Dr. Daniel P. Friedmann is a board-certified dermatologist and phlebologist at Westlake Dermatology in Austin, TX, and Clinical Research Director of the Westlake Dermatology Clinical Research Center. He has been involved in numerous clinical trials on the treatment of abnormal leg veins, aging hands, hair regrowth, melasma, localized fat reduction, stretch marks, skin laxity of the chest, among others.
Dr. Friedmann is also a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Society for Dermatology Surgery, as well as a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, American College of Phlebology, and the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. He has presented nationally on photorejuvenation, non-invasive fat reduction, radio frequency devices, up-to-date techniques in photodynamic therapy, the management of stretch marks, and the treatment of hand, chest, and facial veins. Dr. Friedmann has written text book chapters on laser resurfacing, under eye circles, and the laser treatment of pigmentation.
Considering Dr. Friedmann’s interests and deep experience in the aesthetics arena, we were pleased to hear his unequivocally positive reaction to our M22 Aesthetic Multi-Application Platform:
We spoke to Dr. Friedmann to find out what makes the M22 such an essential aesthetic device in his practice.
For which treatments do you use M22 numerous times a day and what is its biggest advantage?
“I primarily do cosmetic dermatology, and a large part of my practice is treatment of pigmentation and vascularity, such as chronic redness on the legs or face, blood vessels, rosacea and freckles. We treat a lot of sun damage on the legs, back, arms and chest as well as spider veins on the face, chest and legs, and sometimes on the abdomen.
I see patients from 18 to 75, but most of them are in their late 30s to early 40s. The population of Austin has exploded during the last 20 years and it’s now about 2 million.”
Please explain the M22 technology for those unfamiliar with it.
“M22 has four modules, like a computer with plug and play. You can buy it with the IPL alone or with all four modules:
1) The Intense Pulsed Light module (IPL) treats numerous issues including pigmentation, sun damage and thread veins. The IPL is advantageous for treating sun damage because of features like the Universal handpiece, which lets me change filters quickly instead of attaching a whole new handpiece. That’s also cost-efficient, because I don’t need to buy additional IPL handpieces.
For spider veins on the nose, which are challenging to treat, I use the vascular filter with excellent results. This is unique to the M22 and something other IPLs aren’t able to treat.
The continuous contact cooling also enhances patient comfort, so this feature is very important in my practice.
2) The ResurFX™ module is a non-ablative resurfacing laser. It doesn’t remove the top layer of the skin, and you can get a significant improvement with minimal downtime, and maybe a day or two of redness. It treats textural issues by working at 0.1 to 1 millimeter deep.
For someone with deeper pigment, I’ll often combine ResurFX with the IPL modality because studies have shown that when you create these little channels in the skin that lead up to the surface–but don’t break the skin–you give pigment an exit route. Going from one handpiece to another lets me do low-grade resurfacing on top of treating pigment, but I always use IPL first since it’s picking up on redness. I do it almost every day.
3) The Multi-spot™ Nd:YAG module is a laser that works beautifully on larger blood veins over 2 millimeters that need to be treated with a longer wavelength and pulse duration that can go to deeper parts of the skin. We’re talking about issues like large spider veins on the nose or legs that are too big to erase with the IPL. I use a 1064 nm YAG wavelength to treat deeper and longer bluish veins on the legs.
4) The Q- (Quality) switched Nd:YAG module emits laser energy so rapidly that it can treat extremely small molecules like tattoo ink particles. It’s great for darker color tattoos with blue, black and works on pigment on darker skin types, where you can’t use the IPL.
What kind of training does a practitioner need to start using M22?
“I did a year of cosmetic fellowship through American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, where I trained on all these machines, but you don’t need a training course. You can learn in six to eight hours on the job as long as you have basic knowledge of the skin, laser and light devices, and train with a physician who has experience with the device. It’s daunting at first, and you have to start slow, but with practice and dedication you will master it. You also can take courses and attend hands-on events at national meetings.”
With the M22, which offers more than 30 different indications, Dr. Friedmann has the ability to deliver outstanding results on any age and skin type, making it an essential tool in his practice.
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