Controlled amplified light with a laser beam has led to various advanced medical treatment techniques. Depending on the type of laser, doctors can perform surgery with minimal blood loss and tissue damage, or they can improve skin tone and help people manage embarrassing cosmetic problems.
If you want to make your skin more beautiful without undergoing traditional surgery, you may find your answer with cosmetic laser treatment. Take a look at four ways laser treatment can improve your looks.
1. Acne Treatment
Skin blemishes often serve as a source of self-consciousness. The redness and pimples associated with acne can prove difficult to cover with makeup, while the makeup itself can worsen the problem by clogging pores. Medications can do much to clear up acne, but they may not eliminate the problem entirely.
Laser treatment doesn't necessarily clear up every kind of acne 100 percent, but multiple treatment sessions can produce dramatic improvements in your complexion, especially as part of a larger, multimodal treatment plan. The laser light helps your body fight acne bacteria for months at a time. Lasers can also remove acne scars.
2. Spider Vein and Rosacea Removal
Both spider veins and rosacea occur when normally invisible blood vessels near the surface of the skin decide to make an unwelcome appearance. Spider veins live up to their name by creating small, thin lines that resemble bits of spider web. Rosacea creates a larger, more diffuse area of redness on the cheeks and nose.
Thankfully, laser treatment can help you deal with either or both of these issues. In the case of spider veins, the laser energy collapses the tiny blood vessels so blood can no longer flow through them. The body then absorbs these blood vessels. Pulsed-dye lasers can lighten the redness and inflammation of rosacea.
Keep in mind that laser treatment works well on smaller spider veins, but not necessarily on larger ones. If you have large spider veins, you may want to pursue a chemical removal process called sclerotherapy instead. This technique uses injected substances to collapse the veins. Your doctor can advise you on which path to choose.
3. Wrinkles
When you think of cosmetic procedures for wrinkles, you may envision injected fillers, drugs such as Botox, or face-lift surgery. Although these techniques can all do a good job of reducing wrinkles, laser treatment offers a uniquely quick and convenient way to lighten wrinkles on the face, hands, or neck.
Laser treatment for wrinkles doesn't remove the topmost layer of skin, as chemical peels or other ablative treatments do. Instead, the laser energy penetrates the skin to stimulate the remodeling of collagen, the protein responsible for giving skin its firmness and flexibility.
4. Hyperpigmentation
Sometimes, areas of the skin can take on a darker coloration than the rest of the body, a problem known as hyperpigmentation. Common causes of hyperpigmentation range from hormonal changes during pregnancy (as in melasma) to age-related changes such as liver spots.
Traditional treatments to lighten or eliminate patches of hyperpigmentation include freezing, medications, chemical peels, and dermabrasion, depending on the underlying cause and the size of the lesions. Unfortunately, some of these techniques run the risk of scarring, infections, or long-term skin irritation.
Laser treatment can often deal with discoloration, not by removing it from the skin surface, but by disrupting the accumulation of melanin (your body's natural pigment) beneath the skin. You may need a few treatment sessions to achieve optimal results, but the treatments require little office time and no recovery downtime.
Ronald C. Barry, MD, can evaluate your particular skin challenge, determine whether laser treatment makes the most sense for it, and then administer that treatment with consummate skill.
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