At 64, LuAnne was ready to address the sun damage and lip lines that no cream or serum could fix. That’s when she discovered the LaMiNa treatment, a three-step procedure performed by board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Brannon Claytor in Pennsylvania. “My original concerns were sun damage and just the overall condition of my skin, and lip lines were part of it,” she says. Combining CO2 laser resurfacing, microneedling and nanofat, the treatment promised to resurface her skin and soften lines.
Dr. Claytor explains that the CO2 laser is the “workhorse of perioral rejuvenation,” delivering deep tissue remodeling by vaporizing damaged skin layers. “Many people have tried other things such as fillers or different heat energy devices, but it’s really the resurfacing with that CO2 laser that helps the tissue remodeling,” he says. However, traditional laser treatments can be painful and have long recovery times. “That’s where microneedling and nanofat come in,” he explains. “By using microneedling immediately after the laser, we’re able to bypass the skin’s barrier and deliver nanofat directly to the deeper layers, accelerating healing and reducing discomfort.”
For LuAnne, the combination was transformative. After the laser and microneedling, nanofat—harvested from her own body through a small liposuction procedure—was applied to her skin. “The way he explains it to me is that your body realizes it’s your own fat, and somehow it heals it, and you just don’t feel that burning sensation at all,” she shares. “It felt so soothing like my skin recognized it immediately.”
Dr. Claytor explains that nanofat contains “extracellular matrix proteins and cytokines” that calm inflammation and promote faster recovery. LuAnne describes the recovery process: “The whole process of shedding your skin probably took about five days. I have to admit, when you first leave there, you look pretty scary. You’re kind of oozing some blood, and they put something on you that looks like Vaseline. You actually have to put that on for about five or six days. It keeps your skin moist, but it also helps with the shedding.” By day five, “all of that was off my face, and it was kind of like a bright pink. The texture of my skin was amazing. It was just so much better.”
Dr. Claytor emphasizes that this synergy of treatments not only rejuvenates the skin but also reduces downtime compared to standalone procedures. “When I apply the nanofat to the patient’s skin, you literally see it seep into their tissue like water on a wave that runs up on a beach and then soaks into the sand. The body recognizes nanofat as its own, which reduces swelling, redness and pain—it’s a game-changer in regenerative aesthetics,” he says.
Months later, LuAnne is thrilled with the results and plans to treat her neck and chest. “I had it done in March. I’d like to do it again sometime next year, and I would do the whole face, maybe even my neck and part of my chest,” she says. “It’s the best decision I’ve made for myself. I feel like me, only better.”
