Skin tags, age spots, milia, and warts are all very common skin conditions that are unwanted and a source of embarrassment. Over-the-counter and do-it-yourself remedies often produce disappointing results.
The good news for men and women in the Greater Toronto Area is that safe, effective solutions for skin tag, mole, and wart removal are our specialty at Philosophy of Beauty. We use the leading-edge technology of CO2 resurfacing and the Fotona Nd: Yag & Erbium lasers which can substantially reduce and remove skin tags, plane warts, actinic keratosis, milia, epidermal nevi, seborrheic warts, and xanthelasma, without pain or unsightly scarring.
The CORE CO2 ablative laser is cleared for use in various medical specialties, including dermatology, plastic surgery, and gynecology. We love the versatility of CO2 for excisions, ablation, and resurfacing. Fractional CO2 uses a carbon dioxide laser pixelated into thousands of light micro shafts. These penetrate to precise skin depths while leaving surrounding skin bridges untouched. Tiny holes stimulate healing and skin strengthening from within. CO2 can be customised so precisely that very small targets like skin tags, or larger surface areas are easily treated.
Fotona SP Dynamis is a dual wave laser technology that treats superficial lesions and skin discolouration extremely well. The laser provides gentle skin resurfacing using a focused light beam to vaporize blemished, disordered cells. Through gentle ablation, new collagen and elastin are produced, and fresh, healthy cells are revealed. We use the Fotona laser to clear away pigmented lesions and textural issues while stimulating your natural skin healing process for a more even-toned complexion
Skin tags are small, soft, skin-colored tissue growths. They are comprised of loose collagen fibres and blood vessels surrounded by normal skin.
Skin tags are very common, harmless, and vary in colour or size. Although skin tags are most commonly found in areas of friction, such as on the neck, armpits, around the groin, or under the breasts, they may also appear on the eyelids or under the folds of the buttocks.
Skin tags are most likely to occur as we age. They can also appear in patients who are overweight or have type 2 diabetes. Sometimes, due to hormonal changes, such as during pregnancy, younger women may also develop skin tags. They can develop randomly in the skin folds where the skin rubs against itself most often.
Although skin tags do not usually cause pain or discomfort, people consider removing them if they are bothered by their appearance, or if they are snagging on clothing and jewelry which causes discomfort.
Our simple, effective skin tag removal with laser treatment involves a thin, highly focused beam of light. The depth of beam penetration can be adjusted on an individual basis. The laser quickly touches the skin tag, strategically destroying micro-thin layers of skin at the tag’s root, without harming surrounding tissue, thereby minimizing the risk of scarring.
Moles are very common, benign growths on the skin that are usually a shade of brown or black. They may appear anywhere on the skin, as a single mole or in clusters. Over time, some moles may become raised or change color. Hairs may also grow in moles.
The formation of Moles occurs when cells in the skin grow in a cluster rather than spread throughout the skin. These cells are called melanocytes, and they make the pigment that gives skin its natural color. Some moles darken after exposure to the sun, during puberty, or pregnancy. Congenital moles are moles that are present at birth, whereas, acquired moles usually appear during childhood and in early adult life.
Atypical moles, also known as dysplastic nevi, are larger than average in size and have an irregular shape. This type of mole tends to have uneven color with a dark brown centre and lighter, uneven edges. Dysplastic nevi are considered more likely to become melanomas.
Mole removal is a commonly performed procedure at Philosophy of Beauty and is generally quick and painless.
To remove moles with the Fotona or CO2 laser, the precise laser beam is passed over the mole. As the laser beam or pulsed light is selectively absorbed by the pigment of the mole, it breaks apart the pigment which causes the mole to be effectively destroyed and shed away, without ablating the surrounding skin. Pigment gradually collects at the surface and sloughs off after treatment. The result is not instant, but the effects can be seen over the following week.
Warts are benign skin growths caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Warts are usually skin coloured and have a raised appearance, but may also be dark, flat, or smooth.
Warts are formed when the virus encounters the skin and causes an infection. They are more likely to develop on broken skin, such as open hangnails or areas nicked by shaving. These open areas allow the virus to enter the top layer of the skin and because warts are highly contagious, hands and feet are commonly exposed. In particular, warts located on the feet can become extremely painful in shoes and limit a person’s ability to walk, run and play sports comfortably. Since their immune systems are less mature, children tend to develop warts much more often than adults.
The most common types of warts are:
Verruca Vulgaris – These warts are caused by an infection by a variety of DNA subtypes and HPV. This type of wart is usually found on the nails of the hands and feet.
Verruca Filiformis –These are warts comprised of elongated papillae and may appear on areas with thin skin such as the face and neck.
Periungual and Subungual warts – Indicate clusters of warts that form around and under the finger or toenail.
Plantar warts – These commonly affect the heels or balls of the feet and are hard or grainy in nature.
Although they are sometimes painful, people most often choose to remove warts due to their unsightly appearance. Using topical medications to treat warts can be ineffective because the thick layers of surface skin in wart locations make it hard for medicine to reach the virus that causes them.
Traditional, “freezing” methods are notoriously painful and often ineffective. As a result, Laser Wart Removal is gaining popularity for its efficacy in eliminating warts and the virus that causes them.
Lasers are the fastest, most effective way to remove warts and we use the Nd: Yag laser by Fotona to not only destroy the virus causing the wart but to cut off the blood supply beneath it as well, without damaging the surrounding skin.
Since the laser emits beams that target tissue with precision, layer by layer, it can precisely ablate the infected tissue and remove the wart from the inside out. Laser treatments for skin tags, moles, and warts are generally quick and do not require downtime or a recovery period. However, the number of treatments required to remove them, and their effectiveness, will vary on a case-by-case basis.
Thankfully, these spot treatments are some of the most straightforward and simplistic procedures we offer with minimal downtime associated in most cases. Depending on the size and extent of lesions treated, some patients see a complete removal, instantly, without any redness, scabbing, or skin healing to contend with. In cases of larger treatment areas or more significant lesions, you may need to protect and care for a small scab or rough/reddened area of skin while the natural healing process allows treated cells to slough off.
We will provide you with aftercare instructions and in most cases, patients see healthy new skin revealed where the lesion had been within 1-7 days.
Philosophy of Beauty invites you to schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our practitioners to customize your plan for clear, blemish-free skin. Conveniently located in Vaughan, we proudly service clients in the Thornhill and Greater Toronto Areas, helping them look and feel beautiful, naturally.