Yellow Light Destroys Veins

Posted Monday, September 10, 2007 to PROCEDURES > Skin

Posted by The Original Anti-Aging & Cosmetic Surgery Magazine

Connecticut dermatologist Dr Cyrus Chess explained the advantages of using yellow light laser to treat spider veins.

There are several reasons spider veins are thought to appear as we age. "On the legs there are two primary causes - genetic and pregnancy" said Connecticut dermatologist Dr Cyrus Chess. "On the face the two most common causes are sun damage, particularly in fairer skin, and rosacea, a disease causing adult acne and redness." Other causative factors include nicotine, caffeine, estrogen, other hormones, alcohol, or even a local injury.

Hemoglobin (the pigment inside the blood cells that gives blood its red color) absorbs green or yellow light from lasers very well. This light is what destroys the unwanted blood vessels. The difference between using green and yellow light sources is how the light reacts with the epidermis while passing through to the dermis to target the blood vessels. Although there is no hemoglobin in the epidermis, there is melanin, which gives our skin its color. "Green light, certainly more than yellow light, is absorbed in the epidermis and for two reasons that is bad: it lets less light through to the dermis to destroy the blood vessels, and more importantly it can injure the epidermis," said Dr Chess.

In his practice Dr Chess treats people for unwanted visible veins with a 'ProYellow' laser (manufactured by Aesculap-Meditec, Jena, Germany), which coagulates the blood vessel rather than shattering it (as lasers with a green light do).

"There happen to be two very different categories of yellow light lasers," explained Dr Chess. ''What distinguishes them from each other is the length of the pulses of light that impinge on the skin." When a longer pulse laser (such as the Pro-Yellow) is used, it has the effect of coagulating the blood inside the vessel, turning it white in a fraction of a second

"I have been using the Pro-Yellow laser for some months and am using it more and more," said Dr Chess. "The only drawback it has is that it doesn't reach very far into the dermis." Dr Chess recommends that vessels within the top millimeter of the skin are treated most effectively.

"I own and use many different types of laserseveral green light and several yellow light lasers. I virtually never choose any of my green light lasers when I am treating capillaries or blood vessels."

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