It is often difficult for women of color to find effective skin treatments, as many of these procedures affect the skin's melanin and can cause hyperpigmentation or discoloring of the skin. In the last years, great strides have been made towards treatments for those with dark skin that can both provide improvement in signs of aging and scars as well as maintain patient safety.
New York dermatologist Dr. Doris Day visits with the cast of The View today to discuss the treatments that are available now for women of color. She points out that having skin of color is a term that applies to everyone with some color in their skin, or as she says, "any skin that's not white." Dr. Day recommends two lasers for treating skin of color, the Candela Vbeam and the Syneron eMatrix.
The eMatrix from Syneron uses radio frequency (RF) to deliver energy to the skin. By avoiding the use of light, the RF energy heats and stimulates the growth of collagen safely, without fear of hyperpigmentation. The eMatrix is a color blind treatment that can be used on all skin types.
The Vbeam is a pulsed dye laser, and according to the manufacturer, it is useful for treating rosacea, pigmented lesions, scars and age spots. It also works well for keloid scars to both flatten and reduce their appearance.
