Serenity Pro From Candela Reduces Laser and IPL Treatment Pain

FDA-approved for pain reduction during laser or light-based aesthetic treatments, the Serenity Pro from Candela Corporation (Wayland, MA) uses a proprietary and patented technology called Pneumatic Skin Flattening (PSF) to reduce pain during such procedures without chilling the skin. The efficacy of the PSF technology is supported by a study in which it reportedly reduced the pain of hair removal treatment in 95% of subjects, as compared to conventional laser treatment using the conventional dynamic cooling device (DCD). (Bernstein EF. Pneumatic Skin Flattening Reduces Pain During Laser Hair Reduction. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. 2008; 40:183–187.) The study compared the technology — which generates a vacuum over the skin, and is followed by very fast suction and flattening of the skin against a Sapphire window — to the conventional DCD on pain during laser hair reduction treatment. This comparison was made during alexandrite or Nd:YAG laser treatment of the hair in the axillae of 40 volunteer subjects. The choice of laser for participants was determined by the physician based on its suitability for the patients with Fitzpatrick skin types I through V. Method In the study, 34 patients were were treated with a 755-nm, 3-millisecond pulse-duration alexandrite laser using fluences ranging from 16 to 20 J/cm2 and an 18-mm circular spot, and six were treated with the 1,064-nm laser with the same parameters but using fluences ranging from 22 to 26 J/cm2. One axilla of each subject was treated with the PSF device while the other was treated in the conventional manner using the DCD. Results were evaluated immediately following treatment. Additionally assessed was its impact on post-treatment effects of the treatments. Results: It was reported that 33 of 36 subjects treated with the alexandrite laser found the PSF side less painful, and six of seven patients treated with the Nd:YAG laser chose the PSF side as less painful than the side treated with the DCD. As for erythema, blinded evaluation of post-treatment photographs demonstrated a reduction in erythema on the PSF-treated side immediately post-treatment, and no difference in hair reduction 1 month following treatment.