Lasers and Other Skin Improvement Techniques

Your skin is your only organ located on the outside of your body. That makes it susceptible to internal and external influences. Therefore, it is no wonder that the quality, thickness and general appearance or feel of your skin can change many times as the years pass. Combine those influences with natural changes that occur with age, such as hormone level changes, and it is easy to see why skin damage is even more likely when you get older. Lasers and other skin improvement techniques offer ways to reverse some of the damage you are probably seeing. Here is how some of those treatments work.

Intense Pulsed Light and LED Skin Treatment

You have probably heard of using lasers to treat skin conditions. It has been a common practice for many years. What you may not have heard of are light treatments for better skin health. Light therapies, such as LED and IPL treatments, are not the same as laser procedures. They tend to produce far less heat. They also do not use focused beams, but rather light bursts to treat your skin. Often, light treatments can be used to lessen the appearance of scars or improve the appearance of your skin in other ways.

How Laser Procedures Differ in Intensity

Laser procedures are definitely more intense than the light therapies described above. For that reason, they often produce more immediate and obvious treatment results. Lasers are also far more diverse in the types of skin treatments they can perform. For example, they are often used for tattoo removal treatments, the reduction of scars and wrinkles and general skin revitalisation techniques, to name a few.

The lasers themselves also vary in intensity. For example, some are designed only to treat cells below the surface. They encourage natural healing through collagen production and making existing collagen molecules pull closer together. Such lasers are known as non-ablative. Their ablative counterparts are lasers that also impact the surface of the skin. Sometimes ablative treatments are only used on the surface, such as during laser peels. Other times they can treat multiple layers of skin. In either case, they can produce immediately visible changes, but are also more likely to produce side effects than non-ablative treatments.

More Clinical Skincare Options to Consider

Laser and light procedures are not the only clinical methods for skincare. Another option you have is a chemical peel, which can be useful if your skin problems are at or near the surface. A chemical peel can remove dead skin cells and anything clogging your pores to reveal healthier skin layers below. A similar procedure is microdermabrasion, which uses a special hand-held tool to remove such debris, rather than chemicals.

Of course, you can also opt to have sound wave therapy for general skin revitalization or one of several other types of clinical treatments. To make your final decision, you must consider cost factors. When doing so, remember you may need more of some types of treatments than others. Also, considering your skin type and condition is essential because some treatments are more likely to cause side effects when used under certain conditions. For example, lasers can cause burns if your skin has too much natural oil. Your clinician can discuss long-term treatment plans and costs with you. He or she can also help you choose the treatment most suitable for your type of skin and the condition of it.

 

Sarah x