By Nasrin Mani, M.D.
Laser procedures have become commonplace in the medical spa industry. They are used to permanently remove undesired hair, eradicate tattoos or sun spots, eliminate wrinkles and fine lines, tighten skin, treat acne and acne scaring and much more.
Many people use lasers to rejuvenate their skin because these procedures renew skin a lot faster than other methods and recovery time is minimal. Treatments range from non-invasive to moderately invasive depending on whether they are non-ablative (no tissue is removed) or ablative (some skin is removed to stimulate a healing response). There are few side effects and large regions can be treated at the same time. The appearance of scars, including the color and texture, can be improved so they will be less noticeable.
Cosmetic laser procedures are highly effective, but depend upon proper selection of the right wavelength for targeting the tissue to be treated. Wavelength is equivalent to color, and by picking the right color laser for the tissue being treated, only targeted tissue will be destroyed through the process of selective photothermolysis. When the right wavelength of laser shines on your skin, it is preferentially absorbed by the targeted tissue, which heats up until it is destroyed, while surrounding tissue suffers little, if any, damage.
Because wavelengths can be targeted to very specific purposes with little effect on nearby tissues, we have many more options for skin rejuvenation that can be targeted to your specific symptoms of skin aging.
If you live in the San Diego area and want to learn more about different laser procedures offered by La Jolla Laser, please contact us to request a call from one of our skin specialists.
