LASER Treatment

What is a LASER?

A LASER is a concentrated beam of light of a specific colour.

LASERs can be used to selectively target structures within the skin, depending on their colour/chemical properties.

What does LASER treatment involve?

Before the start of treatment, you will be asked to sign a consent form. The risks, benefits and practicalities of treatment will be explained to you, as well as an agreement reached between practitioner and patient as to which areas are suitable for treatment.

LASER treatments are delivered in the departmental treatment rooms. They involve a number of ‘pulses’ of laser light being applied to the skin from a hand-held device attached to the laser machine. The number of pulses required depends on the size of the area treated.

Before your first treatment, you will need a baseline photograph which is usually arranged at your initial consultation. You will then undergo a test patch so that we can assess the reaction of the skin and see if the treatment will be effective. At this appointment you will have further photograpphs to be taken of the test area to help us to assess the respose at your subsequent visits.

All patient photographs are kept in a protected electronic system as part of your electronic medical records ( to be viewed only by the staff involved with your care). Following a succesful test area, you may require several treatments to get the best possoble result. Some patients need to be treated over several months or years and larger areas may need to be treated in several stages.

Further test areas may be required throughout your treatment course.

Your LASER treatment will be carried out by specialist practitioners or by doctors with specific training in skin LASER treatments.

Each Laser pulse causes a brief stinging sensation and after treatment, the area may continue to sting/feel warm for a few hours.

Although LASER treatment is often uncomfortable, most people tolerate the treatment well. There are various methods of cooling the skin before the start of treatment, which helps to protect the epidermis (top layer of the skin) and make the treatment more comfortable.

If you find the treatment particularly painful, your practitioner can advise you about suitable analgesia (pain relief).

We do not routinely offer anaesthetic cream for patients undergoing Vascular LASER treatment or LASER hair reduction, as this is not usually required and may reduce the effectiveness of the treatment. You may be offered local anaesthetic cream for pigment LASER treatments or fractional ablative LASER treatments.

A small proportion of our patients (e.g young children or those undergoing extensive treatments) will undergo their LASER treatment under general anaesthetic.

Because LASER light is very powerful, your eyes need to be protected by wearing goggles during treatment. If the eyes are not adequately protected, LASER light can cause permanent damage resulting in loss of vision.

For treatment near or around the eye, it may be necessary for you to have an internal protective contact lens inserted using local anaesthetic eye drops. The contact lens would be removed immediately after your treatment and an eye patch would be applied to be kept in place, for 4 hours following treatment. This is to reduce the risk of injury to the eye as your blink reflex would be temporarily disrupted from the anaesthetic drops. If your treatment involves an internal contact lens, we advise that you do not drive until it is safe to remove the eye patch.

In order to comply with LASER safety rules , you cannot be accompanied by friends or relatives in the treatment room unless there are extenuating circumstances.

The response to LASER treatment is very variable and it is difficult to predict the exact outcome for each patient. You would expect to have some discomfort for the first few hours as well as redness and swelling for a few days. Some Lasers result in bruising. Uncommonly an adverse reaction such as a blister or a scab can occur. There may be a temporary loss/gain of pigment in the treated area which may last for several months or, rarely, be permanent.

Your Laser treatment may have to be delayed if you experience increased pigmentation in the area.

LASER treatment may trigger a cold sore in patients who have a history of cold sores previously and the herpes virus can infect the laser treatment site. If the skin is broken following treatment, there is a small risk of secondary bacterial infection which would present as a spreading redness and pain around the treatment site.

Scarring following any LASER treatment is very uncommon (unless undergoing focal ablative laser tretament, for which scarring is more common). If scarring does occur, it is most commonly a slight depression in the skin or a textural change. A thickened, lumpy red itchy/painful scar can develop but is unusual.

A lack of adverse reactions or scarring after a test or treatment does not exclude this risk with any subsequent treatment.

To ensure that you receive the best possible results, following the advice for preparation before the start of treatment and aftercare is a vital part of the process.

Please notify your practitioner if your medical status changes.

Please notify your practitioner if you have a history of seizures or fainting.

Before and during a course of LASER treatment

Wear fragrance free SPF50 sun protection on a daily basis to ensure that your skin is not tanned. Please ensure the product has a 5 star rating.

We are unable to treat tanned skin. This includes natural tan, sunbed use and fake tan. These must be avoided for a minimum of 6 weeks before the start of, and during treatment.

Please notify the clinic in good time of any medications that you are taking. Taking certain prescription medications may affect your treatment.

Ensure that treatment area is free from make-up, moisturiser and sun cream.

If you wish to wear make-up before your appointment, please attend the department 30 minutes early to allow you to remove it and allow your skin to settle before treatment (Please bring your own products).

If the treated area is a hair bearing area e.g the beard area, please attend your appointment clean shaven.

This regime must be adhered to throughout the course of your treatment. Failure to follow the above advice is likely to mean that we will be unable to carry out your treatment when you attend.

After treatment

The skin may be sensitive to injury in the first few days after treatment and should be treated delicately. Avoid any injury, rubbing and scratching.

Avoid shaving the area for 5 days.

Avoid strenuous exercise, swimming, saunas, steam rooms. hot baths or showers and fragranced products for 7 days.

Avoid make-up and moisturiser and sun cream for 48 hours following your treatment, to prevent any rubbing/friction to your skin.

The treated areas will be sensitive to sunlight after treatment. Fragrance free factor 50 sun block with 5 star UVA protection should be used for 6 months, following the end of your treatment. Strong sun exposure should be avoided wherever possible.

If any scabs or blisters develop, they should be left intact if possible and we request that you contact the department for further advice.

The treated area should be looked after carefully until the skin has fully healed. Keep the area dry for 2 days. If the area gets wet, pat dry very gently with a clean soft towel or cloth. Avoid any tight clothing, injury, rubbing or scratching as this could result in scarring.

If the area is painful after treatment a covered home-made ice pack can be helpful (use for a maximum of 5 minutes per hour).

Avoid moisturiser, sun protection, camouflage or make-up for 2 days following treatment to prevent any rubbing/friction to your skin.

Avoid strenuous exercise, swimming, saunas, steam rooms and fragranced products to the treated area for 7 to 10 days.

Following your Laser treatment if you experience any swelling which lasts for more than 3 days, blistering, scabbing, crusting or weeping, you MUST contact the Laser suite as soon as possible. You may need a review appointment with the Doctor in the Laser suite and you may be given a prescription for medication.

If you are unable to contact the Laser suite and you speak to your GP or NHS helpline 111, please inform the Laser department as soon as possible.

Sun care instructions

We recommend a 5 star UVA rating and fragrance free SPF 50 sun protection.

Start to apply the SPF 50 / 5 star sun protection 2 days after your Laser treatment. Apply daily throughout the course of your treatment reapplying regularly throughout the day, regardless of the weather. Continue to use the SPF 50/ 5 star sun protection daily for 6 months after the end of your Laser treatment, as your skin will be more sensitive to the sun during this period.

We are unable to treat tanned skin, this includes natural tan, sunbed use and fake tan. These must be avoided for a minimum of 6 weeks before the start of your treatment.

If you attend for treatment with a tan, you will not be treated.