The skin makes the largest organ in your body and is the most visible. As such, it is prone to damage from a range for environmental elements and the effects of harsh skin care products. Other than these, age will also affect the skin’s appearance. You might live comfortably with some issues affecting some parts of your body. Those affecting the skin, however, impact your self-esteem and the level to which you will enjoy life.
Skin issues should be the last thing worrying you with the laser treatments available in medical spas, like laser tattoo removal in Salt Lake City. Lasers are monochromatic machines that emit a specific wavelength of light. The light works on various skin issues through selective photothermolysis. This destroys multiple elements in the treatment area leaving you with flawless skin. For tattoo removal, the standard laser types used are Nd: YAG and CO2 lasers. The following are some of the other issues that can be treated with laser treatment and the specific laser types used for them.
Wrinkles and Fine Lines
The treatment of wrinkles and fine lines is achieved by a combination of skin tightening and resurfacing procedures. The type of laser used here is an aggressive ablative laser like the Erbium YAG or the CO2 lasers. Pulsed dye lasers used in combination with light-based treatments, like LED photo facials and intense pulsed light (IPL), have also been shown to have some success in smoothing the skin of people with wrinkles and fine lines.
Sagging Skin
With advancing age or significant weight loss, you might be left with sagging skin as the fat reserves dwindle. Cosmetic laser procedures will provide different levels of superficial tightening since they generate a controlled injury level to the skin. This injury will, in turn, promote the production of collagen, a component that is responsible for skin tightening. CO2 lasers are the primary ones used for skin tightening.
Vascular Lesions
Some common vascular lesions include broken facial vessels, spider nevi, and birthmarks like port wine stains and spider veins on the lower extremities. For these skin irregularities, the recommended laser treatment is IPL. This, unlike other laser treatments, comprises different light wavelengths and penetrates the dermis, leaving the skin’s top layer mostly unharmed. Diode, Nd: YAG, and pulsed dye lasers are also at times used for the treatment of vascular lesions.
Acne and Acne Scars
While some forms of acne are transient, a few are long-lasting and will significantly affect your skin. Moreover, they break the skin and expose your systemic circulation to microorganisms thus aggravating the issue. The CO2 laser is considered the gold standard for the treatment of deep acne and scars arising from it. Fractional, Erbium YAG, and some non ablative lasers have been successful for the management of superficial acne.
In the past, the above issues could only be addressed by expensive surgeries and drugs that were not 100% effective. Laser treatment has, however, mainly changed their management and is inexpensive. Some level of discomfort is common after the procedure, but this generally resolves within a day or two. While there are currently numerous places offering laser treatments, settle for one with qualified employees to minimize the odds of adverse side effects from your treatment.