How Laser Is Shaping The Future Of Healthcare

With constantly ongoing medical research, the turn of every new year brings new developments across the industry as a whole. Laser treatment, in particular, is one area that has seen significant new technologies and treatment methods be introduced.

Over the past decade, laser has gone from being a somewhat controversial unknown to entering mainstream health care as a trusted solution for many ailments.

It is a Trusted Aesthetic Procedure

As far as skincare treatments are concerned, laser therapy is now essentially considered as being the “Godfather” of treatment options – the premium route to go down when other options have failed or been exhausted.

Lasers are used to resurface patients skin – treating dermatological conditions such as acne, acne scarring, and removal of wrinkles and signs of aging.

Lighter versions of the laser resurfacing procedure have been developed to minimize recovery time and the impact on the patient’s skin – to the point where this is barely even considered as being a surgical procedure anymore.

Similarly, lasers can be used to remove skin imperfections such as moles and beauty marks, therefore restoring confidence to many an image-conscious individual.

Since a person’s appearance and perceived attractiveness can have a huge impact on their mental well-being, the importance of lasers in skincare cannot be overlooked.

Lasers Can Diagnose Disease

The predominant focus of lasers in the healthcare industry is to use their heat and concentrate their focus on a small area or imperfection in order to destroy growths and make corrections, however, they can also be used to diagnose disease – specifically bone diseases such as osteoarthritis and brittle bone disease.   

In this recent development, the laser light is focused on the skin close to the bone that is causing concern. It is able to detect changes in the bone protein that previously were almost impossible to diagnose without the assistance of lasers. X Rays were previously used for such tests, but could not offer the same effectiveness of results.

This diagnostic tool is still in the process of being tested and tweaked, however, it will like likely completely shake up the healthcare industry, rendering invasive processes such as biopsies unnecessary

It is Being Used as an Option For Pain Relief

When people think of conditions that cause immense pain to the bearer, they usually assume that the only solution is extremely strong prescription painkillers or in the worse case scenarios, drugs like morphine.

Not only does laser provide an alternative pain relief option, it works to target the cause of the pain and fast track the healing process.

Laser Treatment is Being Used to Treat Cancer

It’s unfortunate that although cancer is one of the biggest killers of people in the US and the developed world today, there is still no cure. That said, medical professionals and researchers are coming along in leaps and bounds in their developments of treatments and medical advances.

Where more traditional treatments like chemotherapy still play a leading and important role in cancer treatment, lasers are entering into the picture as an equal also. There are a number of laser cancer treatment methods which are used to burn and destroy cancerous cells.

Lasers Destroy Skin Cancer Cells

Photodynamic Therapy is already being utilized across the developed world and targets cancers of the skin, combining lasers with medication to remove cancerous cells. The medicine that is used in conjunction with this makes the cancerous cells more sensitive to light, and therefore easier to destroy.

The use of photodynamic therapy is limited in terms of the number of cancers it can target and treat, however, developments are underway to expand the ways in which such treatment methods can fight cancer on a larger scale. The existence of such treatment methods shows that we are already halfway there.

Laser Can Help You See Again

Vision correction through laser therapy is not exactly a brand new development, however, the existence of this technology is still impressive. Laser eye correction can be used to correct a number of issues affecting a person’s vision – from nearsightedness to farsightedness and every step in between.

The process involves making a small incision into the patient’s cornea, then removing some of the tissue underneath using a laser. It doesn’t sound great for the squeamish, but the process is relatively straightforward and pain-free.

Laser Can Remove Unsightly Varicose Veins

Varicose veins are often assumed as an unsightly ailment that affects the elderly but the fact of the matter is, varicose veins can strike at any age, depending on lifestyle factors – particularly if an individual has poor blood circulation.

Varicose veins are red, angry looking veins that can be seen through the skin and generally have a somewhat spider-like appearance to them.

They generally only affect a person’s legs and are often triggered by staying in one position for an extended period of time (ie if your job requires you to stand around for hours) or alternatively, if you have a very sedentary job role.

Historically, vein stripping was performed to have the veins completely removed but now, EVLT (endovenous laser therapy) is the preferred choice which is much more fast, painless and non-invasive.