Botox Cosmetic®

  Transformation Wellness
    Enzyme therapy

  Injectable Skin Fillers
      Restylane
      Radiesse
      Microdroplet Silicone

  Laser Skin Peeling
    Erbium "Fresh Peel"
    CO2 Resurfacing

  "Laserology"
    Laser treatment simplified

  Laser Hair Removal
    GentleLASE™

  Laser Age Spot Removal

  Spider Vein Eradication
    Ellman™ radiofrequency

  Advanced Skin Care
    LaDonna Marie's
    Art of Skin

  Tattoo Removal
    Infrared
    Laser

  Laser Blepharoplasty
    Lower eyelids
    Upper eyelids

  Permanent Makeup

LASEROLOGY

The term LASER is an acronym, an abbreviation just as BLT is for bacon, lettuce & tomato. It stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The general public seems to think that there is one big LASER somewhere that does many wondrous things. The reality is that there are many, many different LASERS each one of which does 1 or 2 specific things. People often think that they will get a 15 minute, painless treatment that will make them look perfect for their dinner engagement that night!

I define LASER as one-wavelength light energy with a useful purpose. White light contains all wavelengths in the visible color spectrum. Medical lasers are built by picking out one specific wavelength and having it come out thru a handpiece in such a way that it causes precise, desirable tissue damage.

Lasers can be made to contain several wavelengths in one box using switches etc...but, in treatment, it is almost always 1 wavelength at a time. Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) is white light and, therefore, not a laser.

The public, understandably, gets this confused.

Now, why go to such trouble? The ‘magic’ of a single wavelength is the ability to damage/destroy unwanted targets while leaving all else alone. If the only things in your yard that were orange happened to be weeds, wouldn’t it be nice to have a laser that only destroyed orange?

Lasers usually have colors as their targets. The specific target for a specific laser wavelength is called its chromophore. Wavelengths are expressed in nanometers. It works like this:

A wavelength of 532nm is absorbed by red and brown colors, so when a red blood vessel is "hit" with a 532 wavelength, and heat is generated. If the amount of heat is too high for the surrounding skin to have enough time to dissipate it, then the blood vessel is damaged and everything else in the area is unaffected. In this case the laser has "won out" over the skin’s Thermal Relaxation Time. This whole process is called Selective Photothermolysis.

Lasers all have names, which mean very little (Erbium, Excimer, KTP, CO2, Pulsed Dye, Nd:YAG, Alexandrite, Qswitched, Fraxel etc. etc.). These terms have to do with the material and technology used to create the wavelength coming out of the machine. The names are interchangeable with their wavelengths, and become just something else to remember. Our hair removal laser can be called: hair laser, Alex, GentleLase, or 755. In our office we currently use 4 laser wavelengths: 532nm (KTP) for spider veins, pigment spots, and tattoos; 1064nm (Nd:YAG) for black and dark blue in tattoos, as well as dark pigment spots; 755nm (Alexandrite) for black/brown hair; 2940nm (Erbium) for superficial skin peeling.

Here is what happens when these lasers send their pulses out to get their chromophores: The 532 causes breakdown of pigment cells in an age spot, or of ink in a tattoo so that the body’s scavenger cells (macrophages) can gradually carry away the smaller particles. It causes heat damage to a spider vein so it will become a scarred ‘thread’. The 1064 works the same, only against different colors.

The 755 creates heat damage to the dark hair shaft and to its red blood supply sufficient to make it die.

The 2940 vaporizes the water (removes) in about ˝ of the epithelial (top) layer of the skin with more precision and less side effects than chemicals, while creating heat to generate new collagen and elastin. The technique is to apply enough laser energy to accomplish the task, without causing harm. In reality, there is usually some temporary ‘collateral damage’ in the form of redness, crusting, pain, peeling, color changes, etc. which needs simple post-op care.

Many laser treatments require a series of sessions for good results. Skin surface cooling or anesthesia is often needed.