Natchez &8212; The Laser Clinic is something new for Natchez, conceived by Dr. Blane Mire, a physician with Internal Medicine Associates, and his wife, Jennifer Mire, a registered nurse.

The clinic offers &8220;advanced aesthetics and skin rejuvenation at sensible prices,&8221; Jennifer Mire said. That includes FDA-approved laser methods of permanent hair reduction, spider vein reduction and facial rejuvenation procedures.

The Mires attended a conference at which classes on rejuvenology were available. That piqued their interest.

Blane Mire, medical director of the clinic and an internal medicine specialist with a busy practice, said &8220;people in the last 10 years have had concerns about lasers &8212; getting burned and scarred. But you don&8217;t see that anymore. They&8217;ve really narrowed down the area the light beam attacks. They&8217;ve been able to become selective.&8221;

The light can be narrowed to a certain pulse and a certain length to go after a particular hair follicle, he said.

Rejuvenology, the art and science of appearance, health and performance, is a fairly new field &8212; so new that there is no formal accreditation to date. &8220;We went to seminars and workshops,&8221; Blane Mire said. &8220;There&8217;s no actual accreditation. You have to go out and do your own.&8221;

There is an American College of Rejuvenology, however, and the Mires have become members.

The lasers used by the Natchez clinic are unique because they have a cooling device, he said. &8220;We made sure we went with the most up-to-date treatment.&8221;

The link between how people look and feel and how they maintain their health is clear, he said. &8220;If you feel better about yourself, you reduce stress; you take better care of yourself.&8221;

The noninvasive treatment is affordable and safe, Blane Mire said.

&8220;We like the idea of being able to bring other options in health care to Natchez. Jennifer with her extensive experience in nursing said she&8217;d like to pursue it with me. We think it&8217;s going to be a huge part of the future of medicine.&8221;

Once the community learns about the laser technology and embraces it, more technology may come to Natchez. &8220;This is straight-forward and high-tech,&8221; he said. &8220;And because of the selectivity, it is very safe and effective.&8221;

The procedures include these:

4 Removing dark hairs on most body surface areas, including the face. The machine delivers a gentle beam of red laser light to the skin, destroying actively growing hair follicles.

Most people experience little discomfort, Jennifer Mire said. &8220;It&8217;s a little like popping a rubber band.&8221;

The treatment is quick and therefore results in minimum redness. &8220;It&8217;s between 88 and 92 percent hair reduction with four to eight treatments,&8221; she said. &8220;It varies with different people.&8221;

Why does it not guarantee 100 percent? &8220;Some of our hair lies in a resting phase for years, and things such as hormones, stress or even medications cause air to grow.&8221;

4Spider vein reduction can be performed on veins less than 3 milimeters in size, Jennifer Mire said. The laser light targets the oxyhemoglobin in the vein, causes the vessel to constrict and closes it off. &8220;Without the blood flow, it will close down and be absorbed into your body,&8221; she said.

The treatments are quick and result in little redness of the skin. &8220;It doesn&8217;t happen overnight. It can&8217;t always be removed with only one treatment.&8221;

She described the varying end pieces that she puts on the machine according to which procedure she performs.

4Facial rejuvenation is a procedure in which the skin is tightened, causing fine lines and wrinkles to diminish.

&8220;It targets the dermal layer of our skin where collagen is produced,&8221; Jennifer Mire said. &8220;This is a procedure requiring a topical numbing cream, but there is no down time and no after effects

4Another procedure employs intense pulsed light, known in the rejuvenology circles as IPL. Very similar to laser treatment, the pulsed light reduces redness, spider veins, freckles and sun spots on the ace and other areas.

&8220;It stimulates collagen production, giving a firming effect to the skin,&8221; Jennifer Mire said. &8220;The facial treatment also minimizes fine lines, wrinkles and pore sizes. It&8217;s great for patients with rosacea.&8221;

4The clinic also consults with clients on skin care and can prescribe Obagi skin care products for men and women.

&8220;This is a prescriptive skin care system,&8221; Jennifer Mire said. &8220;A physician has to prescribe it. It&8217;s good for brown spots, fine lines, stimulating collagen production and clearing up skin.&8221;

The products are for any age but not for everyone, she said. Prescription follows an evaluation by the physician.

Training for the procedures will be ongoing, Jennifer Mire said. &8220;This will be continuing education for us. Once every two months or so, we&8217;ll attend seminars to learn the latest techniques.&8221;

The Laser Clinic is located within Internal Medicine Associates, 151 Jefferson Davis Blvd., Suite F; the telephone numbers are 601-870-9222 and 601-446-7343, extension 3. The clinic offers a free consultation on the first visit.