Percocets. And you show up with taken those right in the office. And then somebody drives you home.
So, those patients have very little discomfort.
And they say “hey that was great, I feel great” In a day, or a week, or a month, they say, “I look great, my laser looks great!”