Feeling nervous before your first visit is completely normal. At Erase & Embrace in Temecula, one of the best ways we’ve found to ease first-visit nerves is simply explaining what everything in the room does. Here are the five things clients ask about most.
1. Laser safety goggles: they protect your eyes
Laser light can damage the eyes, even when it’s pointed somewhere else. That’s why everyone in the room wears protective eyewear during laser treatments, including you and your specialist. The goggles are matched to the laser’s wavelengths, so they block the light that matters.
2. Topical numbing cream: it takes the edge off
Before many treatments, we apply a topical numbing cream to the area. Most clients describe laser treatment as a quick snap or a warm sting, and numbing makes it noticeably more comfortable.
3. The Zimmer chiller: loud, but your new best friend
The Zimmer chiller looks like a large machine with a hose and sounds a bit like a powerful hair dryer. It blows very cold air across your skin before, during and after laser pulses. Cooling the skin helps reduce discomfort and protects the surface of the skin from heat. Many first-timers are surprised by the noise and then end up loving it.
4. EXCEED microneedling: it builds new collagen
A microneedling device can look intimidating up close. EXCEED is a medical-grade microneedling device that creates tiny, controlled channels in the skin. Those micro-channels prompt your skin to produce new collagen over the following weeks and months, which can improve acne scars, fine lines and uneven texture. Numbing cream is applied first, and redness usually resembles a mild sunburn for a day or a few days.
5. The PicoWay laser: the ink’s worst nightmare
The PicoWay is the biggest machine in the room, and it’s usually the one people are most nervous about. It’s a picosecond laser, which means it delivers energy in trillionths of a second. That speed breaks tattoo ink and excess pigment into tiny particles, which your body clears over the following weeks. Read more about how laser tattoo removal works and why green and blue ink need special attention.
What happens at your first visit
- Consultation. We look at your tattoo or skin, review your health history and medications, and answer your questions.
- Photos. We take before photos to track your progress.
- Numbing. Topical numbing cream is applied when appropriate.
- Protection and cooling. Goggles go on and the Zimmer chiller starts.
- Treatment. Most laser treatments take just a few minutes, depending on the size of the area.
- Aftercare. We apply aftercare and walk you through what to expect over the next few weeks.
Tips for nervous first-timers
- Ask anything. No question is too small, and we’d rather you feel informed than anxious.
- Eat beforehand and stay hydrated, so you feel your best during your appointment.
- Wear loose, comfortable clothing that doesn’t rub the treatment area.
- Avoid tanning and protect the area from the sun before and after treatment.
- Tell us about medications such as isotretinoin (Accutane) or antibiotics, which can affect timing.
First laser treatment in Temecula
Erase & Embrace offers PicoWay laser tattoo removal, pico laser facials, EXCEED microneedling and laser hair removal in Temecula, serving Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore and the Temecula Valley. Every visit starts with a complimentary consultation.
If you have any other questions, feel free to contact our clinic at 951-540-6524.
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