Everyone wants to be an ambitious young man, not a “young man with moles”, because some moles not only affect the face, but also may cause lesions, so it becomes more urgent to get rid of moles. Laser mole spotting is a more popular way to get rid of moles nowadays, because compared with drugs, chemicals and surgery, laser mole spotting has better effect and faster recovery, so many friends will go to beauty salons to consult this technology every holiday season in order to expect to “change the image”. But now there is a kind of picosecond laser with better effect and less damage! Both are lasers, what is the difference between the two? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? How do we choose? Don’t worry, let’s give you a good explanation! Although they are both lasers, but the way they work is different! Unlike the traditional selective photothermal action, the main action of the picosecond laser is photomechanical, not photothermal. When a picosecond laser acts on a target cell, it produces a “mechanical wave” on the target base, which instantly generates high energy to vaporize the cell, shattering the pigment particles in the cell into a complete dust state, which can be better taken up and metabolized by antigen-presenting cells, or change the physical properties of some pigment particles so that they do not show color. Laser mole spotting, on the other hand, is performed by using the high intensity beam of different colors of the laser, so that the different colors of the laser are absorbed by the skin, and the laser energy is used to disintegrate and vaporize the dye particles and close the blood vessels, and then the body absorbs the dye particles and eliminates them from the body, and the pigment then fades away. Different ways of action and different advantages! Since there are many lasers available for laser mole spotting, here we choose the more commonly used Q-modulated laser as an example. The Q-modulated laser mainly acts on melanin in the epidermis and dermis through thermal effect. Under its action, the fragments of melanin chromophores are larger, and after phagocytosis by macrophages, the refractive properties of pigment particles are changed, so there is a certain period of pigmentation. Moreover, although increasing the energy density or the number of treatment passes will increase the heat load in the target tissue and improve the efficacy, it will also increase the chance of complications (such as hypopigmentation and small textural changes), especially in people with darker skin tones. In contrast, the picosecond laser has a shorter pulse width and higher peak power, and its biological effect on the skin is mainly photomechanical. The mechanical impact generated by this photomechanical wave can completely disintegrate pigment particles with a wide range of diameters. The finer pigment particles produced after picosecond laser irradiation are more easily phagocytosed by macrophages, resulting in high pigment removal rates. In addition, picosecond lasers have a shorter duration of action than Q-modulated lasers, and require less laser energy than Q-modulated lasers. In addition, the thermal dispersion of surrounding tissues is less than that of Q-modulated lasers, so there is less damage to surrounding normal tissues, less pain for patients during treatment, and correspondingly less adverse reactions and shorter postoperative downtime. At this glance, picosecond is indeed better than laser mole removal! But this is only in the area where they intersect, such as treating benign pigmented diseases at the same time, if the treatment content is different, then we can’t force a comparison! After all, their indications are also different ~ picosecond laser picosecond is mainly used to remove tattoos, improve skin photoaging, and treat pigmented diseases, such as freckles, brown spots, chloasma, nevus of Ota, coffee spots, etc. Laser nevus, on the other hand, is more used to remove various moles that are suitable for laser treatment, without the function of improving skin photoaging. Finally, in terms of the price of the procedure, laser surgery for mole spotting will be relatively cheap, and the cost of picosecond is relatively high. So, how to choose, do you have a spectrum in your mind? But no matter if you have a spectrum in your heart or not, you must combine your own situation before making a decision, and don’t be blind. And we must choose to go to the regular hospital for treatment, the regular hospital doctors have a lot of clinical experience, safety and effectiveness will be more secure. After all, the body is their own, once the problem, the uncomfortable or themselves! References [1] Li Liang, Guan Xiaoyu, Bai Nan, Chen Yuanzheng. Advances in the clinical application of picosecond laser in skin aesthetics [J]. Chinese aesthetic medicine,2021,30(09):185-189. [2]Niu Yuan,Zhou Chenxi,Gao Lin. Application of picosecond laser in skin aesthetics[J]. Chinese Journal of Dermatology,2016,49(12):906-908.