Top 4 Things You Need to Know About Laser Treatments‍

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Many people shy away from Laser Treatments assuming they will have a 5 - 10 day recovery time and that their skin may be red and raw. The best part about laser treatments is that there are so many different types of treatments; some with no downtime, and some with 1 week or more. Depending on your objectives, laser treatments can be the perfect addition to your skin health regimen.

Types of Lasers

There are many types of lasers and light therapies available which can make it really hard to decide which procedure is right for you. The best way to decide is to speak with a skilled medical aesthetician who can help you understand what treatment options will be the best for not only your skin, but your lifestyle; as some treatments may have a significant down time. The following are some of our most asked about lasers:Erbium - Beneficial for those with a darker skin tone, the erbium laser is designed to target surface-level fine lines and wrinkles without damaging the surrounding tissue.IPL - Commonly confused to be a laser treatment, IPL procedures uses Intense Pulse Light commonly used in treatments like BBL and photofacials which help treat vascularity and pigmentation.CO2 - This fractionated laser treatment works by removing layers of skin tissue treating deeper wrinkles, age spots and improving skin texture. This procedure has a 7 - 14 day downtime, which includes significant redness and crusting.

Ablative versus Non-Ablative

When looking to maintain your youthful glow, a non-ablative skin rejuvenation treatment is the best choice. The Forever Young and BBL treatments are popular non-ablative IPL treatments that significantly improve the appearance of wrinkles, brown spots and minor pigmented scars.Non-ablative treatments work by creating heat in the skin without injuring the surface of the skin. The heat that is generated in the dermis helps encourage collagen production, resulting in tighter healthy looking skin. The treatment also helps to encourage deep seeded pigment to come up and out of the skin, this significantly improves the appearance of age spots, and pigmentation. Multiple sessions are usually required to reap the benefits and with little to no downtime, this treatment can be done over a lunch break.Ablative laser treatments are commonly known as laser skin resurfacing treatments; the procedure is common for those looking to treat the outermost layers of aged or sun damaged skin. In addition to resurfacing the skin, the laser also stimulates underlying tissue to induce collagen formation and improve wrinkles.These treatments have about a 5 - 7 day downtime depending on the depth of the treatment performed. Post treatment, you can expect to see redness continue to dissipate and pigment from damaged skin will surface, creating a coffee grain look, these grains will fall off within the week. The regeneration of underlying tissues will continue to heal resulting in tighter, smoother skin.8 West Clinic's HALO treatment is a unique procedure that is both ablative and nonablative allowing you to reap the benefits of both lasers at the same time. Read more about the treatment here >>>>

Prepping for a Laser Treatment

Laser treatments that are non-ablative require little preparation, your medical aesthetician will want to ensure you have no active tan and that you are not taking any contra-indicating medications like accutane or certain photosensitizing drugs.For deeper treatments, such as the HALO or Contour TRL laser skin resurfacing procedures, you will need to ensure you have no tan, and that you are not taking any photosensitizing or skin thinning medications. You will also need to tell your laser technician if you get cold sores or blisters around your mouth. Laser skin resurfacing can trigger breakouts in people who are at risk. For those at risk of cold sores you may be prescribed an antiviral to help prevent cold sores or blisters.

What Can you Treat?

Depending on the type of laser or light therapy you choose to do these procedures can treat:

• Fine Lines and Wrinkles
• Deep wrinkles
• Age Spots
• Hyperpigmentation / Scarring
• Improve Skin texture

Keep in mind that depending on which procedure you choose, there may be a significant difference in not only the downtime but also the number of treatments you may need to reach your goals.