Atlantic Laser Clinic is Better Business Bureau Accredited (A rating)

At a time when aesthetic technologies -- intense lights, and lasers -- are new, exciting, and highly dramatic in how they can improve on your appearance, it should come as no surprise the number of charlatans in the field who want to strike while the beauty iron is hot.  We know about them not just from our market research, but also from our patients who've been burned (literally, sometimes). 

How these companies can make the claims they do and get away with it is astounding.

Trust is a cornerstone and unconditional requirement  of our practice. The Better Business Bureau is a steward of trust and we're pleased to be accredited bythe BBB with an A rating.

See for yourself. Click here to see our BBB business report: http://www.bbb.org/boston/business-reviews/hair-styling-and-services/atlantic-laser-clinic-llc-in-york-me-117742/#bbbonlineclick .

Wear Sunscreen; No, Wear UV-screen

Put on your sunscreen. No, scratch that, put on your UV protection. Got yours on?

Anyone over 40 knows there was once a time when protection from the sun was the least of the American culture's concern, and the Coppertone tan was the greatest. Sun damage? Never heard of it. Skin cancer? Just hype; I'll take the risk. That was the mantra.

Today the risk isn't so far fetched. The proof's in the dermal pudding, as it were. It's no longer "if," but "when." Sun damage is something to be concerned about, and a Coppertone tan should make one as self conscious as wearing real fur. 

Imagine driving by a city street corner and splatting a tanned bystander with a balloon full of SPF35. But I digress.

Sunscreen is a misnomer because it implies protection from the sun, such as that of a bright, clear summer day. Did you know UV rays on a cold, dark, rainy day are just as dangerous, maybe more so?

Be concerned about 2 types of rays from the sun: UV/A and UV/B. UV/A is the worse of the two, with links to more skin cancers than UV/B. UV/A rays are the ones that bounce around under cloud cover. Seems like sunscreen can be spared on these darker days. Wrong. It may be a rainy day, but the deadly "A" killer lurks -  in silence, just like high blood pressure. 

UV/B rays are those rays on a sunny day, the ones that burn (or tan) your skin. Think of B for Burn. These, too, are dangerous, however. They cause freckling, which is what we call it when you're 9. Hyperpigmentation is what we call it when you're an adult, or when we want to be taken seriously. Hyperpigmentation is, basically, melanocytes gone wild. Gone so wild they can turn into a malignancy. (Melanocytes are the stuff that makes the tan within your skin cells.) Unfortunately, it can take 20 years to find out the damage caused, leaving lots of time to stack the deck against you.

Forget about the weather and forget about whether you'll be outside or inside. If the sun is up, wear UV A and B protection. Wear it every day, inside or not. Just keep the bottle next to your toothbrush, and put in on after a good brush.

We recommend the Benev Sun Protection 35, and the Obagi Medical Healthy Skin Protection, also SPF 35. Both of these products are excellent on your face, don't feel greasy, and are FDA-approved to be an honest SPF35.

The cost of these products is not much higher than the good OTC stuff. However, they are free of chemicals and fragrances that cause allergic reactions and breakouts.

Got an indoor job? Wear the same UV protection. Documented cases are aplenty of indoor professionals who sit near a window who, after a good 20 years, developed lesions and sun-damage at an advanced rate and more pronounced on one side of the face.

Even though our message is to encourage you to wear UV protection at all waking hours, we see no reason for you to feel any remorse for your unprotected days of yore. Got sun damage? So what. It's no crime to have been caught in the sun. The only crime is to do nothing about it. Lots of great products and programs are available to correct sun damage by cycling the damaged cells out of your system and accelerating the replacement of new, health, sun damaged cells.

With Obagi Medical (if you do well with systems) and Benev Cosmeceutical offer stunning results. These two product lines aren't the only options in the pharmaceutical-grade world of skin care. But we've done our homework and we highly recommend Obagi and Benev, or we simply wouldn't carry them.

Coming soon ... four top self-tanners, as recommended by a leading beauty magazine.

Atlantic Laser Clinic draws patients from far, far away

People suppose quite often that Atlantic Laser Clinic is doing well because we're in York, Maine (suggesting that the York demographic would find hair removal and clinical skin care appealing). While their supposition may be correct -- that we do draw a number of patients from the York community -- surprisingly (well, maybe not to us) we draw patients from as far away as the Keene/Sunapee NH area, and from Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine. 

The reason has multiple parts, with the obvious one being the laser. We use the alexandrite laser wavelength for hair removal. These travelers from points far away have done their research and they know in this age of disinformation that not all lasers are the same, that they differ by wavelength. To prevent hair follicles from being able to produce hair, you have to be able to reach the follicle with the laser's energy. Easier said than done. The follicle is well below the skin's surface. IPL (intense pulsed light) is a non-laser light technology ideal for skin work, but is rather ineffective on removing hair forever because it cannot penetrate the depth required. In fact, if you desire a form of skin correction and you wish to KEEP the hair, then the IPL is for you. Too many establishments that claim permanent hair removal use IPL, unfortunately.

To read more about alexandrite laser wavelength hair removal, go to: http://www.atlanticlaserclinic.com/services_laser_hair_removal.html. 

The IPL is not an actual laser, but the Nd:YAG, the diode, and the ruby are (at 1074nm, 800nm, and 694 nm wavelengths, respectively). But these variations on wavelength don't reach the follicle depth that the 755nm alexandrite does. If the light energy can't reach the proper depth, then the outcome is somewhat obvious. 

Another, though not-so-obvious, reason why Atlantic Laser Clinic draws patients from long distances is the personnel -- mostly Sharon, our CLP (Certified Laser Professional). Sharon takes the business of helping people with unwanted hair very seriously. We are all drawn toward compassion and, for lack of a better word, niceness. Addressing unwanted hair is not high on the things-I-like-to-talk-about list. So when one can speak to a specialist who has the caring and thoughtful attitude that Sharon has, someone that has the natural talent and skill for using the laser in an effective manner, then why not make the effort to drive a long distance? 

Here's the third reason people will travel to see us: our pricing is fair and we never require that anyone pay in advance for multiple treatment packages (we charge by the treatment, not by the package). 

Do you like to travel?

Unwanted hair caused by Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

PCOS strikes again! I don't know how many times we have had a female patient come in for a consultation about an increase in body -- including facial -- hair, unaware of what might be causing it. An increase in body hair growth on the face, chest, stomach, back, thumbs, or toes is a condition called hirsutism, often brought on by a condition called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.  Millions of women suffer from it across the globe.

If you suspect you have a hirsutisic condition, your first step is to speak with your doctor. Chances are the hair growth is caused by a hormonal imbalance. The real question then is, what is causing the hormonal imbalance? 

One possible cause is PCOS, a health condition from which women develop high levels of male hormones, called androgens, that allow women to produce male-like body hair. While the explanation may be logical, the result on a woman's mental and emotional health is devastating. 

To read more about PCOS, go to womenshealth.gov at: http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/polycystic-ovary-syndrome.cfm#a.

Your doctor can put you on a program to manage PCOS. But the hair that has grown up until now isn't going to go away. That's where we can help. Alexandrite (755nm wavelength) laser hair removal can remove the hair permanently, helping you restore self esteem and confidence.

Contact Sharon for a free consultation on how our laser hair removal technology can work for you. 

Alexandrite laser hair removal is safe, easy, and very comfortable. No one has ever said, "I wish I had that hair back."

Additional information:

American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE)
Phone: (904) 353-7878
Internet Address: http://www.aace.com

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association, Inc. (PCOSA)
Internet Address: http://www.pcosupport.org
The Hormone Foundation
Phone: (800) 467-6663
Internet Address: http://www.hormone.org

Two Thumbs Up for Kate Parker Weddings

We hosted an information night event this past week to educate new and existing patients on cosmetic injections such as Juvederm and BOTOX, and of the FDA-approved eyelash growth drug Latisse. 
The evening was a smash hit, thanks to our clinic staff whose enthusiasm is contagious, also to the good people of Kate Parker Weddings (www.kateparkerweddings.com) who generously offered to help us with food, wine, and flowers.

We like Kate Parker Weddings. No doubt about that. What's worthy of praise isn't that we had planning help, but that we had help of a caliber so professional and noninvasive throughout the evening. The staff arrived within 2 minutes of when they said they would, which no one does anymore. They unloaded the goods and blended their setup with our evening's arrangements. Then, once the guests arrived, they melded right into the crowd so that only a knowing eye could tell who was a guest and who was working.

The flower arrangements followed the theme of an Autumn season, sat low in heavy, clear glass bases and were just the right size so not to disturb the flow of people who were attending to learn about our offerings of Latisse, Juverderm, and BOTOX.

The next day, which was yesterday, the one thought that I couldn't shake from my head was the professionalism. We all want to see smiling faces and professional presence.  That's what compels me to post this because Kate Parker Weddings plans major, high-profile wedding events, some of which have budgets that exceed $100,000. Our small event was certainly wasn't enough to cause them to break a sweat, but they treated us like their entire livelihood was on the line. 
Kate Parker Weddings. Check 'em out.

Job hunters & Job Keepers: Check Your Look, says WSJ

In the Style section of the Wall Street Journal last month a piece titled "Laid Off? Check Your Look ... and Your Attitude" caught our eye. It was intended for job seekers who - reluctantly - have been released to the streets to seek employment elsewhere. The sage wisdom of this story applies not just to job seekers, but to those who still have a job and wish to keep it that way.

The story discusses the importance of an up-to-date wardrobe, an attitude free of baggage, and oddly enough, a healthy appreciation for punctuation (in correspondence). All true.

There's one component the author left out -- bodily appearance. Whether you're looking for a job, or looking to keep the job you have, your appearance beneath the modern wardrobe can speak volumes. Just as a flattering hairstyle is important to your image, so is radiant, healthy skin. Have excessive body hair or (for women) facial hair? Get rid of it, or at least reduce it with laser treatments (using the Alexandrite laser wavelength). Alexandrite laser treatments are very safe and effective for permanent results.

Radiant skin rarely comes from an over-the-counter product. OTC products can be quite good, but the time it takes to reach your goal can be longer than you're willing to allow. The fastest results come from pharmaceutical-grade products because they contain the ingredients that get the job done. That these ingredients are governed by the FDA and require a licensed practitioner to dispense them should be of no concern for you because these practitioners will also steer you away form products that make little contribution toward your goals.

You can also boost appearance, attitude, and fend off signs of age (age descrimination, immoral or not, is a reality), by pursuing medical esthetic treatments like Juvederm, an injected solution that restores volume in the face to remove "parentheses" around your smile for up to one year. Also there's BOTOX, the purified protein, that relieves deep furrows caused by excessive muscle contraction. And Latisse! Latisse grows eyelashes and is approved by the FDA for that purpose.

The job market is tough. You need every edge to put yourself out in the lead against your competition.