Laser Treatment for Rosacea and Acne

Since mid-eighties many dermatologists throughout the world have been using laser treatment for rosacea—a hideous skin disease often encountered by people of the age group between thirties to sixties. Various laser therapies are in use to heal a number of symptoms associated with rosacea. Rosacea is mainly characterized by red vascular lesions (also known as telangiectasias), flushing and redness of the facial area, and rhinophyma or swelling of the nose. All of these traumatic manifestations could be effectively treated with a proper laser therapy.

Laser treatment for rosacea mainly follows the principle of selective thermolysis. The light energy of the laser is aimed at the affected area, namely the blood vessels or more specifically the content of the blood vessels. Through a noninvasive manner the vascular lesions are removed by destroying them. This unique procedure would not create any collateral damage to the external skin surface. In some cases where the tissues are puffed up due to the accumulation of fluid at the rosacea site, laser therapy is used to vaporize the tissue so that shape of the deformed affected area could be remodeled and the natural look of the organ could be restored successfully. The effectivity of the laser treatment entirely depends on the nature and location of the damaged area, which helps the laser surgeon to choose the appropriate laser technique for a particular patient.

For years experts are using this laser treatment for rosacea. Pulsed dye laser is found to be effective for alleviating some of the common rosacea symptoms like flushing, redness of the skin, visible blood vessels, etc. Through a study it has been revealed that rosacea patients treated with this laser have experienced significant improvements. After two treatments it has been found that the redness of skin is decreased by 40 to 60% while other symptoms like flushing, inflammation, itching, dryness, swelling, sensitivity, etc. also found to be improved to a large extent. Although with pulsed dye laser you might achieve highest degree of success at your neck and facial area, while the torso and areas at the extremities do not usually show much improvement with this technique. This method is safe and imposes minimum risk of having a scar or discoloration. Some advanced models utilize a dynamic cooling system to minimize pain and epidermal damage. It has been found that light skinned people respond more quickly and successfully to this laser therapy as for them the light energy pierces deeply through the skin.

Immediately after the treatment with pulsed dye laser patients might experience crusting and grayish spots on the affected areas which could be treated successfully. Intense pulsed light laser might inflict mild side effects like temporary erythema and crusting. Although CO2 laser is not known to cause any harm, however, over treatment or inefficient treatment could lead to destruction of nostrils and unwanted deformation. With the advancement of science and technology hopefully one day laser treatment for rosacea would come of age to be regarded as the best treatment option for giving you relief from this terrible skin disorder permanently.

Juliet Cohen writes articles for Acne Treatment. She also writes articles for Blackheads.