Hello all,

I'm just back from my first visit with Dr. Soldo, in Scottsdale AZ.,
<http://www.arizonaveininstitute.com/> and I wanted to update everybody.

Rosacea, as most of us know, is not a skin disorder. Itıs a vascular
disorder. Too many blood vessels, all dilating and hot and hurting and red.
The best way to treat it seems to be to get rid of those extra blood
vessels. Thatıs what IPL/Photoderm does. So the treatments stop the
flushing, to arrest the rosacea. Everything else just treats the symptoms.
IPL/Photoderm treats the CAUSE.

So, on with the story. I flew from North Carolina to Phoenix this Tuesday,
took a taxi to Dr. Soldo's office a half hour north in Scottsdale, and had
my first treatment with him.

Well, Dr. Soldo is so impressive! He showed me photos of actual patients he
has helped, not just commercial posters from the laser manufacturers trying
to sell their goods. Told me all about his early work with Photoderm and
with Dr. Bitter Sr. and Jr. Dr. Soldo does ALL of the treatments HIMSELF.
He treats 5 to 7 patients with this machine A DAY, EVERY DAY; he has vast
experience using the Lumenis One. He answers all questions. He is a
delightful man, very high energy, full of positive vibes and radiant good
cheer. He loves his work!

He looked at my eyes, and said he wanted me on Periostat (low dose
doxycycline). He explained that it took 100 mg twice a day to have any
anti-bacterial effects, and that he was only giving me 20 mg twice a day,
so there would be no anti-bacterial action at that low level, and thus no
disruption of the good intestinal bacteria, only ocular anti-inflammatory
effects.

I'm going to do it, even though I've previously resisted antibiotics for
this, having had so many since childhood. I was very impressed with his
knowledge and his emotional generosity in sharing what he knows that I found
myself wanting to do everything he suggested, so I could benefit from all of
his knowledge.

Dr. Soldo used to be an anesthesiologist, and now he has a compounding
pharmacy make the exact topical anesthetic that he wants for IPL; a
combination of three excellent painkillers that also act as a vasodilator,
so you flush a bit before treatment. Thus the laser is able to 'see' all
those dilated veins and target them.

Dr. Soldo STARTS with a 640 filter, quite deep. I told him my last IPL doc
(who just retired) started with a 560 (shallow) to get the superficial
stuff first. Dr. Soldo says that, in his opinion, doing it that way pours
too much heat into the face too early, with the potential to damage the
skin. He prefers to start deep, and target the deep feeder vessels that
enable the flushing. The deeper ones hurt less when they get zapped, too.

After the 640 filter he used a shallower 590, after which he stopped to take
a look.

Before he did EACH of these, he did a test spot first. He did a small zap,
and waited a few minutes to see how my skin reacted, and then he adjusted
the heat accordingly. He pays attention to lots of details like that, all of
which combine to make you feel like you're in very good hands. He can talk
at length about pulse durations, delays, energy and filters, and it's quite
clear that he knows exactly what he is doing.

Since my skin reacted so well to the 640 and the 590 filters, he also did
the shallowest 560, to get rid of superficial redness. Sometimes, with some
patients, he hesitates to use that one, since he doesn't want to irritate
the skin by pouring more heat into the already miserable superficial dermis.

He explained how technologically advanced this new Lumenis One Laser is.
Apparently the technology is quite superior as far as its ability to deliver
lower energy with more efficiency. It uses a new technology called OPT
(optical pulse technology) that delivers "squared off" pulses, resulting in
MUCH more even distribution of energy with each pulse.

Dr. Soldo explained that what they have finally been able to do with this
new generation laser is to really harness and control the burst of light.

With all previous IPL machines, the greatest amount of energy is released
when the light leaves the crystal, before it reaches the epidermis. It
degrades exponentially until it reaches its target -- losing half of its
overall energy.

The Lumenis One has a chip added so that the energy comes out in a nice
middle range burst, and then maintains this same energy throughout the skin
layers, until it reaches the vessels at the precise depth that it was
programmed to treat, and THEN and ONLY then, releases the "oxidative burst"
that closes the vessel.

So, there is very little energy lost, and it is set to be at its greatest
energy delivery AT the blood vessel, where you want it, with no decay
through the skin.

The Lumenis One is apparently also much more user friendly to the physician;
the software is updated to help decide if photocoagulation is occurring
based on thermal temperature scans. A true technological advance!

Afterwards, Dr. Soldo showed me a computer printout from the Lumenis One
that documented the exact settings he had just used on me. Clearly I was
welcome to it; a nice change from previous docs who view this as secret
proprietary information.

Afterwards I was red, but not awful, and my whole face felt cold, I think
from the anaesthetic. On the way home, I did not have the uncomfortable hot
facial sensations that I've had from previous IPL's. I used to have to sit
in the car with the air conditioning on my face, full blast, all the way
home, to alleviate previous post-treatment discomfort.

I flew home and arrived long after midnight, where I was delighted to hear
my sweetie say that my skin actually looked better than it had in years;
even after 20 hours of travel, and no sleep, and 4 plane flights! And the
mirror said he was right; already significant improvement, after only one
visit.

Scottsdale has no big trees like North Carolina and it's hot as hell there.
Also it's flat, no hills, just flat hot sunshine, and heat, did I say hot?
Dr. Soldo joked that there in the Sonoran Desert, he has LOTS of business,
and clearly he is right. Lots of sun and heat damage on tender faces there.

Two days after the treatment I still had not had my usual afternoon flush.
My face feels HUGELY better. Less hot, less red, and MUCH MUCH harder to
flush. I really believe this new laser, in skilled hands, is a magnificent
answer to rosacea.

Today is my third day and still, no flushing. I haven't gone this long
without flushing in 5 years. And I spent all afternoon in the kitchen
cooking for a dinner party, still no flush. AND hot bean soup for lunch,
STILL NO FLUSH! I can see how 5 sessions from Dr. Soldo with the Lumenis
One would easily equal about 15 or 20 treatments from an old IPL machine.
Dr. Nase was right; this Lumenis One, in the right hands, is one of our
best hopes yet.

All in all, it was a very good visit, and clearly I am in excellent hands.
Together we are going to beat back this rosacea beast. Ha, I asked him
what my prognosis was. He said, 'Laura, I will clear your face if I have to
make it my life's work!' And he laughed, because obviously he will not have
to do that. I feel better about my rosacea than I have in years.

A huge thank you to David Scher for posting his spectacular results with Dr.
Soldo, and encouraging me privately over email to spend the time and money
to go visit this amazing man.

Another huge thank you to our beloved Dr. Geoffrey Nase, without whom I
would never have known about the Lumenis One IPL advancement, or IPL at all,
for that matter.

I'm off now to donate to the Rosacea Research Foundation, so more folks can
be helped! <http://rosacea-research.org/who-we-are.htm>

Happily,
Laura in NC