Patient Information

Treatment with lasers is usually well tolerated, but there is always some discomfort. Exposure is limited to an extremely short pulse and it can feel like a rubber band snap.

Patients often do not require any local anaesthetic but this is available if the patient finds the procedure too painful. The laser light is very bright and your eyes need to be protected by wearing goggles during treatment - these are provided.

Usually small test areas are treated first with different doses of light to find the best dose for your skin. If the results are good, larger areas can be treated. Most people need to be treated in stages over several months and larger areas require more treatment sessions

Before Treatment

Tanning of the skin reduces the effectiveness of the treatment. You should avoid sun or sun bed exposure to the area of skin to be treated and use strong sun creams Factor 10-20 when your skin is exposed to sunlight. If you have recently been in the sun or on a sun bed you will need to wait 4-6 weeks before having laser treatments.

Make-up or camouflage will block out the laser light and should be removed thoroughly before treatment. If you are pregnant it is advisable not to have laser treatments. If you are using or have used Roaccutane you must have finished this medication for at least 6 months before laser treatments.

It is possible to have other treatments like bototoxin, microdermabrasion etc before laser treatments to enhance the effects. It is advisable to discuss the treatments that you are thinking of having during the consultation.

After Treatment

In most cases all the treatments have no "down time" This means you may be treated at short notice and return to work with very slight or no visible evidence of treatment.

Immediately after the treatment you may notice a mild warmth and tingling sensation. This is normal and can be eased by using cold packs and/or Aloe Vera gel.

Make up can be carefully applied providing the skin is not sensitive. Make up can also serve to protect the skin from sun exposure. The skin that has been treated should be handled gently for a few days. Avoid rubbing or scrubbing the skin and avoid exposing to additional heat or friction such as hot showers/baths or steam rooms/saunas and hair dryers.

Avoid planning heavy exercises for 48hours to prevent the skin from sweating and causing redness. Sun exposure is to be avoided for at least for 3 weeks after the treatment. A total sun block (SPF 30), not a sunscreen should be applied if it is impossible to comply in order to avoid complications.

Laser Treatments - Side Effects

Immediately after treatment, the treated skin may look grey and bruised depending on which laser has been used. Some redness and swelling may occur within a few minutes and can last several hours followed by scaling or crusting forming a thin scab over the few days following the treatment. In most cases no actual crusting occurs.

If a crust or blister develops, they are superficial, and can be treated like sunburn or any other blister. When the scab comes away, the skin underneath may look bruised but this should clear gradually over a week or two. As the purple bruise fades, there may be a brownish stain, which will also resolve with time, usually within 3 months

The treated areas will probably heal without any pigment changes. However, there is always a chance that areas of hyper pigmentation (darker) or hypo pigmentation (lighter) or brown pigmentation in darker skin types, may occur. These are temporary and will fade within 1-6 months. Sun exposure must be avoided as exposure to the sun may intensify hyper pigmentation. It is rare that a change is permanent.

Excessive swelling may occur immediately after treatment, especially if the face has been treated. This is temporary and not harmful. Cold packs or a hydrocortisone preparation may reduce the swelling.

The treated skin can be fragile and should be treated gently for a few days. It should not be rubbed when applying makeup - only patted gently. Makeup can be applied immediately provided the skin is not broken.If the redness and swelling lasts more than a couple of days, or there is excessive crusting or weeping, the skin could be infected and this could cause scarring. If the treated area looks like it might be infected, antiseptic ointment or antibiotics might be needed and these can be obtained from us or from your own doctor.

How Long Will The Results Last

After completing the recommended treatment course we find that with veins and pigments the results are often permanent. The more subtle rejuvenating results are long lasting, however, anyone wishing to obtain the optimum result longer term may wish to have one or two treatments each year.