Matteo Clementoni: any laser is a Ferrari, so a professional should “lead” the operation

Today, striving for beauty, we do not want to sacrifice health and time. For a person with a busy schedule, laser cosmetology becomes the number one choice due to the visible result and short recovery time after the procedure. The world's leading specialist in the field of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, a member and participant of more than ten worldwide societies and associations, including the American Society Laser Medicine and Surgery, Italian Society for Reconstructive and Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Dr. Matteo Clementoni. Dr. Clementoni visited Kyiv for the first time in order to conduct a training seminar on the use of IPL, Erbium, Neodymium and CO2 lasers on Lumenis equipment. Laser Seminar at Premier Palace organized by Medgarant, the exclusive distributor of Lumenis in Ukraine.

Why do you work with laser technology?

I believe that the laser cannot yet replace plastic surgery in every sense, but laser technologies help modern medicine to cope with a number of diseases that cannot be treated by other methods.

Last 10-15 years non-surgical  procedures and less invasive techniques have become much more popular because people do not want to fall out of the rhythm of their usual life.

Everything our patients want — is to make an appointment with a doctor, come to his office for a procedure, get a natural result, and return to your usual schedule as quickly as possible. Therefore, I am sure that laser procedures will become even more popular in the near future.

Main features of working with Erbium and Neodymium lasers

Dr. Clementoni prefers to work only with reliable and safe laser equipment, which is why he chooses the company's devices  Lumenis.

What are the most popular procedures from your practice?

It all depends on the season. In the spring-summer period, the most popular procedures are those aimed at combating body fat and vascular network on the legs. Laser rejuvenation in this regard has become the undisputed leader: the procedure does not lose its relevance all year round.

What is the benefit of using IPL compared to an Erbium laser?

Purpose of IPL – melanin and hemoglobin, pigments & nbsp; brown and red. Based on this, the procedure can give an excellent result of superficial rejuvenation, while the Erbium laser offers deeper penetration with an improvement in the overall structure of the skin. She becomes healthy, ruddy and radiant. In addition, the laser wavelength of 1565 nm stimulates the active production of collagen.

How is the use of the Neodymium laser different from other systems aimed at combating vascular pathology?

Nd:YAG neodymium laser 1064nm  penetrates deep into the skin. Therefore, if you are working with deep vessels – this is the only laser that can act on them and coagulate these vessels. Personally, I'm not sure that there are identical hardware counterparts that provide the necessary penetration depth. For vessels, this is the best laser system on the market today. I like Nd:YAG, I started using this laser many years ago – and since then, thanks to the reliable help of this technology, I have been equally successful in coagulating both small vessels and vessels of large diameter. The results of the correction are pleasantly surprising.

How safe is modern laser cosmetology?

I don't even know how to properly answer this question. On the one hand, today only reliable, advanced companies produce lasers. The safety level of their products is as high as possible. In the language of machines, the laser device – this is Ferrari. If driving – definitely not your forte, you can run into a wall with irreversible consequences.

The risk to the patient can be really high, even if the best laser is, to put it mildly, not in the best hands.

Laser therapy can hardly be called innovative: laser techniques have long been successfully used in all corners of the world. And from here another danger grows: lasers began to be produced everywhere, including the Eastern part of the world. The units they supply are temptingly cheap, but they are far from safe. We get two sides of the coin: laser procedures, which are carried out at the best facilities by insufficiently experienced specialists, and vice versa — operations in which the lion's share of the work is performed by cheap, dubious equipment. If you are going to go under the laser, please contact a good specialist, in whose office there is a place for exceptionally reliable equipment. In my practice, I use Lumenis laser equipment, presented in Ukraine by the exclusive distributor Medgarant.

How to make the laser procedure as safe as possible from the doctor's point of view?

Study, study and study again. Laser – this is not a toy that can be turned on and off with a simple push of a button. The doctor must clearly understand at what depth he is working, and with what amount of energy he is dealing. There is a reason to go to good courses, and after that, when practical experience is still at zero, go to a doctor who has already become a specialist in this field. It will help to put a hand and teach you how to work with a laser. This is the only way to become the best of the best in your niche.

Tell me about your most problematic patient?

I see each of my patients as problematic, with their own complexities and challenges. In each individual case, I need not only to understand what kind of pathology I am dealing with, but also to evaluate the potential result of the procedure, to completely immerse myself in the psychological picture of the situation. But if I still need to highlight one problematic case from practice, I would name burns. Patients with this history have already suffered enough from everything that happened to them, they spent a lot of time in hospital wards. On top of that, people worry about looks, and in some cases – and because of his inability to fully move.

Burn patients suffer from the first second of the incident and, moreover, are aware that their suffering can stretch for the rest of their lives — and this is the main difficulty of working with them.

Laser therapy can offer them help in dealing with scars. The situation again becomes twofold: yes, these people are emotionally vulnerable and difficult, but on the other hand, working with them, the doctor can prove himself to be one hundred percent – and get the greatest satisfaction not only from external transformation, but also from a radical change in their psychological state for the better.  Working with high-quality laser equipment, such as Lumenis, we return a person to a full life – and that's really important to me.

Recall that the official distributor of Lumenis in Ukraine is the company

Medgarant.

Do you provide special psychological support to patients?

Unfortunately, no, and the reason for this is obvious: I am not a psychologist by profession. But if during the consultation process I understand that the patient really needs a psychologist, I refer him to a specialist. Psychological help is needed not in the context of the procedure, but in order to cope with the condition that caused the laser correction. In some cases, I myself turned to a psychiatrist or psychologist for help in order to understand whether this or that procedure could be performed on a particular patient. It happens that a person comes to me with a photo of a popular actor or actress and says: “I want to be like him/her.” The doctor has no choice but to answer: “With all my desire, I will not be able to make you exactly the same.” To understand for sure Is it possible to do a laser procedure in such a situation, I advise the patient to consult a specialist psychologist. Fortunately, this doesn't happen every day. Yes, people have high expectations. They hear the word “laser” and in their thoughts they replace it with the phrase “magic wand”, believing that there is no such thing as impossible for laser therapy. Like everything else, laser therapy has its limits.

Does the patient's expectation always match reality?

100% – never. Take for example the situation of patients with post-acne, one of the most common diseases. The doctor's expectations are factual, realistic, and the patient's – they can be completely different, sky-high. As a specialist, I know my capabilities very well. I set myself a completely achievable goal, I go to it – and when I see the result, I am satisfied. The patient has a different picture: first he suffered from acne itself, then from its scars, and when he hears about laser therapy, an encouraging “well, finally, I will get rid of my problems forever!” – and, unfortunately, this is not true. There can be a whole gulf between the final and expected result. My task as a specialist is to reduce this distance as much as possible.<

Have you ever received complaints from a patient about an unsatisfactory result?

Of course, I can't answer with a categorical "no". If you carry out several dozen procedures a year, naturally, you will have to deal with complaints. Why does this happen? Firstly, a person can simply forget about how he was before laser therapy. Then I show them the photos taken before the – and they apologize, rounding their eyes knowingly. There is also such a type as “eternally dissatisfied patient”. It is never enough for them, their thirst for “faster, higher, stronger” no one will quench. In general, with sensible laser therapy, the visual effect is more than positive. Speaking about getting a positive effect after the procedure – the most important thing is to determine which specific patient you are working with. It's important to understand on which area of ​​the skin and on which defect you are working, and which laser should be used for this. If you succeed, success is inevitable. When the doctor is questioned about the correction procedure, there is a fairly high probability of getting a dissatisfied patient.

What are the most common mistakes newcomers to laser work make?

One of the most popular mistakes of young doctors is trying to compensate for the lack of knowledge by increasing the power of the laser. This could be a serious mistake. There are many other parameters, playing with the settings of which you can achieve the best result. Again — training, training and more training.

Only constant study of the device you are working with will help to improve the performance of the procedure.

Not always the results of the correction can be seen during the procedure, but this does not mean that you will not see them at all. The effect of the procedure may take several hours, weeks or months.

The main features of working with laser technologies

Dr. Clementoni emphasizes that in order to successfully perform laser correction, you must be completely confident in your abilities.

What is the first thing a doctor should consider when using a laser?

The specifics of the area of ​​the procedure, the depth of penetration and power of the laser, the purpose of the correction and acceptable ways to achieve it. Of course, the area to which the procedure itself is directed becomes a priority. This, in fact, determines everything: the power, the type of device itself, and how exactly the impulse penetrates the skin.

How to politely refuse a patient a procedure?

Everything is extremely simple. When you need to refuse, the specialist says: “I'm sorry, but I'm not the one you need. I am afraid that I will not be able to achieve the result that you want. There are many other good specialists around – I sincerely ask you to excuse me”.

What opportunities for aesthetic cosmetology will the use of a laser open in the near future?

I will answer in the context of Italy. We have survived the crisis. What did companies do to stay afloat? That's right, the engineers were fired. Therefore, I doubt very much that new technological solutions will appear in the field of laser therapy in the coming years. But one thing I know for sure: non-surgical, minimally invasive procedures – this is the future. I am sure that laser installations, like other energy systems, will also be relevant in the future. Non-aggressive, safe procedures that guarantee a natural end result will remain in trend. Laser lifting, contouring, rejuvenation – it  those procedures that are leading now, and I doubt that this will change in the future.

Indeed, laser therapy can do a lot: make the face and body well-groomed, correct visible imperfections, visibly rejuvenate, help eliminate age spots, scars, scars and post-acne. The services of cosmetologists offering laser hardware procedures will always be in demand due to two simple reasons – the naturalness of the result and the minimum rehabilitation period.