Overview of Laser Treatment Applications

Lasers have such a diabolical history in our culture - movies such as Goldfinger, the Andromeda Strain, Star Wars and Austin Powers, just to name a few, generally portray them as weapons. Yes, they can be that, too, but today their power is being harnessed for more personal uses. Laser treatments are now used in many cosmetic, medical and dental applications, that those providers not using laser-enhanced technology are finding themselves losing patients and customers.

Cosmetic Laser Surgery
Dermatologists use lasers for several different procedures, including skin rejuvenation and tightening, as well as reduction of acne lesions and acne scarring. Results are very encouraging.

Laser Vein Removal
Before the employment of lasers, varicose vein removal was a surgical procedure requiring a hospital stay, followed by painful recovery and often scarring from the incisions. Alternatively, sclerotherapy has been used, which involves injection of a saline into a vein or capillary to cause inflammation, venous collapse and finally re-absorption by the body of the vein. The injections are spaced about an inch apart, one needle per inch. Laser vein removal targets the veins directly; the hemoglobin in the vein absorbs the laser's energy, causing the vein to collapse and be absorbed. It is significantly less painful than either of the other options.

Laser Dentistry
Dental lasers are used for both soft tissue (gums) and hard tissue (teeth), and have a wide range of applications including speeding up the bleaching process, removing tooth enamel without the need for anesthesia, aesthetically reshaping the gums, and "seeing" into the teeth or gums in real time.

Laser Liposuction
Surgical liposuction is is no longer the only option; laser liposuction involves a small tube fit over a laser is inserted into a small incision, and the laser "melts" the fat. The result is very little trauma, practically no scarring and no need for sutures. You can usually return to work within 48 hours. It's also referred to as SmartLipo.

Laser Tattoo Removal
The laser selectively targets the pigment of your tattoo, and energy produced by short pulses pass through the upper layers of the skin to be absorbed by the tattoo ink in the lower layers. The energy causes the pigments in the tattoo to fragment into smaller pieces that are eventually removed by your body's immune system.

Laser Treatment For Cellulite
The laser is directed at the areas of the body which hold the cellulite, and the energy from the laser breaks down the fat deposits. This is one application where you wouldn't be wrong to suggest that the fat just melt away, because that's exactly what it does. The melted fat is not suctioned out, but allowed to eliminate naturally through the blood stream.