Like many new technologies the use of light for photorejuvenation purposes generates a lot of confusion about what is best, how it works, why it works, and the difference between the different devices out there. In past articles I’ve addressed some of the above points however what I’d like to accomplish in this series of articles is to clear up or remove the confusion surrounding lasers with regards to laser skin treatment and LED photo rejuvenation for the skin. In Part 1, I’ll focus on laser, pun intended!

We hear a lot about lasers these days, they’re in the news, talked about on the Internet, offered as facial treatments etc., but what is a laser? Well, the word itself is actually an acronym, coined in the 1960’s, and stands for, "Light Amplification by the Stimulation of Emitted Radiation," but don’t let those big words put you off. Let’s put that mouthful in very simple terms; lasers are devices that bounce light around in a tube that has mirrors at each end. The mirror at the end where the light exits is half the strength of the mirror at the opposite end of the tube. This allows the light to easily pass through making it a very focused beam. The surface area covered by this laser beam is very focused, and generally covers an area as small as a pinpoint and up to 3/16th on an inch when used in a photo rejuvenation device.

We read that Lasers are hot and can be used in industry to cut or burn through very hard materials, they’re used in dentistry now instead of drills, they’re used in medicine during surgery to cut and cauterize tissue and they can even be used as weapons by the military. So if they are that powerful how can they be used safely on the skin? Well, in the case of laser skin treatment, these lasers are used in very short bursts and feel like a rubber band snapping against the skin. When used in such short bursts, they cause micro injuries to the skin, that the body has to heal, resulting in fresher looking skin.

As a final note, realize there are different kinds of lasers, some are "Hot" and some are "Cool". For the purposes of this article we’ll limit our discussion to cool lasers. These lasers produce no heat and when applied to the skin they cause an effect by stimulating the metabolism of the skin cells through the process of photo stimulation. This in essence is LED photo rejuvenation.

In Part II we’ll discuss LED’s as a light source for skin photo rejuvenation.