Our vascular and pigment treatments involve the use of a variety of laser modalities depending on what your particular skin challenge is. Spider veins, reticular veins, broken capillaries, age spots, sun spots, birthmarks, Rosacea and Melasma are just a few of the skin challenges that can be treated at Skintegrity.

Pigmented Lesions

Nearly 100% of all people have one or more pigmented lesions. Some are caused by sun exposure, others by aging. Still others are congenital. Regardless of the cause, pigmented lesions are simply spots on the skin where there is a higher concentration of melanin. Some lesions are flat; others are raised.

For most benign pigmented lesions that are of a cosmetic concern, there is a non-surgical option using the technologies  at Skintegrity

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The Technology

By exposing a pigmented lesion to short pulses of visible light or using the pulses from a dual wavelength Q switch laser, the temperature in the highly concentrated melanin can be raised sharply, enough to shatter the cells containing the melanin. The body then replaces these cells with new cells generated by the surrounding untreated area. The laser offers unique wavelengths and pulse width capabilities, allowing it to treat pigmented lesions on any skin type. AFT is the next generation of intense pulsed light. It takes formerly unused short-wavelength light and converts it into part of the usable spectrum through a special filtering system. It increases emission and penetration, for safer and more effective treatments. AFT also delivers Equally Distributed Fluence, which means that every pulse has uniform energy density across the entire output face. This fluence ensures repeatable results and remarkable safety. Your Skintegrity Laser Phototherapist will evaluate your unique needs and will determine which laser or treatment combination will provide you with the best results.

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The Treatment

The treatment causes immediate reaction of the pigmented area distinguished by darker discoloration and mild crusting which may last 5 to 10 days. For those that have many generalized  brown spots, an IPL photo facial treatment will be repeated 3-5 times to reach the desired goal. For those that have more defined visible spots, Skintegrity uses a dual technology approach using both a Q switch and IPL and a grid that protects the unaffected skin. This can allow the treatment to be increased in intensity and then for the majority of lesions only one treatment is required, however, depending on the size, color, and depth more than one treatment may be required. A heat like sensation will be felt at the time of treatment and for 1 to 3 hours afterwards. The majority of clients can tolerate the treatment without any anesthetic. In some cases, an antibiotic ointment will be applied to the treated areas.

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Post Treatment

The treated areas will have varying responses depending on the type of lesion being targeted. In most cases, the lesion will darken in color and this is the desired endpoint of treatment. In some cases the response will be resulting “frosting” effect over the lesion.

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“Frosting”

The term “frosting” as it relates to laser treatments for age spots, sun spots and other types of pigmented lesions is not a medical term. However, it is a term that is frequently used amongst practitioners to refer to a more aggressive treatment of pigmented lesions (sun spot removal, freckle removal, mole removal, birthmark removal) using Q-Switched lasers.

When using specific settings with this type of q-switched laser has the ability to cause a temporary gas reaction on the surface of the skin when the melanocytes (cells that hold color) rise to the surface in response to the thermal energy. This very temporary appearance looks like a light coating of powdered sugar which is what we refer to as “frosting” of a lesion. This is the clinical end point of the treatment for sun spots, age spots, freckles and birthmarks.

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When achieving this frosting response, the expectation after laser treatment generally is a crusty or flaky feeling to the skin at the site of the pigment for the next 7 to 10 days. Some refer to this as a light scab, but what is happening is that the melanocytes (pigmented cells) that were destroyed during the laser treatment are rising to the surface of the skin and flaking off as part of the normal cell turnover process (skin regrowth). As this light scab flakes off and heals, the intention is for the age spot, birthmark, freckle or flat mole to come off completely or to provide a dramatic improvement. For those patients that choose not to have this type of treatment, non-frosting methods still offer good outcomes but generally require more laser treatments.

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Post Treatment

You may shower as usual just allowing the water to fall over the treated area. No scrubbing or picking on the area. Apply an antibiotic ointment for a few days. It is not necessary to cover, however, you may if you want.