Portrait

The Portrait is a plasma skin resurfacing device that uses heat directly without the application of a laser or intense pulse light device to resurface the skin. As previously described, nitrogen plasma (a superheated, ionized version of nitrogen gas) is directed onto the skin through a hand piece. The energy in the nitrogen plasma is liberated upon contact with the skin and nitrogen gas is harmlessly released into the atmosphere. The depth of penetration of the heat is dependent on the energy selected by the laser surgeon – the higher the energy, the deeper the depth of treatment. Regardless of the energy chosen, the epidermis remains intact, thus, no open wound is created.

The patients can be treated on the face, neck, chest, arms, and hands. There are 3 different treatment protocols. The high-energy treatment protocol can only be used on the face. The patients are treated using only a topical anesthetic. The overlying epidermis becomes light brown or bronze in color and will peel off after 4-7 days. The patients can expect improvement in the pigmentation of their skin, the appearance of the texture and wrinkles, and over a course of 6-12 months, some tightening of the skin, especially around the eyes.

The "medium treatment" involves a series of 3 treatments over a two month period. A lighter energy is used and, as a result, it has a shorter "downtime" by several days and can be used on all the areas described above - face, neck, chest, arms, and hands.

The "plasma express" treatment is a very light treatment that requires multiple treatments, but has little to no downtime.

In our experience, the Portrait and plasma skin resurfacing technology result in a significant improvement in the appearance of the patients skin on and off the face and competes very satisfactorily with other resurfacing technologies. Also, one additional unique aspect about Plasma is how it can be used around the upper and lower eyelids, achieving significant skin tightening.