Is GentleWaves LED Safe for Rosacea?

Gentlewaves Link and PDF:

GentleWaves

http://www.nxma.com/images/promo/Gen...esBrochure.pdf

After reviewing the site information, its mechanism of action, and the PDF with treatment photos, I responded to the email inquiry:


I think we discussed this a while back but I took another look at the pdf you attached to see what type of LED system they were using and the reported mechanism(s) of action of this particular array.

The photos are impressive... very good to excellent reduction of rhytides, uneven skin texture, blemishes and background erythema.

Erythema (facial redness) can result from skin cell discoloration and/or microvascular dilation of hair pin arterioles underneath the epidermis. Thus, for rosacea sufferers the response to Gentle Waves may vary considerably depending on the underlying cause of erythema.

I still think rosacea sufferers should procede with caution when using any Photomodulation system because these treatments will cause significant blood vessel dilation. The Gentle Wave system will cause flushing in rosacea sufferers due to its effect on mitochondrial free radical synthesis and ATP production. ATP is a potent dilator and anytime you increase the production of this vasoactive substance, nearby blood vessels will dilate... its pure physiology.

Those rosacea sufferers with primary changes in skin cell color or generalized inflammation should theoretically respond better than those with vascular erythema. However, with the layering effect it is difficult for rosacea sufferers to tell how much erythema is due to skin cell discoloration or vessel dilation.

The other concern is that this treatment may reduce superficial erythema at rest, but trigger blood vessels to become hyper-responsive to triggers. In this case the tone of the rosacea skin may be greatly improved when not flaring, but may actually flush more often or more intensely to external stimuli. This is something everyone must understand and weigh the risk-benefit-ratio before starting treatment.

If you want to try a series of treatments I would recommend using shorter treatment sessions (reduce the treatments by at least 20%) compared to normal photoaging treatment protocols AND I would make sure that you had a protocol in place to stop vascular dilation immediately after cessation of treatment to prevent vessel hyper-reactivity. This is extremely important as you want to reduce the upregulation of various dilator enzymes, proteins and peptides in the vascular wall that occur with prolonged vessel dilation and contribute to heightened vascular responsiveness for days or weeks post treatment. I would do this by cooling the skin immediately after each treatment for at least 30 minutes. The best way I can think of doing this is to use a cooling compress, cooling facial gel pack or chilled Natragel masks. I like the natragel mask option the best as it cools the skin gently and hydrates at the same time. One can also put phenylephrine gel (50% active ingredient in Prep. H. Gel) to constrict the vessels back down to normal tone.

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Attached Images

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Best,
Geoffrey

Dr. Geoffrey Nase
Ph.D: Neuro-Vascular Physiologist

Email: drnase1000@hotmail.com
Bibliography: http://drnase.com

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