Can Laser Dark Spot Removal Address Years of Sun Damage?

The pigment in your skin doesn’t just give it its unique color, it helps protect your skin from damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sun exposure and other UV sources, like tanning beds. If you’ve spent a lot of time soaking in the sun’s warmth, you might notice unwanted dark spots or patches in the areas where exposure is greatest.

Fortunately, Yamuna Gurrapu, MD, Jenine Referente, FNP, and the team at North Texas Med360 have a solution: laser treatment designed to fade those pesky spots without surgery or downtime. Here’s how it works.

Sunlight and skin damage

Before delving into how lasers can help fade sunspots and other areas of hyperpigmentation, it’s important to understand how sun damages your skin in the first place. While you might think it's the sun's warmth that’s damaging your skin, most damage is caused by something you can’t feel: ultraviolet radiation.

When UV rays are absorbed into your skin, it triggers the production of melanin, the pigment responsible for skin color and tanning. In fact, when you develop a tan, it’s a sign that your body has been overexposed to the sun, forcing it to take extra steps to try to protect itself.

If UV exposure is small and infrequent, your skin can usually protect itself by producing more melanin. But repeated or prolonged exposure can cause melanin to build up unevenly, leading to dark spots, freckles, and blotchy areas of pigmentation.

Beyond discoloration, UV exposure also accelerates the aging process by breaking down collagen and elastin in the skin. These proteins keep your skin firm, smooth, and elastic. When they degrade, you’re far more likely to develop lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin. This is called photoaging, and it causes as much as 90% of visible changes in our skin. 

Lasers and sun-damaged skin

While we can get a sunburn in a short period of time, the deeper damage that affects skin’s pigmentation and structure can take longer to develop. That’s why we often don’t see the effects of hours spent soaking in the sun until we reach our 40s or older.

Lasers help remove stubborn dark spots with focused beams of intense light energy. When applied to your skin, light energy is absorbed into darker pigmented areas, heating it just enough to break apart pigments without harming the surrounding tissue. Over time, your body eliminates the fractured pigment pieces naturally, leaving clearer skin behind. (Bonus: Laser energy also stimulates collagen and elastin development, helping skin feel smoother and firmer, too.)

There’s no downtime after laser treatment, but you might experience some flaking in the days afterward as old, damaged skin makes way for new, healthy skin beneath. It’s also critically important to wear sunscreen and avoid direct sun exposure while your skin heals to protect your skin and prevent irritation.

Your skin deserves special treatment

Laser treatment is just one way we can help your skin look its best. We also offer chemical peels and advanced facials to help rejuvenate and restore skin, warding off sun damage and age-related changes for a more beautiful complexion. 

To learn more about laser therapy or any of the other treatments, we offer, request an appointment online or over the phone with the team at North Texas Med360 in Frisco, Texas, today.