How much downtime is there really?

Two to three days where you look like you caught the sun, followed by very fine shedding. Makeup covers it from day two. It is not a treatment to have the day before an event, and it is not two weeks indoors either.

Because each session treats a fraction of the skin. Treating all of it at once would mean an ablative laser and weeks of healing. Three or four fractional sessions add up to the same resurfacing with days of recovery instead.

Can I have it in summer?

Summer treatment is possible but it is not the best plan. Sun exposure before a session raises the risk of pigment change, and sun exposure after it can undo the result. October to April is the straightforward window in Montréal.

Is it safe on darker skin?

LaseMD Ultra can be, with the right settings and a conservative plan — and it is exactly the case where the settings matter most, because the wrong ones cause lasting pigment change. Your skin type is assessed before anything is chosen. On some skin types we will recommend a different treatment, and we will say so.

The sensation is warm and prickling rather than sharp, with cold air blowing throughout. Numbing cream is applied for half an hour first. Most people describe the face as tolerable and the neck as more sensitive.

Why treat the neck with the face?

Because treating only the face can leave a visible line at the jaw, where resurfaced skin meets skin that was not. If the sun damage runs onto the neck, treating both is usually the better plan.

Laser · Performed by our nurse

LaseMD Ultra

A laser for brown spots, uneven tone and rough skin texture on the face, neck and hands. It works on tiny columns of skin at a time, so you look sunburnt for two or three days, and the result builds over three or four sessions.

From$300per session

See how it works

At a glance

Appointment

1hour

Most of it is numbing.

Sessions

3–4typical

Four weeks apart.

Visible recovery

2–3days

Red, then like light sunburn.

First change

2–4weeks

Tone before texture.

Season

Oct–Apr

Sun exposure works against it.

A woman with silver-blonde hair in a black shirt, her skin even in tone.

What changes

Tone first. Texture takes longer.

The brown marks go before the surface smooths. Both are the same treatment, on different schedules.

01
Two or three days looking sunburnt.
02
Then the skin sheds, very finely.
03
At a month, brown marks have lifted.
04
Texture keeps improving for months.

How it works

It treats columns, not surfaces.

An ablative laser removes the whole surface of the skin and takes weeks to heal. A fractional laser divides its energy into thousands of microscopic columns, treating a fraction of the area and leaving the skin between the columns completely intact. Those untouched bridges are what the healing runs from, which is why recovery is days rather than weeks.

LaseMD Ultra is non-ablative: the columns are heated rather than removed, so the surface stays closed. Each session treats a different fraction, which is why it is given as a series — three or four sessions add up to a full resurfacing that no single safe session could achieve.

Close view of clear, even skin on the cheek in raking sun.

01
The damage sits shallow
Sun damage, pigment and rough texture live in the upper layers of the skin.
02
The laser makes columns
Thousands of microscopic heated columns, with untouched skin in between.
03
The skin replaces them
Healing runs from the intact bridges outward, replacing the treated columns with new tissue.

A woman with her chin lifted, face, neck, décolletage and hand in warm light.

Areas treated

Where it goes.

Priced by how much is covered. A small area is anything up to about the size of both cheeks.

01
Full face
02
Neck
03
Face and neck together
04
Cheeks only
05
Around the mouth
06
Décolleté
07
Back of the hands

What to expect

Worse before better, for three days.

The recovery is predictable and short, but it is real. Plan the week around it.

Day 0
The session
The skin is red and hot, like a strong sunburn. This is expected and settles overnight.
Day 1 to 3
Sandpaper
The skin feels rough and looks bronzed, then sheds very finely. Makeup can go on from day two.
Week 2 to 4
Tone lifts
Brown marks fade first. This is usually the change people notice in a mirror.
Month 3 to 6
Texture follows
Collagen laid down after each session keeps improving the surface long after the last one.

Illustration. Not a patient photograph. Results vary.

Your visit

One appointment, about an hour.

The laser pass itself is fifteen to twenty minutes. The rest is numbing and cooling.

01
First 15 minutes
The evaluation
Your skin type, your history of pigmentation and your sun exposure all change the settings. This is the part that makes it safe.
02
Before the first pass
The plan and the price
Which areas, how many sessions, and the cost of the series, agreed in writing.
03
30 minutes
Numbing
Topical anaesthetic under occlusion. This is the longest part of the appointment.
04
15 to 20 minutes
The laser
Warm, prickling, with cold air throughout. Then a cooling mask and sunscreen before you leave.

Tatiana Zingan, nurse at Clinique Medix.

Who performs it

Performed by our nurse.

Laser settings are a medical decision. The same device on the same setting suits one skin type and causes lasting pigment change on another. Your skin is assessed before the first session, and every treatment is performed by our nurse, Tatiana Zingan, following a protocol overseen by our medical director, in a licensed medical clinic.

Tatiana Zingan

Nurse Clinician

Pricing

The price, agreed before anything starts.

What it costs, and what the figure is counted in. The plan and the price are written down and agreed at your evaluation, before any treatment begins.

Small areaUp to about the size of both cheeks — around the mouth, the hands, a single region.	$300per session
NeckThe neck alone. Thinner skin than the face, and treated more conservatively.	$300per session
Full faceHairline to jaw, including the nose and around the eyes.	$500per session
Face and neckTreated together so the two do not end up different colours — the usual reason to do both.	$750per session

Most plans are three to four sessions; the number is agreed at the evaluation.

Prices are before taxes and may change without notice. Results vary from one person to another. A medical evaluation is required before any treatment.

Preparation and aftercare