Laser

What are lasers used for?
As we grow older our skin is not as smooth or wrinkle free as when we were younger. As collagen degenerates beneath the skin we begin to get wrinkles around the eyes, lips, cheeks and forehead.

What are lasers mostly used to treat?
Lasers are commonly used to remove scars, wrinkles, veins, pigmentation, tattoos and hair.

How does the laser treatment work?
Lasers produce an intense pulse of light at one wavelength. Different lasers use different wavelengths to target different colours. For example the light that comes out of the Ruby Laser is absorbed by brown and black . This damages pigmentation and tattoos but spares the normal pink skin cell and blood vessels.

How can laser treatment help my scars?
The Erbium laser is particularly good for smoothing scars. It has extremely high affinity for water which enables it to remain effective in tissues such as scars which have low water content. The carbon dioxide laser has a lower affinity for water so finds scar tissue less responsive. While many scars respond to a single treatment, acne scars often need two treatments, three months apart.

How can laser treatment help my wrinkles?
Erbium and Carbon Dioxide lasers remove the surface of the skin to stimulate the growth of collagen in the deeper layers of the skin. This removes surface irregularities and sun spots. Non-ablative lasers such as Cooltouch and IPL do not remove the surface so that there is no significant down time from work. They improve wrinkles and skin texture but are not as effective as Erbium and Carbon Dioxide laser requiring many treatments (six or more) over a long period. At Macquarie Cosmetic Medicine we use the Erbium Laser which is gentler than the Carbon Dioxide laser. We often combine it with chemical peeling to enhance effectiveness.

How can laser treatment help my veins?
All the larger veins are injected first. The remaining spider veins that have not responded or are too small to inject can then be lasered. Laser is most effective on red facial veins but legs can be treated with some success.