Erbium: YAG-Laser
The pulsed Erbium YAG laser is one of our ablation lasers. What can we treat with it:
- All benign moles (nevi).
- All benign protruding or raised skin changes (e.g. fibromas, histiocytomas, xanthelasmas, etc., also on sensitive skin areas such as the eyelids)
- Warts and age warts (seborrheic keratoses)
- Enlargement of the sebaceous glands of the face (sebaceous gland hyperplasia)
- Pigment spots
- Scars and scar growths (keloids)
- Incipient skin cancers after light damage and other influences
- Wrinkles and fine lines on the face: wrinkle smoothing with the erbium laser
Functionality
The erbium YAG laser is the finest "micro scalpel" in existence today and allows the thinnest skin layers down to a few hundredths of a millimeter to be ablated with pinpoint accuracy. Whereas the ablation instruments used in the past, such as electric snares, carried a high risk of scarring due to the burning of the uppermost skin layers, the erbium laser works by very fine "cold" ablation, vaporizing the skin layer by layer.
It is therefore particularly suitable for the controlled, micrometer-accurate, gentle and careful ablation of extremely thin skin layers of approximately 40 um tissue thickness (micrometer, equivalent to 40 thousandths of a millimeter) or of skin lesions. Due to the gentle cold ablation, the risk of scars is almost completely eliminated.
Is the treatment painful?
Compared to the CO2 laser used in the past, treatment with the erbium laser is much less painful. The healing of the treated area is also much faster. However, small pinprick-like heat impulses are still felt during laser treatment. In many cases, anesthesia is not necessary, or a previously applied local anesthetic cream is sufficient, possibly in combination with a small local anesthetic.
What happens after laser treatment?
The treated area may ooze slightly for a few days and then scabs over. The scab falls off by itself after about 6-10 days. After the procedure, the treated area will still be visible as redness for some time. The treated area should not be exposed to bright sunlight for a few weeks or a good sunscreen cream should be applied.
