For veins, generally, the skin looks slightly redder after the treatment for two to five days. Makeup can be used starting right after the treatment, as long as it is applied and removed very gently.

Rarely, there is bruising, which can take 1-2 weeks to resolve. For freckles and age spots, the spots generally look darker for 3-7 days.

Crusting can occur, which may last up to ten days. The lesions will then begin to clear and will generally be resolving at one month. Remember, it takes an average of 3-5 treatments to clear age spots.

The main side effects are mild, temporary swelling, redness, an accentuation of the brown spots, crusting, and an occasional bruise or small superficial blister (like a sunburn blister).

After your first treatment, you can expect to see some redness, darkening of brown spots, and light swelling. These symptoms will resolve in several hours to one week.

Makeup can be immediately applied, if desired. After the treatment, your skin will feel smoother and have a more even tone. A gradual decrease in overall redness, flushing, age spots, and fine lines will be more visible after each treatment.

You will wear special glasses or eye pads over your eyes to protect them. A cool gel is then placed on the skin being treated. The smooth glass surface of the hand piece is gently applied to your skin and pulses of light flash. You may feel a very slight sting, like the snapping of a small rubber band.

At the end of the treatment, the therapist wipes off the gel, cleans the area with a warm cloth, and applies a moisturizer with sunscreen.

If there is any mild swelling, you might be given a cold pack to apply for five or ten minutes. Most centres will let you reapply foundation or concealer immediately after a treatment.

The light bypasses the outer layer of skin (the epidermis) and gently heats the cells in the deeper layer of skin (dermis).

These cells, called fibroblasts, start to produce more collagen, which improves texture and fine wrinkles.

The device emits a range of light waves that are then tuned and targeted at haemoglobin (the red blood cells in the blood vessels) or melanin (the brown pigment in freckles and age spots). 

The light beam passes through the skin and is absorbed by either haemoglobin or melanin resulting in damage to the vessel wall or fragmenting of melanin pigment. 

There may be mild discomfort during the treatment, but most patients tolerate removal of dilated blood vessels or age spots/freckles and fine lines very easily.

The first treatment is usually the “zingiest.” As your skin begins to clear, the treatments usually become even more comfortable. Treatments usually take 30-90 minutes, depending on the size of the treatment area.