I had my first Forever Young BBL yesterday!! I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get this treatment. I just kept putting it off because I have melasma. For those of us with melasma, you have to pre-treat with hydroquinone for 4 weeks.
Why? The BBL (Broadband Light) is light-based and also heats up the skin. Heat and light can be triggers for melasma. The HQ suppresses the melasma and keeps it from becoming aggravated during the treatment.
This pre-treatment, and the fact that you can’t have a tan at the time of treatment, are the main reasons I’ve put it off for so long. But my upcoming wedding has lit a fire under me and I’m ready to get some treatments!
Kit treated my face, neck and chest, as well as my hands. The Forever Young involves three different “passes”….each pass treats a different issue. When we say “pass”, we mean the time it takes for Kit to glide the handpiece once over the entire treatment area. She will do this three times, with each pass addressing something different: red pigment, brown pigment, collagen stimulation/skin tightening.
The Forever Young BBL is also the only treatment that has been proven to actually reverse the aging process of the skin. There is a study from Stanford University (see below to read the article) that proves that having Forever Young BBL treatments at least two times per year can alter genes to cause skin cells to behave younger: producing more collagen and elastin. I’m very on board with this! I’ve included some before and afters that show skin changes over the period of ten years.
Does the BBL hurt? Nope! You don’t even numb for it. The portion that treats red pigmentation does feel a little like being snapped with a rubber band, but it was super short. And the skin tightening can feel hot, but Kit gave me the chiller to hold so I could blow cold air on my face.
I really don’t have too much pigment to pull off my face, but my chest sure does. I can’t wait to see results. I just recently ran across a picture of what I looked like after my first (and only other) photofacial, which I had 6 years ago, and my face looked like a chocolate chip cookie! So much pigment came off! (We say it looks like a chocolate chip cookie because the visible sun damage becomes darker after the photofacial and flakes off over the period of about a week, so your skin looks like it has a bunch of small dark spots). But that’s what the first treatment is always like: the majority of your visible sun damage will be removed with that first treatment. I guess I’ve been good at wearing my sunscreen these last few years because there was very little pigmentation that came up on my face this time. My chest is a different story though – definitely lots of darker spots right now.
The best time to do your BBL treatment is when you will not be in the sun. You cannot be tan at the time of treatment (because BBL seeks out pigment) and you should not be out in the sun afterwards so your skin can heal. If you avoid the sun year round you can certainly do the treatment in the summer, but for many, the fall is the best time to schedule your photofacial.
I’m mainly doing the Forever Young BBL before my wedding to get the anti-aging benefits rather than removing pigment, but it will be nice to have any residual sun damage lifted before my big day😊
STANFORD STUDY:
Stanford University Study Finds Evidence that BroadBand Light Treatment Promotes Youthful Skin on a Molecular Level: Gene expression of aged skin more closely resembles young skin with the use of Sciton BroadBand Light treatment
PALO ALTO, Calif. – A new study recently published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology shows that Sciton BroadBand Light (BBL™) treatments can change the expression of genes associated with the aging process to more closely resemble young skin. The study supports the hypothesis that regulators of aging can be altered in human skin using BBL technology to provide a functional change, rather than just a cosmetic mimic of youthful appearance. BBL treatments promote the appearance of youthful skin.
This study reveals that the appearance of younger skin may be due to the differences observed in gene expression patterns of aged skin becoming more like young skin. Treatments from the study were performed on the FDA-cleared Sciton Joule using the BBL module. Led by dermatologist Dr. Anne Lynn S. Chang of the Stanford University School of Medicine, the study (“Rejuvenation of Gene Expression Pattern of Aged Human Skin by BroadBand Light Treatment”) reveals the molecular changes that are induced by BBL, a popular treatment made by Sciton for improving the appearance of acne, sun spots, freckles and vascular conditions. BBL treatments are requested by patients for promoting a more youthful and rejuvenated appearance. Previous studies have shown that animal models can exhibit gene expression changes to become more youthful. Dr. Chang’s study is the first to show a similar correlation in human skin treated with BBL. “As an industry, to find a clinically sound solution for human anti-aging is critical,” said Dr. Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas, board certified dermatologist, attending physician at Lenox Hill Hospital and Yale/New Haven VA Hospital, and Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale University School of Medicine. “As a practicing physician in the field of dermatology, it is exciting to know there is a safe, light based treatment with groundbreaking clinical evidence supporting anti-aging and the reversal of skin damage available to our patients.”
An additional study, submitted for publication by Dr. Patrick H. Bitter, Jr. of Advanced Aesthetic Dermatology, a well-known dermatologist and co-author of the JID study, takes this groundbreaking research further and explores the practical application and patient results of BBL treatments. Dr. Bitter’s study focuses on the ability to improve the appearance of aging skin with long-term and regular interval treatments with BBL. BBL is not FDA cleared for changing gene expression or anti-aging. “The JID study is an important first step to prove that BBL treatments are a viable option for anti-aging,” said Dr. Bitter. “In my upcoming study, we provide clinical evidence on patients who have had BBL and have enjoyed younger looking skin over the long-term. I look forward to sharing these demonstrated results with my colleagues and patients worldwide in the near future.” “As the developer of the BBL technology, Sciton remains committed to investments not only in the equipment but in the science required to inform the development of meaningful applications for it. The BBL has an unsurpassed reputation for delivering clinically important results,” said Sciton co-founder and President, Dan Negus, Ph.D. “These basic science and clinical biomedical studies demonstrate another important validation for the dermatologic community of the sound scientific basis of the BBL technology and the results it produces.” The study’s additional authors are Dr. Howard Y. Chang and Nicole A. Rapicavoli, both of Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, and Dr. Kun Qu and Dr. Meihong Lin, both of Stanford University.
About Sciton: Sciton is committed to providing best-in-class laser and light source solutions for medical professionals who want exceptional durability, performance and value. Sciton offers superior medical devices for fractional and full-coverage skin resurfacing, superficial and deep skin peeling, hair removal, phototherapy, wrinkle reduction, laser-assisted lipolysis, treatment of vascular and pigmented lesions and varicose veins, nail fungus, scar reduction and acne treatment.