Cosmetically disturbing marks and veins
Red veins in the face (telangiectasias) are very small blood vessels under the skin that were once not visible. Due to a congenital predisposition, these small vessels "leak", are supplied with more blood and thus become visible (couperosis). Rarely, these small veins can appear together with pimples or pustules, which is then called facial rosacea.
Most patients come to our laser clinic Dr. Martin Braun for treatment because they find the looks or remarks of their fellow human beings very disturbing. This is because the red veins, especially in the area of the nose, are often associated - usually wrongly - with increased alcohol consumption.
Treatment with laser
- Diode-pumped KTP-Laser: "The gold standard for the treatment of small blood vessels and red veins". This special vascular laser can be used to successfully treat smaller and thinner veins in particular, as well as blood sponges. In contrast to the color laser , the KTP laser does not cause small bruises after the treatment. In most cases, the treatment leaves hardly any visible traces, rarely there may be isolated small bruises that fall off after a few days.
The KTP laser can be used to treat skin lesions containing blood vessels:
Spider nevus before color laser treatment
Spider nevus after color laser treatment
The short light pulse with its wavelength in green-yellow spectrum (532 nanometers) penetrates the upper skin layer. In the blood vessels, the energy is intercepted by the red blood pigment. As a result, the vessels heat up briefly and are destroyed. If the vessels are too small or too thick, this effect does not occur. The treatment effect can be seen immediately in the form of the immediate disappearance of the vessels. Depending on the type of vascular dilatation, several treatments may be necessary.
With its very special light spectrum, the color laser ensures that only the small vessels in the skin are hit, while the surrounding connective tissue remains just as unharmed as the nerve, hair or sweat cells.
Thus, the completely parallel and focused light beam of the pulsed dye laser hits only the small blood vessels under the skin and shreds them into countless small particles within an extremely short pulse of less than a millionth of a second, which can then be broken down by the body's cells.
The individual treatment lasts only a few minutes. The total treatment time depends on the type and size of the skin lesions to be treated. Smaller vessels can be treated with a few light pulses. For deeper or extensive skin changes, several treatment sessions may be needed.
Compared to other applied methods, laser treatment with the diode-pumped KTP laser is much faster, more effective and less painful. However, it is not completely painless. This is because the individual light pulses produce a short pain due to heat emission and absorption at the vessels to be removed, comparable to a tiny pinprick. This brief pain is very well tolerated even without local anesthetics and usually only occurs with the first pulses delivered until the patient has adjusted to it. Additional cooling of the treatment areas also minimizes this pain and contributes to better tolerance. An anesthetic ointment can be applied to particularly pain-sensitive areas of the face and to small children one hour before treatment.
Since laser light is also (slightly) absorbed by the brown skin pigment, the areas to be treated should not be pre-tanned if possible. In most cases, there are no external traces after the treatment. However, in some cases small crusts may appear, which fall off by themselves after a few days. If the skin surface has healed, the area can be covered with make-up without any problems.
Important to know
The treated area should be protected from direct intense sunlight. In winter, this is not a problem in our area, except possibly when skiing with intense sunlight.You should otherwise apply a sunscreen with a high protection factor to the treated areas for at least 4-6 weeks after treatment, especially in the light season from spring to autumn.
