What is the Flashlamp Pulsed Dye Laser?
The Flashlamp Pulsed Dye Laser is a device that emits a tiny, but powerful pulse of light that is absorbed by the pigment within the red blood cells of the wart. The light is generated when the lasing medium, a concentrated dye, is stimulated by a flashlamp energy source. This light is then directed at the wart using a pencil-like hand piece. The wart's nutritional blood flow is cut off by the absorption of this light. The laser also obliterates the virus at the base of the membrane.

Recalcitrant Warts are best treated by the Flashlamp Pulsed Dye Laser. Te majority of recalcitrant warts will succumb to the pulsed dye laser therapy. Warts referred to as recalcitrant are those warts which have proven to be extremely difficult to remove by other methods, and which persist in returning after other removal treatments. Also in this category are periungual warts (located under or around the nail bed), palmar warts and plantar verrucae (warts located on the soles of the foot).

Treatment
The Flashlamp Pulsed Dye Laser Treatment consists of (in general) the following steps. (Treatment will vary from patient to patient depending on the type, size, and location of the warts.)

In general, these are the steps that will take place:

After treatment there is little if any post-op discomfort.
Most patients are able to return to normal daily activities almost immediately. This is a tremendous improvement in the area of plantar verrucae, where other treatment methods such as CO2 laser vaporization and excision often resulted in large lesions on the sole of the foot, making even walking very painful. Damage to surrounding tissue is minimal with the pulsed dye laser. Many patients are even able to participate in sports the day after treatment for plantar verrucae.

Usually only one treatment is required, however, depending on the size and type of wart, most conditions will respond to the very first treatment while some will require at least one more treatment session.

Safe and Effective
Studies have shown that there are very few side effects when the pulsed dye laser is used to treat warts. Pain has been reported to be very minimal during and after the surgery. Most patients resume normal activities almost immediately. You will, however, experience some temporary discoloration of the skin at the treatment site. The treated wart will turn light gray immediately. Over the 24 hours following laser exposure, the gray discoloration will darken and persist for up to 2-3 weeks. This dead tissue is easily removed by your physician at your follow-up appointment. The physician will then assess whether further treatment is necessary

Advantages of the Flashlamp Pulsed Dye Laser include the following:

"I got lasered at BunionBusters.com"

Click here to learn more about warts and what causes them.

New Laser Technology Zaps Warts for Good

Nobody's perfect. And Loretta Smith loved her husband, warts and all. But then he gave his Verruca Plantaris - plantar warts - to her.

Most warts are just blemishes, but warts on the feet need prompt medical treatment. Meg G. 32 waited a year until one wart grew to a multitude of painful eruptions. For another two years, the North Shore resident saw a podiatrist who tried everything he knew - two invasive surgeries, acid peeling, injections, and other painful techniques, including an early laser technique called CO2 vaporization. Nothing cured the warts or relieved his excruciating pain.

The plantar wart virus enters the foot through microscopic cuts or scratches to cause the warts and soon Eric K. had them too.

Found on the bottom of the foot, between the toes or under the toenails, the warts are actually pea-sized tumors. Unlike common warts, when the plantar warts are cut, they bleed in multiple pinpoints.

In 25 years of practice, Peabody Podiatrist podiatrist, Dr. Eliot Sherr has seen thousands of plantar warts... Some patients dismiss an eruption as a corn or callous, until crippling pain drives them to a podiatrist, and entrenched warts can defy as many as fifty conventional treatments.

"A neglected wart's root grows deep into the foot", says Sherr. "The virus spreads and causes multiple warts, which form large mosaic patterns. And nothing worked on mosaic warts."

Lucky for the Smiths, a new technology called the Flashlamp Pulsed Dye Laser came on the scene. Sherr says many plantar warts need only one or two 5-second laser pulses from the new laser, but by the time Meg Gardiepy sought Dr. Sherr's help, her wart required a hopping 600 pulses.

Sherr performed the procedure in his office. No anesthetic or pain killers were needed and, because the laser does break the skin, there was virtually no risk of infection. Each pulse felt like the snap of a small rubber band against the skin and, after that first marathon treatment, Smith walked out, pain-free and cured. The laser procedure also cured 30-year-old Eric K.

Sherr says he is astounded at the pulsed dye laser's overall success rate - about 93 percent. Even with recurring plantar warts that defy every other treatment, it succeeds about 85 percent of the time.

"This laser is safer and more effective than earlier devices", he said, "Because it employs photothermolysis to selectively treat only the wart, without affecting surrounding tissue."

The laser seeks and destroys only red targets. The Flashlamp emits powerful pulses of light directly to the wart's red blood cells and, when this light energy is absorbed, it is converted to heat. The heat coagulates the abnormal capillaries, cuts off the wart's blood supply and kills it. The laser also obliterates the virus. The treated growth gradually separates from the skin and sloughs off, leaving healthy skin and tissue completed unaffected.

Sherr demonstrates the laser's selectivity on inflated balloons. He inflates a red balloon inside a white balloon and, when he applies the pencil-like wand to the balloons, the laser energy passes through the white balloon, leaving it undisturbed, but bursts the blood-colored red balloon inside.

The pulsed dye laser also can remove or greatly reduce vascular lesions, such as port-wine and other red birthmarks, stretch marks, scars, and conspicuous veins on the nose, chin and cheeks.

Sherr says the new laser procedure is more affordable than older methods. "First, it solves the problem in in fewer sessions," says Sherr. "Also, I didn't buy the equipment; I lease it only on days when I schedule plantar wart removal."

At $160,000, the pulsed dye laser device is too steep for most surgeons, dermatologists and others who offer outpatient laser therapy. "Laser technology changes rapidly," says Sherr. It's more economical to lease the latest equipment than to replace it every two to three years. "Medical Laser Technologies of Salem NH. Provider of medical laser equipment leases the advanced technology to physicians who treat warts and vascular lesions in their offices.

Health insurance and Medicare cover the doctor's fee, but not all companies pay for use of the new laser.

Life is good for Meg and Eric these days. Before their plantar warts were treated successfully last July, Meg and Eric were in misery. "Before every step was painful says Eric" I just about got through it every day". "Then, at home, I just stayed off my feet." Now, thanks to new laser technology I enjoy active, pain-free life. Meg is grateful as well happily wearing her new stylish shoes.

Revolutionary Treatment for Warts

Flashlamp Pulsed Dye Laser for Treatment of Recalcitrant and Periungal Verrucae.
Flashlamp Pulsed Dye Laser for the effective treatment of warts Every year 3.5 million people in the United States are treated for verrucae, or warts. Clinical studies have proven that laser treatment or recalcitrant (resistant) warts is successful where treatment with acids, cryogenics, chemical agents, and surgical excision have failed. In one study, over two-thirds or patients treated had their warts successfully removed in as few as two treatments. Because there is no open wound and minimal pain following the procedure, patients can resume their active lifestyles immediately.

How this treatment works
Treatment works by selective absorption of laser energy by the blood supply which feeds the wart. The treated area then separates from the dermis and gradually sloughs off. Depending on the size and type of wart, some conditions will respond to the very first treatment. However, most will require additional treatment sessions. Your physician will assess whether further treatment is necessary. What to expect after treatment There may be minor discomfort after the treatment, however, most patients are able to return to normal daily activities almost imediately. You will experience some temporary discoloration of the skin at the treatment site. Over the 24 hours following laser exposure, the gray discoloration will darken and persist for up to 2-3 weeks.

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