Laser treatments are a highly safe and effective way to refresh and renew your skin, while reducing the look of common complaints, such as age spots, acne scars, discoloration, sun damage, spider veins, stretch marks, and unwanted hair.

At the Maryland Institute of Plastic Surgery, we want you to be as informed as possible when it comes to your options for skin care. We’re going to get down to the basics with the top seven things you should know about laser treatments.

1. Lasers treat a wide variety of skin concerns.

At our Baltimore clinic, we specialize in the Cutera Coolglide 1064 Yag Laser, which is versatile enough to address a range of skin issues.

We offer the following laser treatments and results.

• Intense Pulse Light: An ideal treatment for improving the appearance of dark spots, discoloration and uneven skin tone on your face, arms, legs, back and chest. With this procedure, we can remove years of sun damage from your skin.
• Laser Genesis: Provides a gentle facial resurfacing to improve skin texture with minimal downtime for recovery. You can choose to use this laser treatment alongside skin care products to help reverse sun damage.
• Vascular Laser: We can minimize the look of spider veins, facial veins, angiomas, scars, and stretch marks with excellent results and minimal healing time.
• Hair Removal Laser: Are you tired of shaving, plucking, and waxing your hair? With our laser, we can erase unwanted hair from your face, underarms, bikini area, legs, arms, back, and ears.

2. After laser skin care, you will need to be extra-careful about sun exposure.

Your skin can be hypersensitive to sun exposure for as long as a year following laser treatments. After you get your laser procedure, you will need to protect your skin before going outside by wearing a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher, and reapplying it generously as needed. This practice not only helps keep your results looking their best; it will also protect your skin from damaging UV rays that lead to skin cancer and signs of premature aging.

3. Some health conditions and medicines may lead to complications after laser treatment.

Laser treatment is safe for most people; however, your medical history will determine whether you are a good candidate. Before undergoing laser treatments, be prepared to have an open and honest conversation with your doctor about any medical conditions you have, or any medications or supplements you take.

For example, if you are prone to getting cold sores or fever blisters, laser treatments may cause your skin to break out. If you take acne medications such as Accutane, you may not be a good candidate for laser skin care. Meanwhile, common over-the-counter products like aspirin thin the blood and may increase your risk of post-procedure bleeding.

Diabetes and other chronic health conditions can also affect your safety and results with laser resurfacing. If you smoke, quit at least two weeks before to minimize your risks and create the best possible results from your procedure.

4. You may need more than one laser treatment to reach your goals.

Depending on what you hope to achieve, a single laser treatment may address all your concerns; however, some laser treatments, such as hair removal, will require more than one session before you will begin to see the outcome. Once all your treatments are complete, you can expect to enjoy long-lasting results.

5. We can treat patients of all skin tones and types.

You may have heard laser resurfacing is only safe for lighter skin tones, but this is a common myth. The CoolGlide laser allows treatment of all skin types, including tanned and dark-skinned patients.

6. Side effects are mild.

Laser procedures are completely non-invasive and relatively painless. Although patients experience few side effects, the most common are slight reddening and swelling of the skin, similar to the feeling of having a sunburn. These effects typically only last a few hours.

7. Who performs your laser skin care procedure has a tremendous influence on your results.

The best way to ensure a safe, effective treatment for any skin type is to choose a provider with extensive training and experience in laser resurfacing procedures. You will be in good hands with any of the four board-certified surgeons on our team. Our doctors have completed hours of thorough education and training in both surgical procedures and non-surgical treatments such as laser skin resurfacing and hair removal.

If you’re interested in learning more about the laser skin care options available to you, please contact either our Baltimore or Columbia clinic to schedule a consultation today.