Josabet Tecat-Suarez was pretty sure her face wasn’t supposed to sizzle during a laser hair-removal treatment.

But her gynecologist — yes, gynecologist — told her to stop flinching and held her head in place as he finished.

“When the nurse came in, I could tell from her look that all was not well,” said Tecat-Suarez, a 31-year-old Paterson, N.J., resident.

Her cheeks, she was horrified to find after a peek in the mirror, “had started to look like a tic-tac-toe board.”

Later, the wounds swelled and oozed before turning into a mask of milky dots marring her chocolate complexion.

This outcome is not uncommon for people with darker skin.

Darker tones, common problems

“Skin of color is more sensitive and more prone to side effects — such as discoloration and scarring — from medical skin treatments and even from piercing, plucking, waxing and shaving,” said Dr. Eliot Battle, assistant professor of dermatology at Howard University and founder of Cultura Medical Spa in Washington, D.C.

The key is choosing the right physician with the right equipment.

Battle is one of a growing number of ethnic-skin specialists. He spent three years at Harvard perfecting new “colorblind” lasers that are safe for treating highly pigmented skin.

A third of the American population has darker skin tones, including people of African, Asian, Indian, Hispanic, Arabic and/or Mediterranean descent. And their numbers are increasing.

“Society is turning brown,” Battle said, “and people of those ethnicities are a fast-growing consumer segment for cosmetic treatments like laser hair removal, scar removal and Botox injections.”

New research and tools are providing “more ammunition to safely and effectively treat people of color for skin conditions,” Battle said, “but you have to choose your expert wisely.”

He advises using only a dermatologist and asking if that physician has an FDA-approved laser for people of color, as well as plenty of experience using it.

“Look around the waiting room and see who’s sitting there,” he suggested.

Tecat-Suarez had sought treatment from just such an expert a couple of years prior, when she wanted her skin in tip-top shape for her wedding in 2002.

Later on, she tried to save money by using her gynecologist’s hair-removal service. He assured her that he’d treated other women of color.

In a panic after that painful experience, she phoned her previous dermatologist, Jeanine Downie of Image Dermatology.

Downie told her to come to her Montclair, N.J., office right away.

“As soon as she saw me she hugged me,” Tecat-Suarez said. “She didn’t try to say it wasn’t so bad. She said it would take awhile but she’d fix it.”

After a year of chemical peel treatments to undo the damage, Tecat-Suarez is beginning laser hair removal with Downie.

“I’ve talked to other patients who’ve all had similar experiences,” said Downie, a frequent talk-show guest and author of Beautiful Skin of Color.

“I’ve seen (damaged skin) much more than I want to, mostly as a result of a patient going to a cosmetologist, aesthetician or laser technician instead of a dermatologist with the right expertise.”

Instead of saving money, Tecat-Suarez ended up paying not only her gynecologist — whom she has declined to sue — but also about $220 per visit with Downie until she switched to an insurance plan that covers her treatments.

“I lost count of how much it cost,” she said. “It could have cost me an entire year’s salary and I would have done it anyway.”

Over-the-counter skin treatments sometimes promise a less expensive solution, but most are formulated for lighter skin, even though the labels don’t say so, Battle cautioned. He’s hopeful that the FDA will one day require labeling guidelines for different skin types.

Downie is participating in a 10-center study of Restylane, a newly approved drug for filling in facial wrinkles and folds.

“They did studies, but not enough on brown patients,” she said. “We need to have documentation that it’s safe for all skin types.”

Both dermatologists urge “brown patients” to use sunscreen for its anti-aging effects as well as skin-cancer prevention.

Skin cancer is less prevalent in ethnic populations, but it shows up in spots where light-skinned people don’t get it.

“Bob Marley died from undiagnosed melanoma of the feet,” Battle said. “People of color tend to get skin cancer on the scalp and feet instead of the face, arms and legs as do Caucasians.”

To find area doctors who specialize in skin of color, use the Find a Dermatologist link on the American Academy of Dermatology Web site: aad.org.

Source: By Abigail Leichman - The Record

Dana Murphy-Chutorian sits in a doctor’s chair, wearing protective goggles, her arms covered in plastic wrap. She is awaiting her treatment. A doctor approaches her, holding a gray device that looks like a staple gun. He removes the wrap and begins to zap her hair with the apparatus, which produces a popping sound and sends out a bright flash of light. She is having laser hair removal treatment, and she is one of numerous Paly students who have decided to undergo the permanent and expensive process.

We live in a nation that champions diversity and different kinds of beauty, however, the growing popularity of permanent beauty enhancers, such as laser hair removal, suggests a need for hairlessness in American society. The taboo body image of voluptuous forms or body hair in America contrasts with the standards of other countries though. In countries such as India, the standards of beauty are different from those of America, and body hair is not considered to be ugly. Jagdish Basi, the mother of a Paly alumnus and one of the chairs of Paly’s 2001 Cultural Fair says, “In India, I don’t think that hair removal is done very much except for in the cities. For the most part women don’t show their legs much because they wear long saris. If hair is removed, it is usually waxed. I wouldn’t say this is because India has a more conservative culture, it is just different. I also think that hair removal is very much an American thing. Even if you look at a lot of European cultures, hair is not such a big deal as it is here.”

Hair removal technology is one of the many scientific advances that is being used to cover up cultural and physical differences in the American public. The growing popularity of laser hair removal has made it more easily accessible, and there are several new clinics for laser hair removal in the Palo Alto area.

Laser hair removal is performed by shaving and then scanning the desired area with a laser. The laser’s energy is drawn to the hair follicles, which causes a heat reaction with the skin, thus disabling the follicles. “It [laser hair removal treatment] feels like a needle being stuck into you,” says Dana Murphy-Chutorian, a Paly student who has undergone laser hair removal treatment. “I would say it was more painful than waxing.”

Laser hair removal requires multiple treatments, each costing from $70 to $500 per treatment. Each treatment takes only a matter of minutes, depending on the size of the area from which the hair is removed. The technological advances that make permanent hair removal possible cater especially to people of a dark-haired ethnicity. “I have naturally dark hair, which is why I chose to do it,” says Jane, a Paly senior who wishes to remain unnamed. “I had no side-effects because of the darkness of my hair.”

The disparity between beauty in America and beauty in India became apparent to Paly junior Preeti Mann after she traveled to India over the summer. “The Indian and American cultures are completely different,” Mann says. “Dating back to ancient India, fair skin has always been considered more beautiful. This standard has to do with the two ethnic groups that immigrated to India, not Western Culture. The lightness of skin plays a much bigger part than the existence of hair. If hair is removed, it is usually so that the skin doesn’t look as dark.”

Results to laser hair treatment are subject to each individual client; nevertheless, with each treatment more hair is permanently removed. In California, only a M.D. or other licensed personnel can perform laser hair removal treatment. The F.D.A., which has approved several lasers for permanent hair reduction, sets national standards. The F.D.A. also approved an average of 88 percent permanant hair reduction.

The side effects of laser hair removal are relatively minimal, although it is important that the client has hair that is darker than the surrounding skin for the treatment to be successful and safe. “It works best on people with really dark hair,” Murphy-Chutorian says. “That’s why my treatment wasn’t as effective after I got really tan.”

The laser’s beam is attracted to dark colors (melanin) that exist in the hair. Melanin also exists in skin, thus darkly tanned or pigmented skin absorbs too much of the laser energy and can cause side effects such as blistering, hyperpigmentation (darkened spots) and hypopigmentation (light spots). Also, lasers do not usually work on blonde, gray, or light-colored hair due to the lack of melanin present.

After treatment, some people find pigmentary changes in the tone of their skin, especially in very dark or light areas. This change in pigment is usually temporary and only lasts a few months. Burns and blisters occur occasionally when treatment is performed on people of darker skin tone, but are rare. “My arms were scarred a little and we had to switch lasers part way through my treatments,” says Murphy-Chutorian who has had seven laser removal treatments. “Now I have about half the amount of hair than I did before, but my arms don’t look as clear because of the scar tissue. I am not resentful toward our society for setting the standard — I did it for myself,” says Murphy-Chutorian, “but I’m not that happy with the results.”

Another type of permanent hair removal is electrolysis, a technology that has been in use longer than laser treatment. Electrolysis treats individual hairs by sending an impulse of energy down each hair follicle, disabling the root. Like laser hair removal, electrolysis requires multiple treatments, and the hair grows back more thin and fine after each treatment. Electrolysis can be performed after laser hair removal treatment in order to permanently remove stray hairs that remain. It also works on white, gray or blonde hairs.

Recent media attention has been brought to cultural portrayals of beauty with the 2002 release of the film “Frida.” In the film, Selma Hayek dares to wear the unibrow and dark facial hair that characterized the Mexican artist. Frida Kahlo painted numerous self-portraits, always portraying herself with her facial hair and ethnic beauty. “Portraying Frida as both beautiful and sexual even with her facial hair is a step in the right direction for improvement,” sophomore Katy Francis says.

With technological “beautifying” advances such as laser hair removal treatment and electrolysis becoming more prevalent in America, people of all cultures and ethnicities are slowly amalgamating to America’s standard. “I don’t think that I would have done it if I had lived in a place where darker hair is okay,” Jane says. “I think that America has a high standard of beauty, and dark body hair is just not acceptable.”

Source: By Anna Hartley of Verde Magazine