Lasers are a popular choice for skin rejuvenation and offer a wide variety of solutions for many skin conditions in both women and men. Commonly used to treat sun-damage, pigmentation, get rid of wrinkles, and skin irregularities. Fraxel and laser resurfacing and be beneficial for pre-cancerous actinic keratosis and as part of a preventative approach for someone that has had skin cancer. Laser Hair removal is another treatment effective for face and body hair that has some pigment. Very light hair or grey, unfortunately, does not respond to laser treatments. This type of treatment is not surgery and does not require anesthesia or have a long recovery so you can get back to your regularly scheduled life quickly. Most treatments have minimal downtime except for skin resurfacing taking on average 5-7 days of recovery time.
TYPES OF LASERS USED FOR SKIN AND HAIR REMOVAL
With all the types of devices available this can get confusing for patients trying to narrow down the best choice for your specific condition. Here is a rundown of what we offer and what it’s used for:
- Fraxel Dual: Has two wavelengths, 1927 for more superficial pigment, pores, fine lines, and precancerous lesions and a shorter wavelength; 1550 is a longer wavelength targeting the dermis stimulating collagen production to treat deep wrinkles and scars. We can use both wavelengths in one treatment. This is a popular treatment for patients who have had a lot of sun exposure when younger and have had precancerous lesions. Fraxel Dual is non-ablative.
- V-Beam, Pulsed Dye Laser: For anti-redness. Treats superficial redness like spider veins on the cheeks, nose, and chin. The skin disorder rosacea has similar characteristics and patients can be bothered by flushing and more pronounced redness. V-Beam is an excellent adjunct to treating rosacea helping some of the symptoms. Cherry angioma, they look like red dots and can show up anywhere. Menopausal women may notice an increase on the body. Scar suppression for post-surgical scars or injuries, burns, and superficial bruising. Post filler patients appreciate a V-Beam treatment if they get a darker bruise. The pulsed dye laser is non-ablative.
- GentleLase, Alexandrite: This is for the treatment of pigmentation and can be used on darker skin types. Other uses are age spots, vascular lesions, venous lakes, facial veins that are more purple-blue in color and hair removal. The GentleLase can be used for hair removal on patients with darker skin. There can be safety reasons with darker skin so this skin type needs to understand what laser is safe to use. This is non-ablative.
- Laser Dynamic Therapy: LDT is for the prevention of precancerous and skin cancer. It can also be used as a treatment for acne and sebaceous hyperplasia. LDT is Similar to another treatment called PDT (photodynamic light therapy) where a topical medication is applied, left on the skin for 1-3 hours then light activated by the VBeam. The VBeam has the additional cosmetic benefit of reducing redness often associated with sun-damaged skin and acne.
- Total FX, Laser Resurfacing: Also referred to Co2 full face resurfacing is for wrinkles, especially deeper lines of the face, lip lines (smoker’s lines), pigmentation and sun damage. It’s especially good for remodeling scars from cystic acne or injury. Patients that have undergone eyelid surgery and still have crepe skin will benefit from resurfacing because there is a tightening effect. Full-face resurfacing patients also receive some tightening benefits. Total FX uses different wavelengths and is also called Active FX and Deep FX. This treatment can be done on the neck and chest as part of a rejuvenation program and body. This is ablative laser so there is downtime from 3 to 7 days or more.
HOW DO LASERS WORK?
Lasers work by emitting energy a beam of light in a single wavelength of color. Some devices use multiple wavelengths to treat different depths in the skin. Your skin pigment cells are located at a different depth than spider veins and collagen is deeper in the dermis. The other popular type of laser is Fractional laser. Fractional lasers like Fraxel and Total FX treat only a “fraction” of the skin’s surface by emitting tiny microbeams vs a single beam of light.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NON-ABLATIVE VS. ABLATIVE LASER?
Non-ablative laser uses heat without injuring the top layer of the skin to produce new collagen in the deeper skin tissue. An ablative laser removes the top layer of the skin and is used to treat deeper wrinkles, scars and pigmentation. Ablative laser can have a skin tightening effect in addition to smoothing the skin. There is more downtime with ablative laser but only one treatment is needed, non-ablative may take multiple treatments to achieve the desired result.
LASER DERMATOLOGY
Lasers in dermatology work well in tandem because patients often start by going to the dermatologist when a skin concern appears. Combining medical treatment and the right laser can provide better results in less time than a singular approach. This includes scar suppression for post-surgical scars that can be one of the concerns patients have, especially in visual areas like the face. Other things to consider are training and level of expertise when it comes to laser safety. Dr. Michalak has had extensive training in lasers and has the staff so our goal is to provide results in the safest manner possible.