Q. What is laser?
A. Laser stands for Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation. A laser device which supplies a powerful and highly focused beam of light whose energy can selectively eliminate tissue abnormalities.
Q. What are the benefits of laser surgery?
A. Treatment of skin growths or conditions with lasers may offer the following advantages:
- reduced risk of infection
- relatively bloodless surgery
- precisely controlled surgery which limits injury to normal skin
- an alternate to traditional scalpel surgery, in some cases
- safe and effective outpatient same-day surgery
Q. What are the common laser systems?
A. Carbon dioxide laser is an invisible light that is attracted to water in the skin. It is one of the most frequently used surgical lasers for skin disease because it can be used in two different ways—“focused” for removing (cutting) deeper skin cancers and growths, and “defocused” for superficially vaporizing skin in the treatment of warts or shallow tumors. The “ultrapulsed” and “scanner” carbon dioxide lasers are used to treat wrinkles (also known as laser resurfacing or laser peels), scars and other benign growths such as warts.
Argon laser uses a blue-green light to treat blood vessel growths, portwine stain birthmarks, malformations of skin blood vessels known as hemangiomas, enlarged blood vessels on the face known as telangiectasia, and the “red nose” syndrome that occurs as a result of acne rosacea or nasal surgery.
Argon-pumped tunable dye laser produces blue-green, yellow or red light and is used in the treatment of a wide variety of blood vessel conditions of the skin. In addition, this laser can be adjusted to produce the red light used in photodynamic therapy, an experimental technique for the treatment of skin cancer.
Flashlamp-pumped pulse dye laser produces a yellow light used to treat portwine stain birthmarks, dilated blood vessels and some types of hemangiomas. It has also been found effective in treating stretch marks. Like the other yellow light lasers, this system can be used to reduce the risk of scarring from treatment.
Excimer laser produces a wavelength of 308 nm within the UVB spectrum. It has been approved for use in the treatment of psoriasis and vitiligo. It is recommended for mild to moderate stable disease.Studies have shown excellent results after just five to six treatments with clearing lasting up to six months
