ADVANCED DERMATOLOGY
And COSMETIC SURGERY
Office Hours
Weekdays 8am-5pm
477 N. El Camino Real, Ste. A300
Encinitas, CA 92024
(760) 436-8700
Diolite Laser
Newer lasers, such as the Diolite Laser, have revolutionized the treatment of vascular and pigmented lesions. While older laser or non-laser treatments could be significantly painful and cause extensive bruising, blistering and oozing, the Diolite laser offers safe and effective, non-traumatic treatment of vascular and pigmented lesions. The gentle and precise treatment characteristics of this laser provide consistent results. When used by trained healthcare professionals, lasers are safe and effective.
Vascular lesions that respond well to Diolite Laser treatment are:
- Spider telangiectasias -- dilation of capillary vessels.
- Cherry angiomas - slightly raised, red vessels
- Rosacea associated with vessel dilation- red facial lesions around the nose and cheeks causing a sunburned or embarrassed look.
- Lentigines - flat brown spots on the skin (liver spots) in sun exposed areas
- Keratoses - slightly scaly, pigmented spots often found on sun damaged skin.
- Freckles -brownish spots, common on fair skinned individuals.
- Dermatosis Papulosa Nigra - small black keratoses seen primarily on people of Asian or African descent.
What to expect during the treatment
During the Diolite laser treatment, you will be placed in a reclined position, depending upon the location of the area to be treated, and be asked to wear special goggles to protect your eyes from the intense beam of laser light. A pencil thin hand piece will then direct a beam of laser light to the specific area of treatment. In most cases, anesthesia is not required. We do put a topical anesthetic cream on the treatment site for half an hour prior to the procedure.
The laser light is absorbed by the oxyhemoglobin (red blood cells carrying oxygen), or melanin pigment (black or brown pigment found in the skin). The heat generated by the laser causes coagulation of the blood vessel wall and destroys the unwanted pigmented cells. Patients report feeling a stinging sensation during the treatment followed by some redness that usually goes away in a few days. Some swelling may also be experienced for a few days after the procedure and can be treated simply with topical ice packs. There will not be, however, any purple skin discoloration or bruised appearance to the treated skin.
What is the recovery like?
Post-operative care is minimal, consisting of moisturizers and/or topical cortisone. Occasionally an anti-bacterial ointment may be indicated and you may be asked to stay out of the sun during the healing process. While most patients see results immediately, final treatment results will be evident within 10 -14 days after treatment for vascular lesions, and within 2-3 weeks after treatment of pigmented lesions. In the meantime, normal daily activities can be resumed with only a slight redness, or mild flaking evident in the treatment areas.
While no aesthetic procedure should be viewed as permanent, most of the blood vessels treated with the laser are completely eliminated. Some blood vessels may require greater than one treatment session to be eliminated. The vessels may appear "gone" immediately after the procedure and then "reappear" several days later. This should be expected for some blood vessels. New vessels can also appear in the treated areas as part of the natural aging process. This should not be viewed as a recurrence of the treated vessels.
While no aesthetic procedure should be viewed as permanent, most of the blood vessels treated with the laser are completely eliminated. Some blood vessels may require greater than one treatment session to be eliminated. The vessels may appear "gone" immediately after the procedure and then "reappear" several days later. This should be expected for some blood vessels. New vessels can also appear in the treated areas as part of the natural aging process. This should not be viewed as a recurrence of the treated vessels.
