If you’re one of the nearly 14 million Americans with rosacea, you know how frustrating the condition can be. The characteristic redness on the cheeks, nose, and chin may eventually lead to visible blood vessels, small lumps and bumps and thickened skin. Adding to the frustration, one of the more popular “go-to” treatments for skin resurfacing—the chemical peel—will only irritate the sensitive skin of rosacea sufferers even more.
Even if you don’t have rosacea, redness may still be an issue for you. You may have “cherry” moles, port wine stains, or vascular lesions like surface capillaries. Or, you may have fresh surgical scars or stretch marks that are reddish in color and have not yet begun to fade.
Fortunately, advances in cometic laser technology mean that we can treat these red-hued lesions with more beautiful results than ever before, thanks to the Vbeam pulsed-dye laser at Southern Surgical Arts.
The Vbeam laser is the gold standard in treating red marks and lesions. It delivers an intense but gentle burst of light into targeted areas of the skin. The light is absorbed by the targeted blood vessels or red-pigmented areas in the skin (depending on which skin condition is being treated). The goal of this treatment is to fade the targeted red areas so they blend more readily into the surrounding skin.
One of the many attractive features of this treatment is that discomfort is minimal and there is little downtime. The Vbeam has a patented cooling technique that minimizes stinging. Your face may look slightly reddened for about 24-48 hours and you may experience some short-lived, mild swelling. Results will be influenced by factors including how long you’ve had the lesions and the locations on your body.
The Vbeam laser is most effective on patients with fair to medium skin tones. It is not recommended for darker skin tones because the contrast between the surrounding skin’s color and that of the treatment area may not be enough for the laser to target effectively.
To learn more about how Vbeam can help to reduce redness, please call Southern Surgical Arts at 423.266.3331. We are happy to share additional information with you.