Thanks for all the great info on bbl hair removal settings LH and Charry, has helped a lot! I have just started using my Sciton laser and am impressed so far but need some help with Sciton 1064 settings for hair removal on fitzpatric I - VI ?

I cant seem to post my message in your actual discussion forum....

CF

As to Nd YAG settings for hair removal may i ask you which skin type are your patients?Anyway for patients II-IV start using the 6-mm spot or the scanner with starting fluence 50J/cm2 and pulse width 10-30msec (it depends on the skin type and the type of hair-fine,medium,coarse).As the skin type and the hair type are going lower the pulse width goes down and the opposite.

My patients are a complete mix of Fitz I through VI. I have worked with the cynosure alex and ndyag previously with good results.With the cynosure yag 30j /30ms was always a safe but effective starting point for black skins.
With the sciton,for a skin type v with black hair, medium thickness does 30j / 30ms sound right?

for skin type IV with brown, fine hair, what would you suggest?

do you prefer using the bbl for skin types I -II ?
Is it safe to use the bbl 640 filter on my Indian clients?

Thanks for your help! As this is the first Sciton laser in our country, it helps to get advice from someone who has been using it for awhile!

CF

For skin type V with black,medium hair yes,the 30j / 30msec sounds right for starting parameters.Yes i prefer using the BBL for skin types I-III and sometimes even at type IV patients (with 695nm filter).The same filter i suggest you to use it on your Indian clients.For the 640nm filter just do a test spot first.

CF,

Just to clarify Charry's last response:

He uses 640 nm in skin types 2 and 3. He uses 695 nm in skin type 4. Sometimes he will use 640 nm in skin type 4 BUT he uses PD of >20 ms, less than 13 j and 10-11 degrees cooling. If he uses 695 nm, he uses> 20 ms, 16-17 j and 11 d cooling.

The point is to be careful in skin type 4, use longer pulse durations, less energy, test spots and greater cooling. The longer the wavelength, the less melanin absorption and the safer the treatment.

Hope this helps. This is from my notes about Charry's settings in another post he made.

Charry, please correct or add as necessary.

Dr.Bob

All these are correct.I prefer using the 695 nm in skin type 4 with pulse width > or equal 20msec.All these above are correct.

Thanks Dr Bob and Charry!
I will be doing alot of facial hair removal on indian clients, and I dont really like using the scanner on the face for all the small areas.So i think the BBl should work out alot better.

With the Alexandrite we always used to tell our clients to have about 1-2mm of hair, so that we could see the reaction of the laser on the actual hair (shrivelling or blasting away completly)

With the sciton I am told the patient must be clean shaven, otherwise the saphire plate will get damaged.
My question is , with the BBl how do you establish whether u have the correct setting or whether you need put the setting up??

Do test spots and look for redness (just the right amount). You may need to let the test spot develop for 20 minutes. In darker skin types, you may need to wait 2 weeks to make sure it is safe.

Skin Types 1-3: Let test spot sdevelop for 20 minutes
Skin Type 5 and above, do test spots and then do treatment 2 weeks later after you make sure no hyper or hypopigmentation.

I use the LIghtSheer for most of my hair removal, but when the hair gets very fine, it does not always work.
I have heard that the BBLs can get these hairs using 560 nm wavelength.

Charry and LH, how do you treat the thin dark and thin light hairs with the BBLs? Are the treatments effective?

Thanks

JEE

I have used on type III patients for thin light hair the BBL at settings up to 14-15J/cm ,10msec with 640nm filter.For II patients you can use the 590nm filter up to 17-18J/cm and pulse with down up to 10msec.

I agree with Charry

Thanks, Charry and LH.
I am going to check with the company about the 560 nm. A very experienced LHR expert told me about the 560 setting, so it seem worthwhile to look into. It makes sense since 560 is better absorbed by melanin. I will let you know what I find. Also, I have a friend who uses his 560 Cutera for hair sometimes and he is getting good results.

Sometimes you can even use a 530 nm cut off filter with patients with fair skin. Test spots are the key. The hotter filter you can use w/o adverse results will get better hair or pigment results.Tan skin is often the problem. Winter is the time you can really push the envelope (provided your patient has not gone down to Florida).

Med Spa Guy,
What are you looking for in the test spots? hyper or hypopigmentation? when do you read the test spots? 20 minutes later? 2 weeks later? Would you do up to skin type 4 or skin type 3? Thanks.

I use 1064 ClearScan on all types patients starting with parameters 75-80 J 30ms. I didn't see the good results on lower settings. When the patient is type I and the hair is fair I use 90-100 J 30ms, it works.
But now I want to purchase Candela Gentle Lase for finer hair, and Candela works much faster.

Try reducing the pulse width.The 30msec are too long for the fine hair on type I-II.Reduce the width to 10-15msec.

Thanks Charry.
Has anybody tryed ALEX by Sciton? Does it work faster than ClearScan?