{"id":17544,"date":"2020-11-19T16:23:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T00:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/?p=17544"},"modified":"2023-10-05T11:40:14","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T18:40:14","slug":"what-distinguishes-lasers-from-hot-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/what-distinguishes-lasers-from-hot-tools","title":{"rendered":"Not Every Device is a Laser. Here\u2019s How True Lasers Differ From 5 Other Popular Pro Tools."},"content":{"rendered":"

With beauty gurus of all kinds contributing content galore, social media has become an amazing educational mecca for skin nerds—and we are here for it. But lately, the word nerd in us has noticed more and more experts using the term laser <\/em>to refer to any and all manner of energy-based derm devices. While it irks us more than it probably should, we do understand this urge to group gadgets together under a familiar umbrella. After all, the catalogue of tissue-altering technologies (to oversimplify the scope of these machines) is constantly expanding, with each innovation stretching our beauty lexicon to the brink. One week, we’re talking high-intensity focused electromagnetic energy for muscle toning; the next, it’s fractionated radiofrequency microneedling for collagen remodeling. So yeah, “lasers,” we get it—but we’re still sticklers for semantics. Ahead, dermatologists clarify the differences between true lasers and the many other energy-based tools they reach for daily. <\/p>

What makes a laser a laser?<\/h2>

Its name, for starters: laser<\/em> is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. (Radiation, in this sense, simply implies energy traveling as rays or particles; laser radiation is very different from the ionizing<\/a> kind associated with X-rays and radioactive materials.) Unlike ordinary light, which is made up of many wavelengths, or colors, the beam emitted by a laser is monochromatic. “A laser uses a single wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum, usually in the visible light or infrared range,” explains Dr. Omar Ibrahimi<\/a>, a board-certified dermatologist in Stamford, Connecticut. <\/p>

Because laser beams are tight and narrow, their energy is concentrated and can be used to seek and destroy specific targets with precision and predictability—and “without causing significant thermal damage to the surrounding skin,” says Dr. DiAnne Davis<\/a>, a board-certified dermatologist in Dallas. <\/p>

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A post shared by Mathew Avram MD (@mathew_avrammd)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>