High tech meets high touch

LASER TECHNOLOGY TURNS BACK THE HANDS OF TIME- PARADISE ON COLUMBIA MED SPA

DR. MIKE HAAS is no stranger to medical lasers. He’s been working with them since he was a biomedical engineering student at Tulane University in the 1970s.

Today, Dr. Haas is putting his knowledge into practice at Paradise on Columbia Med Spa in Covington. Armed with an arsenal of lasers and medical devices, Dr. Haas helps men and women look and feel their best.

“Thirty years ago, (esthetic lasers) were a lot different. You were put to sleep under general anesthesia and basically had a layer of skin burned off of your face. It worked, but you didn’t leave the house for six months,” he said.

Lasers used in modern esthetic procedures work much differently. Instead of ablating (or vaporizing) the entire face, the laser makes tiny channels in the skin. As the micro-wounds heal, collagen remodeling occurs which improves the look, color and texture of the skin.

“Now, the products and lasers we have minimizes the downtime, but they are powerful enough to be very effective,” Dr. Haas said.

Collagen remodeling is key to achieving a younger, fresher appearance, Dr. Haas said. Over time, collagen breaks down, impacting the skin’s structural framework. Dr. Haas likes to use a construction analogy to explain the process.

“Think of your skin like a wall. There’s sheetrock and two-by-fours. The collagen is like the two-by-fours,” he said. If the two-by-fours weaken and bend, the wall would sag and look bumpy. It works the same way with collagen. As the collagen bonds break and bend, your skin takes on fine lines, wrinkles and undulations.

Read More >