There are many skin lesions or blemishes that seem to appear with time and ageing. The common lesions among the younger patients include syringomas, milia or sebaceous hyperplasia due to oily skin condition. They commonly occur around the eyes and appear like white or skin coloured nodules (seeds) on the skin. Among the older age group, seborrhoeic keratosis and multiple skin tags in the neck and face are common.
The seborrhoeic keratosis appears as thick brown patches of on the skin on the face and neck. Skin tags are skin coloured smooth fleshy lesions attached to the skin and usually pedunculated. Viral warts tend to have an irregular surface and verrucous appearance.
All these lesions are amenable to removal using a carbon dioxide laser vapourization. The procedure is done under topical anaesthetic cream. Local anaesthesia may be used as a supplement for some if the lesion is large and discrete. The procedure takes about 30-60 mins depending on the number of lesions to be removed. Post laser treatment, an antibiotic ointment is applied over the wound to promote healing without infection. Multiple scabs will develop over the next few days. Patients are advised to keep wound clean and dry to allow the faster healing. The average recovery time is about 1 week
