Thursday 10 July 2014

Cosmetic Skin Lasers And Its Application In Dermatological Treatment

Lasers have become increasing in use as an alternative non-invasive treatment modality, especially in the field of Dermatology and Cosmetology. So let us know what exactly is Laser and how it can be employed in treatment of various conditions.

What is Laser? Laser Is an Acronym: Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is a source of a high intensity light and the following properties:

• It is Monochromatic, i.e., the light that is emitted has a single wavelength.

• It is Coherent, i.e., the light beam waves that that are emitted are in a single phase.

• Collimated, i.e., all the light beams emitted travel parallel to each other.

Laser Light gives us the capacity to focus a very high energy beam of light onto a small target spot.

What are Skin Laser treatments?

These are a group of treatments which are safe, effective and one the best nonsugical treatment methods for treating a wide spectra of varied skin conditions from anti-ageing (making the skin look younger), Pigmentation Removal (Treatment of Melasma), Open Skin pore treatment, Hair Removal, wrinkle removal, fine line removal, removal of vascular leasions of the skin( like Strawberry nevus, spider veins, Capillary hemangiomas), skin lightening, skink whitening, etc. It is also used as a synergistic of adjuvant treatment along with treamtns like Botox, Skin Chemical Peels, Fillers, Cosmetic surgeries etc.

Skin Laser treatments are also called as Photo rejuvenation. It treats Dermatoheliosis or Photo-ageing. Dermatoheliosis (Photo-ageing) are a group of characteristic changes that are seen on the skin due to a long standing exposure to UVA and UVB rays from the sun. It is the accelerated skin ageing caused due to a long term consistent exposure to the skin to UV light of approx. 300-400nm. It may be natural (sunlight) or Synthetic. It consists of signs like wrinkling of the facial skin. Skin laser treatment employs various different types of LIGHT for the treatment of this Photo-ageing.

How Is the Laser Light beam produced?

The laser light is produced an optical cavity containing a medium in solid state [Ruby, Neodymium:yttrium-aluminium-garnet(Nd:YAG), Alexendrite laser], Liquid State (pulsed dye laser) or gaseous state (Argon, Krypton, Carbon dioxide laser). What happens here is that there is excitation of the molecules of the medium resulting in photon emission when the medium retuns to a stable state. The wavelength of the light so produced depend on the medium that is used. It may be within the visible light spectrum (Violet 400nm to red 700nm) or it may be infrared light spectrum (wavelength more than 700nm)

How does the Laser helps in the treatment?

The vascular skin lesions which contains haemoglobin have a tendency to absorb visible light strongly at 418,542 and 577nm. While pigmented skin lesions have a capacity to absorb a wide range of wavebands from visible as well as infrared light due to presence of melanin in the skin lesion.

The infrared lasers are mostly destructive as the water present in and around the skin cells (as cells are composed of 70-90% water), absorbs them readily. Hence when the skin lasers are used the give rise to the formation of controlled wounds on the skin. This in turn encourages the skin to recover and heal itself by creating new cells. The photo-ageing of the skin in the form of wrinkles are removed to a great extent by this process. In this process the main objective is to aim at the target cell and destroy them leaving the surrounding tissues unharmed. For this purpose short pulses are used which minimizes the thermal injury thereby reducing cell damaging and subsequent scarring. During the whole process automated scanners are used which reduces the chances of overlapping of the areas that are treated.

What are the types of cosmetic skin lasers?

There are mainly two types of Skin Lasers

1. Ablative Lasers: These are the ones in which the lasers penetrate the skin below the epidermal layer.

2. Non-ablative Lasers: These are the ones in which the lasers do not penetrate the skin below the epidermal layer.

Let us know a little bit more about each of the subtypes of lasers.

Ablative Lasers:

Carbon dioxide (CO2) Laser:

Brands:

• Sharplan (It is based on old technology)
• SmartXide Dot

It is used in treating the following conditions:

• Acne scars and other skin scarring

• Warts

• Deep set wrinkles

• Saggy skin (due to its ability to promote collagen formation in the skin)

• Birth marks

• Skin Cancer

• Sun damage

• Skin tags

• Corn on feet

• Moles

It is not recommended to be used for Stretch marks.

Advantages/Disadvatages:

• Older CO2 lasers are more invasive hence it takes a longer time to heal also there is higher occurrence of red skin and scarraing.

• Fractional CO2 lasers generally require 2-3 weeks for the patient to recover.

• Asians or darker skin people generally have a higher incidence of hyper or hypo pigmentation post the treatment.

• The treatment is not recommended in patients with active acne lesions.

Erbium Laser:

Brands:

• Harmony Pixel Laser (Fractional erbium)

It is used in the following condtions:

• Fine Lines

• Acne Scars

• Skin Pigmentation

• Small to Moderate wrinkles

• Sun Damage

• Moles

Advantages/Disadvantages:

• This laser causes lesser burning of the surrounding skin tissues, as it has a lesser downtime than CO2.

• The recovery of the patient is usually 1-2 weeks.

• This laser can be used in people with a darker skin tone.

Non-ablative Lasers:

Pulsed-Dye Laser (PDL):

Brand:

• VBeam

It is used in the following conditions:

• Port wine stains

• Spider veins

• Rosacea

• Stretch marks

• Fine lines around eyes

• Vascular lesions

• Broken capillary

Advantages/Disadvantages:

• There are post-operative bruising very common.

• There are temporary changes in the pigmentation of the skin.

Nd:YAG Laser:

Brand:

• CoolGlide

• GentleYAG

• Laser Genesis

• CoolTouch

It is used in following conditions:

• Hair removal

• Tattoo removal

• Spider veins

• Skin Pigmentation

• Skin rejuvenation

Advantages/Disadvantages:

• Higher rate of recurrence in cases of treatment of vascular lesions

• Lower rate of success in cases of treatment of Skin related conditions

Alexendrite Laser

Brand:

• GentleLase

• EpiTouch Plus

It is used in Following condtions:

• Laser hair removal

• Tattoo removal

• Leg veins

Advantages/Disadvantages:

• It has good results in removal of fine thinner hair.

• It also has good results in removal of yellow, black and green coloured tattoos.

• It is good for people having whiter skin tone.

Side Effects of Lasers on the Skin:

Pain:

The laser procedures can be painful for the patients. To prevent that patients are given topical anesthetic agents to be applied to the skin before the start of the treatment. This reduces the amount of pain experienced by the patient.

Redness, Swelling and Itching:

There is a higher rate of occurrence of redness and rawness in case of ablative lasers as they are more penetrative and invasive, vaporizing the top epidermal layer of the skin. Whereas non ablative lasers are less penetrative and hence less invasive, causing lesser redness and swelling after the procedure.

Changes in the pigmentation of the skin:

In general it observed that patients with whiter skin tone have a better outcomes after the laser treatment as compared to patients with darker skin tones. However there is risk of hyper or hypo pigmentation of the skin in people with both the skin tones, darker as well as lighter. The lesions that are pigmented such as sun spots, on treatment, generally becomes darker initially and later on becomes lighter.

This was a brief understanding of how what are Skin lasers and how they are used in the treatment of various skin conditions. For knowing further kindly go through the following links



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2 comments:

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  2. Nice post and good information on skin laser treatment and their advantages, disadvantages and side effects. Thanks for sharing.
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