Lasers Promising Against Birthmarks
Lasers are having some success in the removal of birthmarks, but a more powerful beam may be needed where skin is thicker, researchers say.
In more than half of the children treated with argon lasers, the marks either disappeared or were greatly reduced, surgeon Bruce Achauer reports in the November issue of the Western Journal of Medicine.
Birthmarks are an abnormal growth of blood vessels, Achauer said. There is no known cause, and some should be left alone, he said.
Achauer, an associate professor at University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine, said differing thicknesses of skin could be a reason for mixed results. Marks on the nose and lips, where skin is thicker, did not respond well.
More Efficient Type
Dr. David Apfelberg, director of the Comprehensive Laser Center of Palo Alto Medical Foundation, said another type of laser may be more efficient on prominent marks.
The stronger laser, operating on a different light wavelength, penetrates farther into the skin, he said. He and Achauer are continuing treatments with the stronger laser.
Although it is unclear exactly how lasers cure birthmarks, it is thought that the argon laser, with its superficial action, begins a clotting effect. Doctors believe that clotting speeds the body’s natural healing process.
Laser treatment, which can be performed quickly and inexpensively, is recommended when a birthmark occurs around an eye, where it can damage vision, or when the mark is so noticeable that it will traumatize a child.
Luanne Kerr of Corona, mother of a laser patient, said her 3-year-old son, Jason, had faced humiliation in school because of his birthmark.
‘Weirdest Looks’
“It was a real deformity,” she said. “I had the weirdest looks from people. . . . They would say things like, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ . . .
“I’m a preschool teacher, and I know how kids are. They can be mean. If there’s anything different about a child, his haircut or his clothes, they’ll tease him,” she said.
However, Jason is among at least 23 California children whose birthmarks were removed with laser treatment. Achauer said that of 13 youngsters he treated, eight had the marks completely removed or greatly reduced and five showed little success.
Apfelberg, who has tried the laser on 10 children since 1981, said the treatment is an outgrowth of laser use for more common birthmarks.
“We’ve studied our results and the laser doesn’t produce any worse scarring or result than formed naturally and it cuts the time from five to seven years to three to five months,” Apfelberg said.
