LASERS - THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
With any laser treatment, it is best to avoid sun exposure two weeks prior to treatment, during the course of treatment and for as long as your doctor recommends after treatment is complete. Lasers react to pigment, and if your skin has excess pigment, you risk the potential for burns. Unprotected sun exposure may or may not have contributed to your condition, but it can certainly affect your results.

In addition, some treatments require preparation of the skin in advance. For example, don't wax, tweeze or epilate before laser hair removal. Two or three days before the procedure, shave the area to be treated and allow it to grow to a stubble. With non-ablative rejuvenation treatments, you may want to consider microdermabrasion or a chemical peel just prior to laser treatment to enhance the light's ability to pass through the skin.

Ablative lasers have additional considerations, many similar to those of surgery. You may be restricted from taking certain medications, herbs and vitamins that inhibit healing and advised to stop smoking. In addition, whether ablative resurfacing is your only treatment or it is part of a surgical rejuvenation, your doctor may request medical clearnace from a primary care physician to be certain you have no underlying health conditions that could be compromised by anesthesia.