Investing in your skin can have intangible returns.

“Even with the economy, people want to feel good about themselves,” said Dr. Jason Dees, of the New Albany Medical Group.

Physicians around Northeast Mississippi have tools to address a host of skin issues without a scalpel and weeks of healing time surgery requires.

Dees and his partners have incorporated the new Hydrafacial skin-resurfacing system into their Physicians Laser Center.

Tupelo plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Craig is seeing improved results for his patients after incorporating five new lasers into his Accent Plastic Surgery practice in the past year. The different lasers can be used for skin resurfacing, hair removal, tattoo removal and removing spider veins.

It’s important to have a range of tools, from medical-grade cosmetics, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, injections of Botox or fillers, lasers and surgery, Craig said.

“It increases our chance to give a good result,” Craig said.

In New Albany

New Albany Medical Group opened Physicians Laser Center last year. Dees, has an interest in diseases of the skin, and worked with dermatologists and plastic surgeons during his residency and fellowship training.

“We’ve had a good response from the community,” Dees said. “People want to feel good about themselves. They want to make the investment.”

The physicians decided to add the Hydrafacial system after looking at the system, the research behind it and saw that no one else in the area was offering the service, Dees said.

“Hydrafacial is a nice addition,” Dees said. “It’s a little more aggressive than medical-grade cosmetics.”

The Hydrafacial is a non-laser skin-resurfacing system designed to improve the appearance of fine lines, congested and enlarged pores, acne-prone skin, hyperpigmentation and brown spots over the whole body.

It’s a good choice for addressing fine lines that don’t really warrant laser treatment,” Dees said.

With the Hydrafacial, serum is constantly infused into the skin as the treatment takes place. At the same time, an extractor is pulling dead skin and impurities back off the face.

“We can show them what actually remains in the face,” even with washing, Dees said.

Shirley Tedford of New Albany said she’s been amazed at what the Hydrafacial has pulled out of her skin. She was in a near-fatal car wreck in 1971.

“We got glass out of my face,” Tedford said.

The Hydrafacial treatments, along with laser work, have helped soften the scars.

“My skin feels so hydrated, so soft, so fresh,” said Tedford, whose treatments were a Valentine’s gift from her husband, Gary.

With the serum and a spiral channel-tip the Hydrafacial is able to pull off a deeper layer of dead skin cells, said Hydrafacial trainer and licensed esthetician Christy Myers, who worked with Physicians Laser Center nurse Karen Young. When a light chemical peel is applied, it is able to get results equivalent to more stronger peels, Myers said.

“It’s infusing serums at the same time it’s extracting,” Myers said. “The serum sitting on their skin is breaking up dead skin cells.”

In the few months the New Albany center has been offering the Hydrafacial, some of Dees favorite success stories come from teen patients who had trouble with severe acne.

“We’ve had some kids with remarkable results,” Dees said.

ABCs of lasers

Lasers are not one size fits all.

“It’s important to have the right laser, with the right setting,” said Craig.

Lasers use light – electromagnetic radiation that is both visible and infrared. It is the wave lengths and power that each laser emits which have to be matched to specific tasks and skin types.

“All lasers have a target,” Craig said.

Although a laser treatment is mildly uncomfortable for some people, the discomfort is managed by keeping the skin cool.

“Pretty much all of these things can be done in the office,” Craig said.

There are limits to what lasers can accomplish.

“You’re not going to be able to tighten a lot of loose, loose skin,” Craig said.

In some cases, physicians may pre-treat people before using the laser treatments, using medicine, medical-grade cosmetics and other procedures.

“You get better results from the laser,” because layers of dead skin have already been removed, Craig said.

Post-treatment, people need to wear sun screen to protect their new skin.

Erbium lasers target water, just like the big carbon dioxide lasers, but at different wave lengths. It is used for minor resurfacing, evening out blotchy skin tones and uneven pigmentation.

“The erbium has less heat transfer, but still resurfaces the skin,” Craig said.

Erbium laser has fewer side effects and quicker healing time than carbon dioxide lasers. The carbon dioxide lasers or deep chemical peels are non-surgical options for dealing with deeper wrinkles.

After a treatment, the skin will get flaky and crusty and then pink as it heals. People are usually healed in a few days.

Vascular lasers can help with rosacea, redness and spider veins, Craig said. Depending on the laser, vascular lasers target either red or purple targets.

“For spider veins, it may need a combination of injections and a laser,” Craig said.

It’s important to have a consultation with a physician for spider veins, so they can rule out vascular programs.

“You want to make sure they don’t have bad veins,” Craig said.

For tattoo removal, Nd/WAG lasers are used and can take out dark blue and black tattoos.

“It doesn’t work on all colors,” particularly colors with lots of yellow, Craig said.

For hair removal, there are three different types of lasers. Craig uses two of them. Alexandrite and diode lasers typically work best for hair removal on people with light complexions, he said. YAG laser is the best bet for working on hair removal for people with dark complexions and dark, coarse hair.

White hair and light blonde hair can be hard to eliminate, Craig said.

“The laser can’t target that.”