FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Painless Laser Therapy Gives New Hope to Sufferers of Embarrassing Skin Diseases
For the first time in their lives, patients who suffer from some of the most frustrating and embarrassing skin diseases including psoriasis, vitiligo, and atopic dermatitis have real hope for effectively, conveniently, and painlessly treating their conditions.
Here in Carmel, Dr. Hoffman is proud to be the first physician to offer the PHAROS excimer laser, a gentle and painless phototherapy laser shown to be effective in treating these difficult-to-treat conditions.
The PHAROS excimer laser is different from cosmetic lasers that are usually associated with pain during treatment and post-treatment downtime for the patient. Instead, the PHAROS delivers a highly energetic but painless beam of UVB light directly to the psoriasis, vitiligo, and atopic dermatitis patches through a handpiece that rests directly on the patient’s skin. It features the most advanced optical technology on the market, including an adjustable spot size and guiding aiming beam, to precisely target only the affected skin and spare the surrounding healthy tissue from exposure. There is no downtime for the patients.
Psoriasis is a non-contagious, lifelong skin disease that affects an estimated 7 million Americans. The most common form, plaque psoriasis, appears as raised, red patches or lesions covered with a silvery white buildup of dead skin cells, called scale. In addition to discomfort and itching, psoriasis patients commonly suffer from social embarrassment and depression. Even worse for patients, the usual treatments are messy, time-consuming, and costly. Topical creams and ointments have to be applied several times a day, conventional phototherapy requires 30-40 treatments and thrice weekly office visits, and the newer biological treatments usually cost the patient $2000-$3000 out of pocket each year.
At Dr. Hoffman's office, the PHAROS excimer laser is changing the way patients manage their psoriasis and is helping them achieve rapid clearing and long remissions. Patients come in twice each week for an average of 6 weeks, and each quick treatment session that usually takes only 5-10 minutes. Patients usually enjoy several months of treatment-free remission.
“My patients love it. They tell me that the laser sessions fit into their lifestyle and they appreciate being freed from the burden of applying steroids several times everyday. Patients begin to see results after only a few sessions and enjoy much greater self-esteem and a higher quality of life,” stated Dr. Hoffman.
Equally exciting for psoriasis patients, the targeted high-dose laser therapy can effectively treat stubborn plaques including knees, elbows, palms, soles, and scalp, even those that have not responded to other treatments.
Vitiligo is characterized by the appearance of white patches of skin on different parts of the body as a result of the destruction of melanocytes. This may vary from one or two white spots on the skin to large areas of depigmentation. Vitiligo is not contagious. For some people, although not for everyone, the depigmentation is progressive. Vitiligo affects 1 to 2 percent of the world's population including approximately 2 to 5 million Americans.
Prior to the PHAROS, vitiligo patients’ treatment options were usually limited to topical steroids with limited efficacy and traditional phototherapy that often required hundreds of treatments and exposed all of the patients’ skin to UV, increasing risks such as photo-aging and carcinogenicity. Now vitiligo patients at Dr. Hoffman’s office can benefit from the PHAROS’ proven repigmentation technology with none of the downsides of steroids or old-fashioned phototherapy.
The PHAROS EX-308 is making a tremendous difference in my vitiligo patients’ lives. It allows me to precisely target only their white patches and exposes none of their healthy tissue, enabling me to achieve the best medical and cosmetically-appealing results possible” commented Dr. Hoffman.
The PHAROS EX-308 is also indicated for atopic dermatitis, hereditary skin inflammation that commonly affects infants, children, and young adults.
Insurance companies including Blue Cross, Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Aetna, TriCare, and Medicare have recognized the efficacy and safety of excimer laser treatments and now reimburse for these treatments.
“Beyond the exciting clinical results we are achieving with the PHAROS, my patients are thrilled that these laser treatments are frequently covered by their insurance companies. This makes this state-of-the-art therapy affordable and accessible for my patients,” added Dr. Hoffman.