BODY SYNC KNOWLEDGE BASE

THINKING THERAPISTS:  PCOS vs. LIGHT BASED TREATMENTS

©2009 Andrew Thompson

Hi A, how are you?  I'm just wondering if your able to give me any more information on treating clients who have/had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, just so I have a better understanding of it for concerned clients. Thank you T :)

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Hi T,

The issue with PCOS in regards to light-based treatments is twofold. First, PCOS causes radical hormonal shifts in the body, and second, it makes the body's immune systems work overtime to try to regulate those hormonal changes.

Sometimes the immune systems gets it right and bring the body back into balance (called homeostasis). People who have PCOS and say that they've had it for ten years etc without much trouble, fall into this category. In this instance, we could treat someone with PCOS if they give us a signed authority from their GP saying that the client is suitable for a light-based treatment.

Usually though, the immune systems get it wrong and over-compensate. People in this category experience all the usual symptoms of radical hormonal changes, eg facial hair, unexpected pigment marks etc. Unfortunately, these are also the people most likely to come to us for help.

The problem for people in this category, is that their immune systems aren't reacting properly. As a result, there is a very strong chance - 75% in overseas case studies - that the immune systems will also get it wrong in response to a light based treatment.

The issue isn't necessarily the heat generated by the treatment, but rather, the light. Even over-exposure to sunlight causes problems, such as hyper-pigmentation and premature skin aging. The heat however, has a secondary effect in that it damages surrounding cellular tissue, which is of course the purpose of having the treatment in the first place, and the factor that stimulates collagen renewal. But with the immune systems out of kilter, this usually positive factor becomes a negative.

In PCOS cases, the most common result from all the above factors, is that the body decides to over-compensate again, and will produce too much reparative material. It may actually stimulate new hairs to grow from cells that have lain dormant, eg the soft white facial fluff that might have stayed like that for life, becomes black and coarse, even if the client is blonde. The surrounding skin tissue can also become darker and thicker to help shield the target chromophores (melanin, haemoglobin, porphyrin) from future "attack".

The same applies to any other type of light-based treatment. A pigment treatment can make the mark become more resistant, a capillary treatment can make the lumen walls grow thicker and tougher, hair may suddenly appear in response to an unrelated treatment, or dormant porphyrin cells may produce an outbreak of acne.

ANY light based treatment, be it laser or pulsed light, can cause ALL of these problems, even if they didn't pre-present, and that's why we don't recommend SIPL treatments to clients with PCOS.

The best course of action for PCOS is medical. The client needs to be on the right medical treatment to bring their body's hormone levels under control, and usually once that's achieved, chances are that problems such as excessive hair growth and odd pigment marks will begin to reduce naturally.

Once the client has achieved that balance, and come to us with a signed authorisation from their treating GP, we can help tidy up what's left, assuming there are no other contraindications to treatment.

I hope this info helps.  All the best, A.

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