By Hilary Dartt
As an obstetrician and gynecologist in practice for twenty-five years, Melinda Martin, MD, said she has always had a strong desire to “help patients through and through,” from celebrating the joy of growing a family to counseling patients who are struggling with various challenges.
To that end, Dr. Martin has recently added three new services to her practice: the MonaLisa Touch® procedure, the SculpSure Body Sculpting Laser®, and the DYSIS® Colposcope.
The MonaLisa Touch®
The MonaLisa Touch® is a laser treatment designed to improve gynecological health. It helps restore the vaginal tissue to a pre-menopausal state, although it works for all women affected by declining estrogen, including menopausal women and those who are breastfeeding.
“It’s amazing how many patients have said this treatment has been life-changing for them,” Dr. Martin said. “It helps significantly with painful intercourse, in terms of lubrication and the overall sensation.”
In addition, MonaLisa Touch® has been shown to improve incontinence symptoms, including both stress and urge, and a skin condition known as Lichen Sclerosis, which can cause itching and thinning of the vulva’s tissue.
The MonaLisa Touch® procedure comprises three five-minute treatments, spaced six weeks apart, with booster treatments once a year, Dr. Martin said. The treatments are not painful, and patients typically report seeing results within a week or two.
“It’s truly, truly amazing,” Dr. Martin said. “People have had wonderful results.”
The SculpSure® Body Sculpting Laser
Even with diet and exercise, stubborn fat can feel impossible to lose. The SculpSure® Body Sculpting Laser is an FDA-cleared, light-based body contouring technology that targets and destroys fat in problem areas such as the belly, love handles, back, and thighs, helping one achieve a slimmer appearance. Both men and women have seen great results with this technology.
SculpSure® can help eliminate fat safely in just 25 minutes per treatment area, and doesn’t harm surrounding muscle or tissue. Because the procedure requires no post-treatment downtime, Dr. Martin said, people undergoing this treatment can resume normal daily activities right away.
The SculpSure® procedure requires a series of two to three twenty-five–minute treatments, four to six weeks apart, and patients see results between six and twelve weeks after they begin. Designed for women with a body mass index of thirty or below, the FDA-cleared SculpSure® Body Sculpting Laser is “like a noninvasive liposuction” treatment that uses laser and heat to kill as many as twenty-four percent of fat cells each treatment. A doctor can use SculpSure® anywhere on a patient’s body, although the most common areas are the abdomen, hips, and flank (“love handles”).
Dr. Martin said she hears from many women who struggle to lose that last bit of weight after giving birth, even with exercise and healthy eating. It can be frustrating and disheartening for them, she said, and the SculpScure® Body Sculpting Laser can provide relief.
SculpSure® is a more recent alternative to CoolSculpting, Dr. Martin said. Because it uses heat instead of freezing, it is more effective, resulting in a more natural look at the completion of the treatment. Fat cells are killed by the heat and then eliminated by the lymphatic system.
Because the procedure is as effective for men as it is for women, Dr. Martin offers it to men, too, and typically accommodates them with after-hours and weekend appointments.
“SculpSure® is a great alternative to traditional, more invasive means of body contouring,” Dr. Martin said.
It’s been increasingly in the forefront, featured on “The Doctors,” “The Housewives,” “New Beauty,” and Times Square.
The DYSIS® Colposcope
The DYSIS® Colposcope is a minimally-invasive tool for obtaining accurate information about a woman’s cervix, and doctors use it on patients who have abnormal Pap smear test results.
Dr. Martin said her DYSIS® Colposcope—a high-resolution digital colposcope that measures and maps pre-cancers—is one of just a few in Arizona, and on the West Coast. Its job is to provide a map of the cervix that helps doctors detect disease. The map guides doctors in determining the best next steps, if necessary, in treatment.
Treating Patients as She’d Like to be Treated
Dr. Martin said she strives to provide personal service to her patients, including a full range of OB/GYN offerings: pregnancy care, well woman exams, family planning, hormone replacement therapy, and more.
“My practice is really gratifying,” she said. “This is a happy field of medicine.”
Dr. Martin loves getting to know her patients, and working with a great staff. As part of a smaller practice—she’s the only doctor and has a Nurse Practitioner and a Physician’s Assistant on staff—there’s a unique opportunity to really get to know the patients.
And, she said, “It is a privilege and an honor to get to be part of people’s lives.”
Dr. Martin said people need not be current patients to have the MonaLisa Touch® or SculpSure® Body Sculpting Laser treatments; they can just call her office to make an appointment.
Dr. Martin has offices in Prescott (at 907 Ainsworth Drive) and Prescott Valley (at 7750 E. Florentine Road, Suite A). Reach both offices at 928.777.0070. For more information, visit https://www.drmelindamartin.com.