The pulsed dye laser or PDL has a long history of safety and efficiency in the treatment of cutaneous vascular lesion and other conditions. It has been used since the early 1980's and there are over 300 published scientific articles documenting its safety and efficiency.

Today the Vbeam is the latest advance in PDL technology. This unique laser offers longer pulse durations than previous pulsed dye lasers that allow effective treatment with minimal or no bruising and down-time.

The Vbeam is also equipped with the most advanced and effective skin cooling device, the Dynamic Cooling Device, that allows predictable and controlled cooling of the upper layer of skin. Thus darker skin types may be treated, treatments are less painful, and higher laser energies (fluences) may be safely used. Vbeam is used to treat a variety of conditions: rosacea, facial, neck and chest redness, broken blood vessels, sun damage, leg veins, keloids and hypertrophic scars, vascular birthmarks in children such as port-wine stains (capillary malformations) and hemangiomas (rapidly growing red lesions), warts, and stretch marks.

Usually 2 to 4 treatments are recommended. Treatments are done in the office and last 15 to 30 minutes. There may be mild pain with the treatment but no anesthesia is required. Occasionally, a topical numbing cream may be applied prior to the treatment. In areas with a lot of redness or blood vessels more of the laser energy is absorbed and thus these areas may be more painful during treatment. For children with large red birthmarks (port-wine stains), intravenous sedation may be required. This would be administered by an anesthesiologist in our adjacent operating suite.

Immediately following Vbeam laser treatment the area is red and may be mildly swollen. You may feel mild stinging, burning or heat in the area – this lasts a very short time and may be alleviated with ice packs. For most patients, the redness and swelling last less than 24 hours. Occasionally, the very mild swelling may last for several days. There may be a few spots of purple bruising. If these occur they will gradually fade in 5 – 7 days. The majority of patients return to normal activities immediately after treatment. In treatment of birthmarks (port-wine stains), bruising is more severe and the recovery time longer.

Vbeam video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2ONQYp3_T0

• Patients with facial redness, easy flushing or broken blood vessels
• Patient who suffer from rosacea
• Patients with redness or blotchiness on their neck and/or chest
• Patients with mild to moderate sun-damage and skin textural change
• Patients with vascular birthmarks including port-wine stains and hemangiomas
• Patients with thickened and/or red scars

The GentleYag Nd:Yag 1064 nm laser is best suited for treating larger blood vessels on the face and legs and is less well suited to treat rosacea or background redness. As with Vbeam, a cryogen spray is used to cool and protect the upper layer of skin during treatment. Usually 2 – 3 treatments are required. Treatments are mildly painful, but usually no anesthesia is required. After the treatment the area is slightly red and swollen. This usually lasts less than 24 hours but may occasionally last longer.

This laser may be used in combination with the Vbeam as the Vbeam treats smaller vessels and background redness very well and the GentleYag treats larger vessels without any darkening or bruising.