laser and cosmetic devices
There are many types of devices that are used to stimulate collagen production and improve fine lines and wrinkles. In fact, there are so many devices these days, it can seem overwhelming to try to navigate the sea of choices.
What can lasers and cosmetic devices treat?
They can smooth wrinkles, diminish pore size, eliminate brown spots, remove hair, treat superficial blood vessels and resolve blotchiness. Seems like they are the virtual airbrush miracle we have been looking for! Well, not exactly - but they can improve our skin in many ways.
What exactly is a laser?
I bet you didn’t know that laser is an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.”
Lasers are sources of heat and high intensity focused light that use a specific wavelength to treat a problem.
There are 2 broad categories of lasers and devices: ablative and non ablative
Ablative lasers actually break the surface of the skin. An ablative laser strips away the outer layer of skin and requires more downtime. These kind of lasers are typically used for resurfacing treatments. The laser also stimulates the underlying layers of skin, resulting in collagen formation and an improvement in wrinkles. Many of these are either CO2 (carbon dioxide) or erbium lasers. They can also be fractionated (like Fraxel) to only break the surface of the skin in areas (like aerating the lawn!) to decrease in downtime.
Non-ablative treatments penetrate deeper into the skin and trigger new collagen growth, while avoiding damage to the surface of the skin. The collagen growth can tighten the underlying skin to improve the skin tone. This can be done through lasers with wavelength ranging from 1300-1600, radio-frequency or ultrasound (to name a few).
What are some of the cosmetic devices that are not lasers?
There are some devices that end up in the “laser” category that are similar to, but are not exactly lasers. This category includes: Thermage that uses radio-frequency, Ultherapy that uses ultrasound (sound waves) and IPL (intense pulsed light) which uses different wavelengths of light blended together.