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Who is Doing Your Laser Hair Removal Treatments?
Did you know:
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, there are currently no regulations regarding laser hair removal.
What does that mean to you?
Anyone can purchase a laser in Virginia and start offering laser hair removal services. Many places even offer other laser services such as removal of spider veins, removal of pigmented lesions and laser skin tightening. At Leesburg Laser Center, we believe these other laser services belong in the hands of a physician. Even though our laser is FDA approved to offer these other services and we could legally do so in Virginia, we refer you to your dermatologist for laser services other than laser hair removal.
There is no agency for you to go to if you want to file a complaint or check credentials or to see if any complaints have been filed about a company offering laser hair removal services.
Did you know:
Some places offering laser services advertise that they have a medical director.
What does that mean to you?
While in many cases it is a benefit that there is a Medical Director involved, there are assumptions you should not make regarding the term ‘Medical Director’. For example, it is often the case that the medical director does not work at the laser center. It can even be the case that the medical director is not even located in Virginia. It is often the case that the medical director never looks at any of your information. Typically the way a medical director is used is as a resource if something goes wrong with a treatment or as the person who writes the prescriptions for topical anesthetics to be used prior to laser treatments. You should also not assume that the medical director is even trained in the proper use of lasers or hair removal protocols.
On the other hand, a Medical Director with a background in lasers, plastic surgery or dermatology, who is located within the laser hair removal setting and personally trains and observes his staff performing the laser hair removal treatments is an asset to any laser hair removal setting. However, you should confirm this to be the case before you feel safe allowing a non-medical person to perform your laser hair removal treatments.
Did you know:
There is no minimum training or education required by the Commonwealth of Virginia for anyone performing laser hair removal services?
What does that mean to you?
That means that you need to do some homework before choosing where you will have your laser hair removal treatments done. It is our policy at Leesburg Laser Center that anyone doing consultations or laser hair removal treatments be a Registered Nurse. It is my opinion that a nurse comes to this job with an ability to approach laser hair removal treatments in a way that a non-medical person is unable.
Nurses, by training, are patient advocates. For that reason, you will not get a sales pitch at Leesburg Laser Center. You’ll never be told that a certain price is only valid until 5 PM today. Instead, you’ll be provided with information about laser hair removal, and get a free treatment on a small area (underarms for women and back of neck for men), so that you can see what the laser feels like and make your own decision about having treatments. If you want to go home and think about it, that’s fine with us. In fact, we won’t even let you have a treatment for one week after your test area because we want to make sure you don’t have any surprising side effects from the test area. There is one side effect (skin discoloration) that can take 3 to 5 days to occur.
You should also know that no matter where you go for your laser hair removal services (day spa, physician’s office or laser center), you should ask what the background is of the person who will be doing both your consultation and treatment. Never assume the person has been adequately trained or has much experience with the laser.
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