Birthmarks come in different sizes, shapes and colours and can appear anywhere on the body, although it is more common to find them on the face. They are usually present from birth, and can be divided into two broad groups: those caused by excessive pigmentation (café au lait spots, moles etc.) and those caused by abnormal formation of blood vessels in the skin (strawberry birthmarks, port wine stains etc.).
At The Laser Treatment Clinic, we use Intense Pulsed Light to cause birthmarks to fade away, and a course of treatment can achieve impressive results. The IPL system produces short but very intense pulses of light, which are applied to the skin affected by the birthmark.
The paler skin surrounding the birthmark is unaffected by this light, but the areas containing excess pigmentation or blood vessels (and therefore, haemoglobin) absorb the energy from the light, causing the temperature to rise.
The pigment in pigmented birthmarks fragments and disintegrates once it reaches a certain temperature, thus allowing the body to remove it from the site. The blood vessels in haemangioma denature once they reach this temperature and start to dissolve.
IPL offers a safe and non-invasive form of birthmark removal that causes the birthmark to fade away and improve in appearance over the course of treatment.
