Is Pico Laser Toning Right For Your Skin?

Pico Laser Toning (usually just called Pico Toning) is a great treatment for improving skin discolorations, reducing pores, reducing the appearance of acne scars, improving skin texture,  rejuvenation of the skin and more. It uses ultra-short pulses of laser light (a picosecond duration) to deliver tightly-focused laser energy to the upper layers of your skin. Pico toning is different from other lasers because the ultra-short pulses of the pico laser don't cause the heating (and sometimes burning) of epidermal layers around the target zone. You can get great results without a lot of pain.

The energy focused into the top layer of the skin can break up pigment that has settled, but also can encourage the reproduction of collagen in the lower layers of the skin. The end result of a pico toning laser treatment is a reduction of surface skin problems like pigmentation as well as improvement in  texture, tone, and acne scarring. Patients also see a reduction in wrinkles due to collagen production.

Pico Toning shows great results and is safe for all skin types, but those with the best results typically have darker skin tones. It’s also a great treatment to do while busy, as there is minimal downtime and you can resume activities (with some precautions!) on the same day.

Pico Laser Toning Treatments can be used for:

• Pigmentation – Melasma, brown spots, sun spots, age spots and freckles
• Pore reduction
• Acne scars
• Rosacea
• Fine lines and wrinkles
• Tattoo removal

Pico Toning differs from other lasers in that a “PicoLaser” is a pigment laser that is able to fire “picosecond”, or one-trillionth of a second, laser beams.

Even amongst the various brands of picosecond lasers, there are differences in pulse duration – ranging between 450 picoseconds to 750 picoseconds -- which are varied based on treatment type or the patient's skin condition.

These short pulses are able to “shatter” the pigment ink in your skin, allowing it to lift and be removed by your body’s immune system naturally. Picosecond lasers utilize shorter, precise picosecond pulses which means that surrounding tissues won’t be damaged by heat from each laser beam.

Hence, pigment removal treatments using a picosecond laser are safer with lower risks of side-effects like hyper pigmentation.

Pico Laser Toning can improve wrinkles and skin texture by encouraging the production of collagen under the first layer of the skin. The skin typically rushes to produce more collagen when there is any abrasion, such as laser beams. This is how pico lasers can improve skin texture, tighten pores, and improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

A study done in 2015 performed picosecond pulse duration laser with specialized optic for treatment of facial acne scarring on 15 women and 5 men. They published their results: 

“Treatment of facial acne scars with a diffractive lens array and 755-nm picosecond laser produced improvement in appearance and texture at 3 months after the last treatment, with objective findings similar to those published for a series of fractional ablative laser treatments. The mean pain score was 2.83 of 10. Patients were “satisfied” to “extremely satisfied” with improvement in appearance and texture at their final treatment and follow-up visits...Histologic findings suggest that improvement in scarring from this treatment goes beyond remodeling of collagen.”