How does laser pigmentation removal work?

What is pigmentation?

Pigmentation is common to see and has the chance to appear on everybody. It is the coloring of your skin. Melanin is the pigment produced in your skin cells that determines the color of your skin. When your body produces too much melanin, it causes hyperpigmentation, resulting in darker patches of skin. Change in pigmentation can appear on almost any part of the body but usually appears on the face and other areas exposed to the sun’s powerful UV rays. While hyperpigmentation isn’t harmful, it can make you appear older than you truly are. 

What reasons lead to pigmentation?

There are lots of different causes for changes in pigmentation. However, for most people, pigmentation is caused by an excess of melanin. When too much melanin is produced in an area of the skin, it leads to discoloration and noticeable pigmentation. 

The most common causes of pigmentation include:

Which laser is good for pigmentation removal?

Picolaser, Q-switched ND YAG laser, and IPL. Pico laser and q-switched laser are the best options for pigmentation. They can treat almost all types of pigmentation no matter in the epidermis or dermis. IPL for pigmentation is limited. It can only treat the pigmentation in the epidermis, IPL cannot treat the pigmentation in the dermis.

How Does Laser Treatment Work?

Laser treatments remove hyperpigmentation through several different methods or applications.
Ablative lasers accomplish this by resurfacing the skin’s upper layers, stimulating the development of collagen, and enabling new skin to form. Non-ablative lasers are gentler by comparison, allowing for a faster recovery time but delivering less dramatic results. Pigment-seeking lasers, similar to those used for tattoo removal, are capable of targeting deep areas of discoloration such as severe sunspots.

No matter which laser your dermatologist decides is right for your skin, the goal will be similar – to soften and depigment damaged skin, improve the appearance of sunspots and wrinkles, and eliminate photoaging.

Laser pigmentation removal uses non-invasive laser technology to eliminate melanin (pigments) from the cells. The laser machine produces a wavelength of high-energy light, which is then converted into heat energy. This works by targeting the specific area of pigmentation because the laser is absorbed only by cells containing a great amount of pigmentation. 

These pigments are shattered into smaller pieces, which in turn are cleared by the body’s natural removal process. This leads to a visible improvement in pigmentation. Apart from reducing melanin pigments, laser treatments also brighten skin and treat uneven skin tone.