The use of soft or cool beam lasers has received some publicity and has been advertised by esthetic salons throughout North America and Europe. There is, however, no evidence to show that soft beam lasers permanently reduce wrinkles, as do surgical facelifts.

Medical lasers, such as the carbon dioxide laser, are surgical tools used to alter the skin by cutting or vaporizing. Soft lasers, which include gallium arsenide and helium neon, are not surgical lasers. They are light beams that enter the superficial layers of the skin causing some mild changes. Inflammation and subsequent edema (accumulation of fluid in the tissue) may actually make wrinkles temporarily less obvious because the fluid puffs them up. It is debatable whether the soft laser light enters the second layer of the skin to alter the collagen building block metabolism. More research is needed in this area. if it is determined that it does alter tissue it would be considered a medical instrument and cosmetic salons could no longer use them.

The soft laser light is often accompanied by an electrical impulse that contributes to further inflammation and accumulation of fluid in the tissue. It may also cause a temporary spasm of the muscles giving the appearance and sensation of tightness to the face, but this is only temporary.

Some soft lasers give the sensation of a single, brief, mildly uncomfortable pulse or wave of pulses that starts gently, reaches a peak, and then dies out. Others are completely painless. If the soft laser beam is accompanied by an electrical pulse, it is usually mildly uncomfortable. The treatments are generally given in 5 to 10 minute intervals for at least 20 sessions. .