Technology continues to improve and improve health care. We have talked in the past about the importance of proper skin care – using sun screen, protecting our skin when we can.
But there are those of us who may have skin conditions that can't necessarily be blamed on the sun.
"People are often born with skin diseases that all the amount of care in the world can't help. Common examples are acne, rosacea, and many people suffering with these conditions end up with permanent changes in the skin,” said dermatologist, Dr. Julie Kenner.
Our patient today is Noelani.
Her skin condition is just one that can be treated with the different array of lasers available.
"Ad we use lasers for a lot of different things. Certainly we use laser to treat the common cosmetic concerns such as wrinkles and brown spots, but we also use laser for treating scars, for treating stretch marks, for treating bright red skin conditions such as rosacea,” said Dr. Kenner.
In the beginning, dermatologists used lasers with a single wave length - good for some treatments but not all.
"And then there are lasers that are comprised of several different wave lengths. And they are hitting targets. Some of those targets can be water in the skin, some of the targets can be brown in the skin and some of the targets can be red in the skin,” said Dr. Kenner.
It's called phototherapy and there is no pain involved.
While many treatments are performed on the face, there is virtually no limit on the lasers ability to heal.
Most treatments are done two to four weeks apart so the skin has time to respond.
"Each treatment will stimulate the collagen and cause the tightening that we're trying to achieve. Often, this is all we'd need and we wouldn't need to do anything more invasive,” said Dr. Kenner.
