1. What Happens to the Skin After Phototherapy?
Phototherapy is a technique that utilizes energy such as light (such as lasers, intense pulsed light), sound (such as focused ultrasound), and electricity (such as radio frequency) to precisely target different layers of the skin, thereby achieving skin treatment or cosmetic goals.
Its core is to apply different forms of energy to target tissues, convert the absorbed energy into thermal energy, and produce local tissue damage or stimulation effects, thereby restarting skin repair, regeneration, and remodeling.
However, energy is also a double-edged sword. On the other hand, the thermal effect can also cause capillary dilation, leading to postoperative erythema and swelling. At the same time, excessive reactive oxygen species generated during treatment may trigger oxidative stress and subcutaneous inflammation, which will further lead to lipid peroxidation of the epidermal layer, weaken the skin barrier function, and clinically manifest as symptoms such as pigmentation, postoperative skin dryness, desquamation, and sensitivity.
To deal with the dark side of energy, current postoperative care in clinical practice mainly relies on immediate cold spray/wet compress and medical dressings to alleviate acute symptoms, which is difficult to cover the complete repair cycle of the skin. It is urgent to introduce a systematic and multi-stage skin care plan.
2. Scientific Repair: Integrated Skincare Strategy After Photoelectric Treatment
In the preoperative stage care such as moisturizing and barrier repair provides a stable skin foundation for phototherapy. Anti inflammatory and antioxidant ingredients can optimize the initial state of the skin and increase the skin’s tolerance threshold.
Immediately after treatment, the microchannels formed in the skin due to treatment can enhance the permeability and efficacy of active ingredients. Timely use of antioxidants can reduce oxidative stress and postoperative erythema, which is of great clinical significance for preventing post inflammatory pigmentation that is easily induced by photoelectric projects.
During the postoperative home maintenance period, in addition to focusing on barrier repair and sun protection, effective protection and stimulation of skin collagen regeneration can consolidate and enhance the long-term effects of phototherapy. Home care of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and other active ingredients is also a very important part of perioperative management, which can safeguard the skin condition of phototherapy and improve the overall treatment effect.
2.1 Pre Project Skin Preparation
- Moisturizing, Antioxidant, and Sun Protection
The non-invasive medical beauty program provides home care such as moisturizing, antioxidant, and sun protection before treatment, which can optimize the initial state of the subject’s skin and prevent adverse reactions such as pigmentation.
Preoperative use of moisturizing and antioxidant skincare products (containing active ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, ceramide, and vitamin C/E) can alleviate dry and tight skin, repair skin barriers, maintain skin elasticity, and prevent wrinkle formation. The use of effective skincare products with whitening and sun protection effects (containing active ingredients such as anti UVA, anti UVB, and tranexamic acid) can prevent adverse reactions such as pigmentation.
2.2 Immediately After the Project
- Antioxidant Properties
After phototherapy, excessive reactive oxygen species in the skin can induce oxidative stress, leading to adverse changes in skin color and texture. This process is often accompanied by PIH, and its mechanism mainly involves oxidative stress activating melanocytes, enhancing tyrosinase activity, and accelerating melanin synthesis and transport.
Antioxidants represented by vitamin C can directly neutralize free radicals, reduce the production of reactive oxygen species, alleviate oxidative stress damage, and lower the risk of PIH. Research shows that the immediate use of vitamin C and E essence after treatment can significantly improve the occurrence of postoperative skin erythema and the level of oxidative stress, thus preventing the increase of melanin production caused by postoperative skin inflammation, and effectively reducing the risk of postoperative pigmentation.
- Soothing and Fading Redness
After phototherapy, the use of effective skincare products containing anti-inflammatory, soothing, moisturizing and other active ingredients can further improve the inflammatory response, reduce discomfort such as redness, swelling, and burning caused by stimulation, especially suitable for projects such as intense pulsed light (IPL) with a wide spectrum and dispersed energy.
Plant active ingredients usually have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, such as cucumber extract, which not only has anti-inflammatory properties, but also has cooling, soothing, swelling reducing, and healing effects. Hyaluronic acid, as a potent moisturizing ingredient (high molecular weight water locking, low molecular weight deep moisturizing), can synergistically enhance moisturizing ability and restore skin vitality.
2.3 Home Maintenance After the Project
- Barrier Repair
Optoelectronic projects can damage the skin barrier centered around the stratum corneum to varying degrees, and delayed repair may lead to adverse events such as persistent erythema, pigmentation, scars, etc. The integrity of the skin barrier depends on the precise ratio (approximately 1:1:1 molar ratio) and ordered arrangement of ceramides, cholesterol, and free fatty acids in the stratum corneum. Imbalance in ratio can disrupt the lipid layered structure and lead to barrier dysfunction.
Proper supplementation of ceramides and other components after optoelectronic projects can promote the reconstruction of layered structures, strengthen barrier function, and enhance skin toughness.
- Whitening and Sun Protection
After phototherapy, oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions can lead to abnormal synthesis and distribution of melanocytes, resulting in PIH, which is particularly common in Asian populations. Ultraviolet radiation is a common triggering and exacerbating factor for PIH. Therefore, sun protection is a key link in the perioperative period of phototherapy, which can reduce the immediate inflammatory response caused by ultraviolet radiation and lower the risk of postoperative diseases such as PIH.
Using broad-spectrum sunscreen containing ingredients such as cresol triazole siloxane can provide long-lasting and effective UV protection. At the same time, when combined with ingredients such as tranexamic acid (which inhibits melanin production), it can ensure postoperative skin repair and health through multiple pathways, and achieve whitening and sun protection effects.
- Anti Glycation
The radio frequency optoelectronic project uses precise thermal energy to act on the dermis and subcutaneous tissues, initiating the skin’s self repair mechanism, promoting collagen tissue remodeling and regeneration, improving skin laxity, and enhancing firmness. However, newly formed collagen will still be lost due to various factors, and glycation reaction is one of the important mechanisms.
By cross-linking collagen and abnormal degradation of collagen, it can lead to decreased skin elasticity, dullness, and so on. Therefore, while promoting collagen regeneration through radiofrequency projects, it is necessary to simultaneously inhibit the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) to reduce collagen glycation loss.
Bose Einstein can promote the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans and collagen production in the dermis, exerting a repairing and improving skin elasticity effect. Flavonoids can inhibit the formation of AGEs and reduce collagen glycation loss. When combined with medical beauty projects, they can reduce collagen glycation loss and promote collagen regeneration, delaying endogenous skin aging.
- Anti-aging
Some active ingredients with anti-aging effect are increasingly widely used in skin care products, and have become an important strategy to enhance the efficacy of photoelectric projects and optimize postoperative repair. Among them, recombinant collagen and peptides have attracted much attention due to their high specificity, biocompatibility, and diverse mechanisms of action.
Type III collagen is an important component for maintaining skin softness, elasticity, and firmness. As age increases, its synthesis ability decreases, and the rate of loss is much greater than the rate of generation, inducing skin laxity and the formation of wrinkles.
Recombinant type III humanized collagen has high human compatibility and biological activity. Exogenous supplementation can promote fibroblast proliferation, migration, and collagen secretion, supplement dermal support structures, and delay skin aging. Biomimetic peptides such as snake venom peptides provide new ideas for improving dynamic wrinkles through unique neuromuscular regulation mechanisms.
3. Integrated Skincare: Leading the New Stage of Optoelectronic Perioperative Management
With the popularization of phototherapy, relying solely on equipment operation is no longer sufficient to fully meet the needs of beauty seekers for safe recovery and long-lasting effects. The proposal of the integrated skincare concept provides a systematic solution for the perioperative period of optoelectronic projects.
This concept emphasizes the combination of clinically proven effective skincare products with phototherapy, and through scientific care throughout the entire process of preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care, helps beauty seekers shorten the recovery period, reduce the risk of adverse reactions, and prolong the duration of therapeutic effects.
