Dr.Aaron Stone, I'm considering hair transplantation, and I came across
a Dr.Riggs, of the Hair&Scalp Clinic in Florida, who uses the CO2 Nova
Pulse Laser. The use of the laser sounds like there is much less trauma
involved. Is laser better then the conventional hair transplant
method? And if so, how come everyone's not using it? Thank You,
Asked
by:
Thomas
Answer:
If it was so much better everyone would be using it!
As a physician who performs laser surgery I can say there is a large misunderstanding
by the general public as to what laser is & can do medically. Part of
the problem has been unscrupulous physicians & laser manufacturers convincing
the public via advertising & newsmagazine shows (also advertising) that
laser is a godsend. Lasers are not some magical star trek device. How
a laser works & its effect on tissue are dependent on the type of laser & there
are more types or models available everyday. All have in common a collimated
beam of light that is absorbed by different tissues with different effects.
Some are only absorbed by blood vessels of the skin & leave the overlying
skin intact. If the beam strength is too high the skin may later blister & can
heal with scarring or pigmentation changes. Others such as the carbon
dioxide (CO2) laser can cut through tissue by burning through it thereby
creating "an open wound". The degree of skin injury prior to cutting
or along the sides of the cut is dependent on more than one laser parameter.
The greater the degree of skin injury the greater the risk of scarring
or pigmentation changes (temporary or permanent). It has been proven
at least in rat experiments that if you cut the skin with a laser (with
little surrounding skin injury) vs. a scalpel you can't tell the difference
between the two incision sites some months later. It has also been shown
that laser incisions take longer to heal. Therefore, stitches have to
be left in longer to prevent wound separation. As most plastic surgeons
will tell you the sooner stitches can be removed the better the end scar
result.
The belief that there is less trauma with a laser is unfound. Would you rather
have an incision that was burned into you with a laser that damages adjacent
tissue or cut with sharp cold steel that has virtually no damage to tissue
adjacent to the cut?
The justification that cauterizing with a laser as you cut offers an advantage
over scalpels is false. I have seen patients who had the same hematoma
complications after laser eyelid surgery as those who had the procedure
performed by sharp metal scalpel.
