What Are the Types of Cosmetic Lasers & their Uses?

First lasers were meant for removing hemangioma. Next ones were designed for beauty treatments. Today, lasers are able to remove hyperpigmentation spots, unwanted hair, tattoos and scars when other treatments fail. Discover the types of cosmetic lasers and their uses.

Types of cosmetic lasers & their uses in aesthetic medicine

Lasers, used in cosmetology, differ considering the source of the laser light emitted by a given device and the type of interaction between light and tissues. Gas, crystal, semiconductor, an organic colorant or solid body may be the source of the laser light. The emitted light may affect the skin in various ways, which depends on many factors e.g. the degree of sensitivity of pigmentation cells in a given tissue. It is possible that a weak laser beam gives no effects whereas the too intensive beam causes scars and other types of skin damage. That is why some lasers don’t work for some treatments. Currently, the most common types of lasers include:

LED laser is an effective treatment for acne, closing of blood vessels, permanent hair removal and cellulite reduction. Moreover, it works for removing warts, skin scars, fibroid, pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions.

Argon-ion lasers affect oxygenated hemoglobin and melanin, therefore they are successfully used for the treatment of vascular and pigmentation lesions. They aim at tackling erytheme, spider veins and small naevus cavernosus.

Alexandrite laser is dedicated to epilation and closing of blood vessels.

Ruby laser removes pigmentation spots, tattoos and unwanted hair.

Neodymium lasers allow removing all vascular lesions without skin damage. Thanks to the lasers, we can get rid of vascular redness, flat vascular lesions, spider veins, post-sun vascular lesions and acne rosacea.

CO2 lasers are used for laser dermabrasion – a precise removal of surficial layers of the epidermis and smoothing the surface of scars, including post-acne scars, some pigmentation spots, wrinkles and uneven skin texture.