Pain
Patient pain is one of the two most concerning areas for physicians performing LHR (Medical Insight, Inc., Global Aesthetic Market Study, 2013).
The LightSheer DESIRE includes vacuum-assisted HIT™ (High-Speed Integrated Technology), which is designed to increase the patient’s comfort both during and after treatment. The suction created by the vacuum stretches the skin, making it thinner and bringing the hair follicle and the energy source into closer proximity with each other. This enables effective treatment at lower fluence levels, which eliminates the need to apply topical anesthetics and increases patient comfort. The stretching of the skin also spreads melanocytes apart, thus reducing the number of competing chromophores in the skin and allowing more efficient delivery of laser energy to the hair follicle.
The benefits of this technology with regard to reducing treatment-related pain have been documented in multiple studies in which patients report that the LightSheer treatment is less painful than other laser hair removal systems, including the Vectus.
A study conducted in five men found that mean VAS was lower for the LSHS (2.2 ± 0.37) than for the LSET (3.2 ± 0.6) when used for removal of back hair6. In this study, each man was treated with the LSHS in three different areas on the right back and with the LSET on three different areas of the left back. The authors conclude that the LSHS handpiece has a tendency to be more comfortable compared with the sapphire-cooled handpice of the LSET.
An internal analysis conducted by Lumenis found that average VAS scores were significantly lower for the LSHS (2.2 ± 0.5) than for the Vectus large spot size (3.9 ± 0.5) (P < 0.01). In this analysis, 15 patients (seven female, eight male) were treated with the LSHS on one side and the Vectus on the other side (treatment areas included calf, back, neck, chest, axillae, bikini line, and arm). Seven patients were treated with the LSHS first followed by the Vectus; five were treated with the Vectus followed by the LSHS; and three were treated with both devices in parallel, using similar fluences. These data also support the utility of the LightSheer HIT™ in reducing pain during LHR procedures.
The LightSheer has also been shown to provide improved patient comfort compared with an Nd:YAG laser system (GentleLase Pro-U; Syneron-Candela, Yokneam, Israel). In a study of 29 Chinese women, patients’ pain, as rated by the VAS was significantly lower on the LSHS treated axilla compared with the Nd:YAG — treated axilla following the second and third treatment sessions. Overall, patients found the LSHS treated side less painful than the side treated with the Nd:YAG laser1. Ibrahimi and Kilmer3 showed that 39% of the patients treated with the LSHS reported no (0) to slight pain (2), and hypothesised that greater patient and physician satisfaction was associated with the advantages in the device design.
Zhou et al2 suggest that the significantly low levels of pain obtained during treatment with the LSHS are owing to the negative pressure generated by the vacuum-assisted technology, which activate touch and pressure receptors of the skin, thereby blocking the transmission of pain signals to the brain.
Another study found the LightSheer to be less painful than a hair removal system using a 755nm Alexandrite laser (GentleLase, Syneron-Candela)7. In this study, 10 subjects were treated with the LSET the GentleLase, and two intense-pulsed light systems on the back or leg. Each subject was treated with each device in non-overlapping areas. The mean pain score was 2.8 ± 0.8 for the LSET and 4.1 ± 1.8 for the GentleLase. The authors conclude that hair removal devices using contact cooling appear to cause less discomfort than devices that use alternative cooling methods.
Taken together, these data provide evidence that the LightSheer is less painful than the Vectus and other LHRl systems.
