Why you should say no to laser and IPL during summer

Sun spots and freckles are a common pain point for many people – especially if you’ve spent your fair share of time in the sun when you were younger. Luckily, laser and intense pulse light devices offer an effective and safe solution for minimising their appearance, with minimal downtime.

That said, it’s imperative that you avoid laser during  summer when the UV levels are higher. Why you ask? Read on to find out.

What causes sunspots and freckles?

Before we dive into laser treatments, we need to understand what causes sunspots and freckles in the first place.

Everyone knows we tan more in summer than in winter (for those of us who do tan), and it often happens even when we aren’t trying to (not that we should be trying to).

Why? Well, partly because it’s simply hard to avoid the sun – whether it be at the beach, at outdoor BBQs, Christmas gatherings or just running from the car to the house with our groceries.

Another reason we tan so well in Summer, and to some extent Spring, is because there are higher UV levels in the atmosphere (check the SunSmart app for a daily UV update!). UV exposure excites the melanocytes – or the pigment cells – in our skin and stimulates them to produce pigment or melanin, which turns our skin brown. Aka makes us tan!

The higher the UV and the longer the exposure, the more melanin is produced.

How does tanning lead to sun spots?

 Apart from the fact that UV is the proven culprit in skin cancer, it also worsens existing pigment in the skin, causing melasma, sun spots and freckles. These don’t look so bad – until your background tan fades and they become a lot more prominent (hello, winter!)

Why laser is an effective treatment for sun spots?

Lasers can work at several different light wavelengths – depending on what skin concern you have.  When targeting pigment the laser is set to a wavelength that specifically targets the skin cells melanocytes (melanin).  Lasers are very direct and targeted – so when treating the spot it will target the melanocytes, whilst leaving the other areas on the skin untreated.

While we should be protecting our skin with SPF50+ year round, many of us have damaged skin from years spend in the sun as a child. The good news is that laser and other beauty therapies can help. These work by settling down the cells that produce pigment, and inhibit more pigment production. The two combine help soften pigment - but not entirely rid the spots.

That said, you should never book a laser treatment in summer.

Here’s why you don’t use a laser in summer

 1.     The skin is generally more  tanned or coloured: The laser may find it hard to detect what is ‘normal’ tanned skin and what is the ‘abnormal’ brown sun that it aims to treat. This means that the laser may inadvertently remove pigment from your golden brown pins – yikes!

2.      It’s vital you avoid sun exposure after a laser treatment: And lets face it (pun intended) – this is difficult during the summer months. Why is it imperative you sunscreen up post-treatment and avoid the sun at all costs? Laser treatment followed by sun has the potential to re-excite the pigment in the treated areas, leading to a nasty problem called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (also hypo-pigmentation). This means an increase or decrease in pigment – the opposite of what you are trying to achieve and making matters worse, rather than better.

What you should be doing in summer to reduce skin spots

In summer, think sunscreen sunscreen sunscreen in order to prevent worsening skin spots – every day, all day, especially in the heat bubble that is Perth!

To help treat skin spots, avoid lasers until March. Instead, dive head first into topical skin care antioxidants.  Antioxidants are great for binding to environmental stressors that can irritate the skin which can lead to skin changes.  Some antioxidants can also send messages to the pigment cell (melanocytes) to tell them to shhhhhhh and decrease the melanin production– therefore decreasing pigment production. 

Not sure what skincare to use for pigment over summer? Book in for a consultation with experienced cosmetic nurse, Brooke, to create a bespoke plan made especially for you.