Pigment Lasers · Questions · Pacific Plaza
These laser pigmentation questions are the ones patients ask before agreeing to a pigment laser, answered briefly, with a link to the page that covers each in depth. Dr Sin Yong, Medical Director of Atelier Aesthetics, names the pigment before choosing a device, because a setting that clears one mark can darken another.
Remove Or Lighten?
A pigment laser breaks up pigment already in the skin, and the body clears the fragments over the following weeks. Whether that counts as removal depends on the pigment.
A well-defined sun spot on untanned skin can clear. Freckles fade, but the tendency to freckle stays, so new ones appear with sun. Post-inflammatory marks fade, but new ones form while acne continues. Melasma can lighten, yet it is driven by sun, visible light, heat and hormones, so it is controlled rather than removed. No laser stops new pigment forming; sun protection does that. The options for each type are on pigmentation removal.
Side Effects
Expected effects depend on the mode. After a pico spot treatment the mark turns darker within minutes, then forms a fine crust over several days that comes away by itself; picking it can leave a new mark. After toning, the skin is usually pink and warm for a short time.
Three effects are not expected. Brown darkening weeks later is post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Pale spots, uncommon, are mostly linked to frequent repeat toning of one area. Blisters, oozing crusts or building pain suggest a burn and need a same-day call. How each is handled is on pico laser complications.
Wavelength And Energy
Your skin holds melanin too, and a pigment laser cannot tell a brown spot from the brown skin around it. Wavelength sets how strongly melanin absorbs the light. Shorter wavelengths such as 532 nm suit superficial spots but are absorbed strongly near the surface; 1064 nm is absorbed less and is the more conservative choice in darker skin; some devices offer a wavelength between the two.
Fluence, the energy delivered per unit of area, mainly decides how much heat is left behind. In melanin-rich skin the gap between enough and too much is narrower, so settings start low and visits are spaced. Pico laser for darker skin goes into this further.
Check First
Before laser, any spot that is darker than its neighbours, growing, irregular in shape or colour, or new in adult life should be examined with a dermatoscope. Lentigo maligna, an early form of melanoma, can look like an ordinary sun spot, and lasering it would remove the signs needed to diagnose it.
Grey-brown or bluish cheek spots may be Hori's naevus, which sits deeper and needs its own plan. Anything that needs a diagnosis rather than a laser is referred for dermatological assessment.
At Atelier
Dr SY examines the skin in good light, with a dermatoscope where needed, and asks when each mark appeared and whether sun, heat or hormones change it. The plan names each pigment type, the mode for it, and which condition sets the energy limit, usually melasma when present.
Laser waits over a fresh tan or sunburn; Singapore has no low-UV season, as sun haze pigmentation explains. Pigment devices at Atelier include the pico laser, laser toning and R2 Glow. Clinic questions are on the main FAQ.
Atelier Aesthetics · Owned by AYA
9 Scotts Road, Pacific Plaza #12-01A, Singapore 228210 · +65 8023 7170
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