Ilan Karavani: Nd:YAG - The Safest Laser for All Skin Type
The final result of a laser treatment is very much determined by the tissue interaction with the patient’s skin. It’s the reaction rather than the action that constitutes the treatment. The same parameters used on 10 different patients will yield 10 different reactions, and by consequence, 10 different end results. The experience of the practitioner is paramount in the assessment of the expected reaction, which is till now mainly based on his evaluation of prior cases. With this lecture today I would like to add another tool for evaluation, namely the YourSkinType© algorithm for skin typology.
Most discussions on therapeutic laser parameters are only dealing with the characteristics of the target and its chromophore. Little is said about the surroundings of the target, in our case the skin. Yet the surroundings are important, as Hippocrates once said: “It is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has.”
Our capacity to react depends on our skin type. This reaction is equal for the desired and for the undesired effects. Our body does not make the difference when it reacts, and it is not aware of what we desire.
Our definition of the skin type is defined by 8 major parameters: age (8 subgroups), gender, Fitzpatrick skin type, sensitivity – (capacity to react on stimuli), oiliness – (resistance and sebum content of the skin), hydration (water content of dermis and stratum corneum), pigmentation and wrinkles (microstructure, expression lines, loose skin, creases). Each of these parameters can be assessed in a reliable way by the YourSkinType© algorithm.
However, keep in mind that each parameter interacts with all the other parameters to determine the final reaction of the skin to any kind of influence.
We will discuss some influences of each parameter separately with respect to the side effects and the desired results.
