From the operating room to the exam room, lasers have taken hold as one of many tools doctors have at their disposal. Today lasers are used widely in a number of cosmetic procedures, as a tool to correct vision, and even as a way to treat some forms of cancer.

The word “laser” often conjures up sci-fi movie images of ray guns and violent explosions. Lasers used in medicine, however, are very different.
“It’s not like you see on TV, where the bright red beam of light sweeps across and cuts a tree in half,” said Dr Derek Boyden of Olympic Surgical Associates.

All lasers work by delivering energy in the form of light. Depending upon the procedure, the laser can cut or vaporize tissue that it comes in contact with, or heat a specific area of skin to cause the underlying collagen to tighten, or be programmed to target certain pigments, while leaving the surrounding area unharmed.

“A lot of the laser functions are computer-generated, so you can program the laser to deliver longer or shorter pulses of light over a wider or smaller area,” said Dr Boyden. “These changes cause the tissue to react differently, depending upon the result you are after.”

In the cosmetic arena, lasers are commonly used to remove unwanted hair, get rid of tattoos, zap away spider veins and broken blood vessels, fade birthmarks, or completely resurface the skin to remove wrinkles and eliminate scars.

LASIK, a laser eyesight correction procedure that is popular among athletes and average citizens alike, uses lasers to remove layers of cells within the eye to correct the patient’s vision.

Lasers also play a role in treating more serious diseases. Photodynamic therapy is a cancer treatment where a light-sensitive dye is injected into the patient. The dye attaches to tumor cells and then the tumor cells are exposed to laser light, which kills them. A similar injected dye and laser treatment is available for treating macular degeneration — an eye disease that can cause blindness.

Lasers are also used in treatments for ailments such as kidney stones and stomach ulcers.

One area of medicine where you are not very likely to see lasers in use is in dentistry.

“It hasn’t really caught on with most dentists,” said Dr Miranda Dageenakis of Costa and Dageenakis Family Dentistry in Port Orchard.

One reason for this may be that many of the procedures that dentists might use a laser for, such as removing gum tissue, can still be done effectively with older, but less costly, technology.

Procedures that utilize lasers are frequently less painful than alternative treatments. But patients seeking treatment, particularly cosmetic treatments, should not assume that means no down time at all. Laser treatments can still cause bruising or redness, and in the case of skin resurfacing, there is often scabbing. Patients with very light or very dark skin can sometimes experience abnormal pigmentation in the laser-treated area, and sun exposure can also cause abnormal pigmentation or slow healing.

Taking advantage of this technology usually comes with a fairly hefty price tag, as well. Patients interested in LASIK can expect to pay several thousand dollars for the treatment. Cosmetic procedures that use lasers frequently require patients to come in for several treatments, each of which may cost several hundred dollars.

Part of this high cost stems from the price of the lasers themselves. Doctors can easily spend $100,000 for a laser, and like many cutting edge technologies, lasers rapidly become obsolete.

“They’re like computers. You buy one and three weeks later they’re outdated,” said Dr Boyden.