Treating facial blemishes is one of the most important steps in facial beauty. When the skin produces more melanin than normal, dark spots (hyperpigmentation) appear on the skin.
Dark spots on the skin can range from light brown to dark brown. The color of dark spots depends on the person’s skin color. Dark spots vary in size and can develop on any part of the body; however, they are most common in areas often exposed to the sun. Pigmented lesions such as freckles, moles, chloasma (pregnancy spots) and scars are among common skin disorders.
There are generally two types of spots or pigmentation: superficial pigmentation and subcutaneous pigmentation. Superficial pigmentation appears as dark spots on the skin and occurs when large amounts of melanin are produced by the skin. When melanin production is more limited and occurs in only one area of the skin, subcutaneous pigmentation occurs; both of which are treatable.
Causes of pigmentation on the skin
- Hormonal changes: This problem is more common during pregnancy and among those with a deficiency in vitamin E and B12.
- e sun's rays: Exposure to the sun's harmful rays can damage the skin, causing freckles and blemishes on the skin.
- lergies: Allergies to different perfumes or foods can also cause blemishes on the skin.
- Acne and pimples: Diseases such as chickenpox and measles can cause blemishes on the skin.
Laser treatment of pigmented lesions
Pigmented lesions are a result of changes in the number of pigments produced in the surface layers of the skin. The pigments may increase and dark spots (such as freckles) appear or the pigments may decrease and cause light spots.
Lasers do not need to penetrate deeply into the skin, in fact, they should have their effect on the epidermal layer of the skin. That’s why lasers that are used to treat pigmented lesions have a resurfacing result.
Among the benefits of laser skin resurfacing are the following:
- Painless and non-invasive methods
- High speed
- No recovery periods
- High safety with very few complications and risks
According to researches, the following three laser technologies have been shown to have the best effect on skin pigment spots:
Laser Er: YAG
This laser uses infrared light (with a wavelength of 2940 nm) and is one of the best lasers for superficial skin problems and exfoliation. Er: YAG rays are effectively absorbed by water molecules and have low penetration power. That is why the applications of this laser in medicine are very limited, but it has amazing results for removing pigmented skin lesions.
The Er: YAG laser removes the lesions by heating and destroying the problematic cells. It is used to remove acne scars, sun burn scars, age spots, melasma, and some vascular lesions, as well as skin wrinkles.
Q-switched or QS lasers
Q-switched lasers are equipped with Q-switched technology. This allows the laser device to fire a high-intensity pulsed beam light at the skin pigments. The laser beam hits the skin pigment like a bullet, and breaks it down. The shattered pigment is removed from the tissue by the cells of the immune system, and thus we will see the removal of pigmented skin lesions. Q-switched lasers include QS-Nd: YAG and QS-Alexandrite. If you are a good candidate for this laser treatment, you will see at least 80% improvement in the colored spots on your skin.
Fractional CO2 laser
It is one of the most modern laser technologies in medicine. The most important advantage of fractional laser treatment is that the laser beam targets only the freckles and not other areas of the skin. This feature makes the Fraxel laser permanent and uncomplicated. On the other hand, in the LFR method, the patient can return to work immediately after the laser treatment and there is no need to stay at home due to sun protection. In other laser treatment methods, we had to destroy all the cells in a certain area of the skin. This increased the risk of burns or other side effects. Fractional CO2 laser is one of the best lasers for treating superficial skin problems and color spots.