Lasers can penetrate the surface of the skin to reach the deeper layers of the skin and can be used to eliminate excess pigmentation. They essentially focus photoacoustic and thermal energy on melanin and break it down into smaller particles. These particles can then be cleared by the body’s natural lymphatic system. Thermal energy also promotes collagen production and helps rejuvenate skin tissue. Lasers work at different wavelengths, or frequencies, each with the ability to target specific pigment colors and skin depths.
Choosing Picoway laser or Q-switched laser to remove pigmentation has become a popular trend nowadays, and when you have treatment needs, you must want to know which option is more suitable.
Q-switched lasers are non-invasive lasers that produce high-intensity pulsed beams with durations of billionths of a second. Due to the principle of selective photothermolysis, photoacoustic energy and thermal energy generated at high speed are absorbed by melanocytes, causing them to rapidly expand and break into tiny particles.
The Picoway laser is a newly developed laser with an even shorter pulse duration of a trillionth of a second. The laser emits ultra-short picosecond laser pulses, producing powerful energy. Because the Picosecond laser’s pulse frequency is much shorter than that of a nanosecond laser, it can utilize more photoacoustic energy to eliminate pigmentation.
Picoway lasers deliver energy in a trillionth of a second, while Q-switched lasers take a billionth of a second.
The picoway laser has ultra-fast pulses and ultra-high energy that crush pigments into smaller particles. Compared with Q-switched laser, picoway has advantages in treatment time and number of treatments.
Since the energy and pulse width of Picoway laser are much better than Q-switched laser, Picoway laser can break melanin into smaller and finer particles, which can better metabolize the human body. Although the Q-switched laser breaks down melanin very well, it is not as fine as the Pico laser, so it may take longer to achieve results when treating stubborn pigment.
Due to the physics involved in laser pigment removal, the faster the laser energy is delivered to the pigment, the more effective the pigment removal is, with less risk of complications and less pain. With the Picoway laser, there is less risk of tissue damage, making it safer.
