How Lasers Work

Lasers have been available for cosmetic use since the 1960 when researchers and dermatologists began experimenting with lasers on living tissue. Through the decades lasers have become more evolved and beneficial for cosmetic purposes such as laser hair removal and laser skin rejuvenation.

There are two fundamental types of lasers that are used today, and can be further broken down into many different kinds of lasers. One category is called ablative lasers that wear away the top layer of damaged skin. The other category is nonablative lasers, which penetrate deeper into the skin without damaging the top layers of skin. Since the ablative laser does not ruin or remove layers of skin there is almost no downtime after a procedure.

Each different type of laser emits light of only one wavelength. This light produces heat so that when used on a specific area will destroy whatever it touches. To destroy imperfections such as brown sun spots, redness from broken capillaries, or scars the wavelength of the light beam must be concurrent with the target. There are so many different procedures using this type of laser technology, such as laser skin rejuvenation.

If you want to get rid of unsightly wrinkles and fine lines a procedure like laser skin tightening and skin resurfacing can be used. This can either be applied with a nonablative laser, or if wrinkles and lines are extremely deep a more aggressive ablative laser can be used as well. Due to the fact that laser produce a very controlled injury of the skin a level of skin tightening is achieved. As skin becomes damaged this will stimulate your body to produce more collagen, which results in the firming of your skin.