Laser tattoo removal is often associated with youthful mistakes, unskilled body art, and memories perhaps better forgotten. But as tattoos become increasingly accepted in many cultures, the future of this technology may extend into new areas. For example, a new study has found that one popular form of laser acne treatment is also effective as a treatment for acne scarring.

Acne is the most common skin condition in the United States, affecting 40 million to 50 million Americans around the country. However, even after the disorder clears, many patients see evidence of their skin problems linger in the form of scars, which are often caused by repeated breakouts on one stretch of skin. Currently, acne scars are treated with fractional ablative lasers, but the procedure has its drawbacks: while patients will typically require only one treatment, the skin will take as long as a month to heal after the procedure, and even one treatment can be quite costly.

However, new research could offer some patients a preferable alternative: researchers at the Laser and Skin Surgery Center of New York found that a tool commonly used in laser tattoo removal, called a picosecond pulse duration laser, also had a significant impact on acne scars. After the study’s authors noticed that a patient undergoing a tattoo removal experienced a noticeable change in her stretch marks and scars, they tested the procedure on 17 patients with facial acne scars. The patients received six procedures that lasted between 10 and 15 minutes, with each session scheduled four to eight weeks apart. The study found that the patients’ scars had improved by 25 to 50% after their last treatment, with the results maintained three months after three months had passed. Moreover, the study reported that even the patients with extremely deep scars were satisfied or very satisfied with the effects of the treatment.

Despite the promise of the study, however, there is some question about the impartiality of its intentions. Cynosure, the company that makes the laser, was involved with the design of the study and also made payments to the two doctors, Jeremy A. Bauer and Roy G. Geronemus. Additionally, Geronemus sits on Cynosure’s medical advisory board. However, the company reportedly did not participate in the process of the research or collect, manage or interpret the data. Therefore, there is at least some reason to believe that the evidence has not been compromised.

While the dermatologists have cautioned that the picosecond pulse duration laser will not be the right option for all patients, they have suggested that it could be a helpful alternative for patients interested in a shorter healing time and a more gradual revitalization process. The picosecond pulse duration laser has also been shown to improve the texture and pigmentation of a patient’s skin, unlike fractional ablative laser treatment, which requires careful attention to ensure that the condition of the skin does not worsen. But ultimately, a doctor’s choice of treatment will depend on the patient, their skin type, their scars, and finally, their preferences. Fortunately, cost will likely not be a deciding factor between the two options: while individual treatments of picosecond pulse duration lasers cost less than fractional ablative laser treatments, the former will require several more treatments, which the researchers speculate will even out the different prices.

Picosecond pulse duration lasers do have some side effects: patients in the study reported some redness and swelling, which lasted from a few hours to two days after each application. However, the participants reported that the pain of the treatment only reached a 3 on a scale of 0-10, a promising detail given the famed discomfort of tattoo removal. Because of these benefits, Cynosure has reportedly submitted their treatment to the FDA to be approved as a treatment for acne scars. If you have this common skin ailment, picosecond pulse duration therapy could be a treatment option in your future.

Residents of the Buffalo area are accustomed to large amounts of snow and strong winds; however, this latest storm shook the region to its core.

A violent lake effect snow storm, dubbed the “Knife,” tore through the region earlier this week, leaving the area buried under several feet of snow. The storm wreaked havoc on the area, coming in so fast and with such ferocity that 150 vehicles, including a bus carrying Niagara University’s women’s basketball team, were trapped along a 132-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway.

Cars, trucks, and buses were stranded in nearly four feet of snow along a four-mile section near Buffalo. Some motorists were trapped in the paralyzing ordeal for over 20 hours — some up to 35 — waiting for help to come, but even emergency vehicles had difficulty navigating through the storm.

According to the State Department of Transportation, the Thruway may remain closed until at least Friday, while local officials continue to work with National Guard in order to coordinate disaster relief. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to visit the area in order to survey the damage.

However, Buffalonians are a hearty people, and they banded together to weather the storm. In South Buffalo, Brian Krzeminski watched as foot after foot of snow piled up in front of his convenience store. Working overnight, he served free coffee to pedestrians and motorists who in came in seeking warmth and protection from the storm. “There are people that came out to get a few things. We had some people who came in just to get a 30-pack of beer, which is kind of odd,” he said. “We’ve had EMTs whose ambulance got stuck. I’m constantly seeing cars get stuck.” 

Residents were encouraged to check on their elderly neighbors, and to bring them food if necessary, as Meals on Wheels was closed due to poor road conditions.

The storm has already claimed at least six lives, three of which were attributed to heart attacks. In the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg, firefighters had to carry a patient by foot 10 blocks to South Buffalo Mercy Hospital. Due to the several feet of snow that fell in South Buffalo, it was not possible to reach or leave the hospital by vehicle.

While it’s common to see a surge in emergency room patients during natural disasters and severe storms, urgent care centers often experience the same influx of patients. Urgent care has continued to play an essential role in the American healthcare system, with some facilities offering many of the same services as hospital emergency departments, but at a lower cost, since the average emergency room visit costs an average of $1,500, while the average cost of treatment at an urgent care center is under $150. 

Patients who are experiencing life-threatening health conditions, such as a heart attack due to overexertion while shoveling out from under a big storm, should still seek out emergency care.

The U.S. Postal Service recently experienced a cyber attack that may have exposed the private information of its over 800,000 employees — and the countless customers who made calls to its call center throughout the first eight months of 2014.

According to a Nov. 10 Reuters article, the Postal Service said in a statement that its employees’ compromised information could include “dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, beginning and end dates of employment and emergency contact information.”

“The intrusion is limited in scope and all operations of the Postal Service are functioning normally,” USPS spokesman David Partenheimer said of the data breach in a statement. Partenheimer also said the Postal Service will offer credit monitoring services to its employees at no charge for a year.

The Postal Service joins major retail entities like Target and the Home Depot, which have both fallen victim to similar wide-reaching data breaches that have impacted tens of millions of people in 2014. Small businesses are also becoming more common targets of cyber attacks, with a telling 57% of them reporting cyber breaches over the last few years.

Partenheimer explained in his statement that the breach was executed by a “sophisticated actor” who isn’t interested in identity theft or credit card fraud, while experts agreed that the Postal Service, which serves nearly all Americans and delivers billions of letters annually, made an attractive target, Reuters reports.

And because cyber breaches like this, in which employee data is compromised, typically serve as a precursor to a broader data attack that involves customers, it’s possible that this attack won’t be the last of its kind to affect the Postal Service.

The U.S. government has sought out more information on the attack to help the Postal Service prepare against the possibility of another data breach, according to Reuters, with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) asking Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe for more information on the specifics of the breach.

“The increased frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks upon both public and private entities highlights the need for greater collaboration to improve data security,” Cummings, the senior Democrat of the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote in a letter to Donahoe.