I have worked at Rocky Mountain Laser College for almost eight years now, and I get these same questions a lot: Is this laser clinic good? Is this laser good?  There are two majors things I tell my clients and students to look for when picking a laser clinic.

  1. Do they have a laser for your skin type? This probably the most important question to ask because there are different lasers for different skin types. Light skin clients are always the easiest to treat since there is no competing chromophore (tan) to accelerate. A client with darker skin needs to be a more careful. If you are receiving hair removal, you are going to want to be treated with a 1064nm Nd:YAG, and never get treated with an IPL. An IPL cannot distinguish between your tan and the color of your hair, which can lead to over treating and burns.
  2. Where have the technicians been trained? This is a major question in my mind. Did they go to a real school like Rocky Mountain Laser College where the student is there for more than a few hours or a few days, and actually have to pass a test to graduate? Being trained by a sales rep for one day is not enough. I often give this example: “You don’t go to a dealership to buy a car and have the salesman teach you how to drive.”

So be sure to ask these questions: What type of laser does the facility have and is it good for my skin type? Next, ask where they were trained…or even if they have been trained.