Guide on Laser Treatments

It is a known fact that skin is the largest organ of our body, and the most visible. It performs various functions, from sense to protection. Skin also tolerates the chaos and pollution in the environment, along with the usage of harsh products like make-up and other products. One interesting thing to note about skin is that if there is any deficiency in the body or in the case of ageing, there is a direct impact on the condition of the skin. People can suffer from many skin conditions, including blemishes, acne, wrinkles, etc. Even though it is true that make-up, anti-ageing products, medicines, etc. can reduce these problems by either camouflaging them or improving the condition, there are many things they cannot hide without becoming cumbersome and more harmful. This is when people take the help of laser treatments.

What are laser treatments?

Before moving ahead to the types of laser treatments, it is important to understand what a laser treatment for skin is.

Lasers are essentially high intensity light, which focus on small spots with high energy. The laser beam that comes out of the lasers can vapourize or ablate skin tissues of that area in order to fix wrinkles, scars, seal blood vessels or cut skin tissue. The broad spectrum of the Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) can specifically treat blood vessels and cases of pigmentation.

What are the skin conditions that laser treatments can fix/treat?

1. Unwanted hair can be removed by laser treatment, thus reducing its frequency and growth to a minimal amount.
2. Tattoos that are no longer relevant are removed by laser treatment as they are permanent in nature and this is the only way they can be erased.
3. Skin conditions like age spots, fine lines and wrinkles that appear with ageing can also be resolved with the help of laser treatments.
4. Laser treatment for stretch marks has been found to be effective when it comes to getting rid of stretch marks and other scars on the skin. Even brown spots and uneven skin colour can be fixed with the help of these treatments.
5. Whether it is vascular lesions, skin tightening or pucker marks, all these problems can be resolved with the help of relevant and appropriate laser treatments

Types of Laser Treatments

The wavelength, peaks of the laser light, pulse durations and how the skin targeted absorbs the light are the various factors that determine the type of laser treatment to be used for a particular condition.

1. Carbon Dioxide Laser

First introduced during the late 60’s, this treatment is still being used for rejuvenating skin. However, due to the various side effects, it has now been substituted with fractional mode laser, which has lesser side effects and shorter recovery time. The skin conditions for which this treatment is used are skin cancer, acne scars, birthmarks, deeply set wrinkles, saggy skin, moles, warts, etc.

1. Erbium Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet (Er:YAG)

This treatment helps in removal of surface-level and lines which are moderately deep in nature. It also treats wrinkles on face, hands, neck and chest, making sure that there is minimal burning of surrounding tissues. This treatment is used mainly to cure pigmentation problems, acne scars, sun damage, fine lines, and moles.

1. Pulsed Dye Laser

This treatment works by directly targeting the blood vessels in order to shrink them and make the skin less red. Used like a rubber band snap, it can be used for any area on the face and body. The sessions involved in this treatment are around three to five, and the result is permanent. It can be used to fix spider veins, birthmarks, rosacea, broken capillaries, stretch marks, vascular lesions, and fine lines.

1. Nd: Yag Laser

Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet is a crystal, which is often used as a medium for solid-state lasers. These lasers emit a wavelength of high-energy light to fix skin conditions by producing heat and killing cells that are diseased. It helps to cure skin conditions like vascular lesions, pigmented lesions and spider veins.