No products in the cart.
Health and Wellness
New Treatment Available for Lichen Sclerosus at NBDPS- Anne Marie McNeill, MD PhD
New treatment available for Lichen Sclerosus at NBDPS
Not much has changed in the management of LS over the last 10 years. Luckily, most patients are managed well with topical treatments. However, some patients find this regimen annoying or not adequate. For those who are interested, there is a new treatment available for LS.
I have attached some abstracts from recent papers which summarize new findings. Briefly, several years ago, an old laser technology (fractionated CO2) was adapted to use on the vulva for “vulvar rejuvenation.” Amazingly, the same technology can be used in patients with vulvar LS. This has shown to improve the symptoms of LS, such as itching an pain. Further, the treatment has been shown to improve the skin appearance of LS, including skin color, elasticity and vascularity. Other studies have biopsied skin before and after laser treatment, and the treated skin did also show improvements in the changes of LS under the microscope.
Since this is a new treatment, I am not recommending that LS patients discontinue their topical treatments for LS. However, most LS patients after fractionated CO2 treatment to the vulva will be able to decrease the frequency of application of topical treatments and enjoy reduced itchiness and skin changes associated with LS.
The fractionated CO2 treatment is performed in office over a series of 3 treatments. Generally, one maintenance treatment will be done yearly. It is very tolerable with only topical anesthesia used and minimal downtime. The device is called the CO2RE, and use of the CO2RE on the vulvar area is termed a CO2RE (“core”) Intima treatment.
As you may know, I have had a long interested in vulvar dermatology. In residency, studied vulvar skin disease at St John’s Institute of Dermatology in London, and I attend vulvar dermatology meetings yearly and have been a involved with the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease for more than 10 years. During this time I have developed a large population of vulvar dermatology patients from near and far, with Lichen Sclerosus (LS) being one of the most common vulvar conditions that I see. It is great news to finally offer a new effective treatment for LS patients.
We have been offering the CO2RE Intima treatment since late last year and our patients have been impressed with the results. If you are interested in hearing more about CO2RE Intima treatments, we are having a “Pajama Party” event on Friday May 4th to discuss the procedure (rsvp to kerry@newportbeachdps.com if you are interested in attending). Or, schedule a consultation with Dr McNeill at your convenience. You can read more about the treatment here http://www.newportbeachdp