Laser treatments are a popular category of non-surgical cosmetic procedures. They can be used for a variety of purposes, including hair removal, addressing skin complaints, and even tightening loose or wrinkled skin. So are laser treatments safe for all skin tones?
Are Laser Treatments Safe for All Skin Tones?
These treatments are safe when used appropriately according to their limitations. These limitations may include a consideration of skin tone, as some laser treatments may not work well on certain skin tones. Fortunately, there are a plethora of options, and your surgeon will help you find an option that is safe and effective for your skin tone.
Why Does Skin Tone Matter with Laser Treatments?
For good reason, you may wonder why skin tone would affect your treatment. It comes down to the technology itself. Many laser treatments are designed to differentiate between pigments. They specifically target darker pigments, which is how they address things like unwanted hair and dark spots.
If you have darker skin, even a moderate brown tone, it can make it difficult for the laser to properly target the hair or skin differentiations that you want to treat. To address these issues, there are more recent innovations in laser technology that make these non-surgical procedures safer and more accessible to people with darker skin tones.
New Technologies for Better Treatment
Today there are two laser treatment technologies that were specifically developed to address the needs of clients who were not well-served by earlier versions of the technology. These laser treatments include Nd:YAG and diode lasers.
Both of these lasers penetrate deep into the skin, avoiding the exterior pigmented cells. As a result, they avoid many of the pitfalls associated with other types of laser treatments. Of course, both technologies are slightly different. For example, a Nd:YAG laser is a deeper treatment than a diode laser.
To find the best laser treatment for you, you will need to discuss your options with your plastic surgeon. Your decision will be based on your goals for your treatment, your skin tone, and any difference in pigmentation between target hairs and spots.
Laser Treatment Goals
There are a wide range of laser treatment options. Your surgeon can make suggestions, but the course of action is ultimately up to you. These are some of the options that you might consider.
- Hair removal to damage the targeted hair follicles until they cannot produce hair after a couple of treatments.
- Skin resurfacing to ablate the top-most layers of skin while encouraging the natural production of collagen.
- Skin tightening to remove fine lines and mild wrinkles through the natural encouragement of collagen and elastin production.
- Laser lipolysis to melt fat cells to remove small pockets of fat.
- Acne treatments to reduce the appearance of blemishes and scarring.
- Dark spot removal to reduce the appearance of more heavily pigmented areas of skin resulting from past acne or aging.
- Tattoo removal to remove darker pigments from the skin resulting from a tattoo.
These options, including laser skin resurfacing in Houston, can help to improve the overall look and feel of your skin. While these procedures can achieve a lot, they are limited by their non-surgical status.
Choosing the Right Procedure for Your Needs
In order to decide what is in your best interests, you will need to keep your ultimate goals in mind. If you are looking for more than mild to moderate improvement in your wrinkles and skin elasticity, then you may want to discuss cosmetic surgery in Houston.
If you want to keep an open mind, you can always schedule a consultation with your surgeon to discuss your goals. From there, your surgeon will be able to lay out the options that are best suited to your needs.