THE PROCEDURE Lasers are used in a variety of ways. An ablative laser will give you a peel and burn off surface layers of skin. A non-ablative laser is used to give a form of face-lift, minimising wrinkles, increasing collagen production and tightening skin. Intense pulsed light (IPL) is used for hair removal and to treat pigmentation and blood vessels. It takes only a few minutes and requires only a topical anaesthetic cream.

TIME TO HEAL IPL and non-ablative laser treatment usually require no downtime, although there may be some redness. Ablative laser treatments can leave darkened areas for 7-10 days.

RISK FACTORS Pigmentation, especially on darker skins, scars and blotches. IPL can cause scars, so requires a trained specialist.

HOW LONG IT LASTS Light treatments usually involve three or more sessions. Deeper lasers may zap a brown spot in one go, but skin-tightening procedures with non-ablative lasers require more.

WHO TO GO TO Susan Mayou, The Lister Hospital, Chelsea Bridge Road, SW1; 020 7824 5560. Neil Walker, The Lister Hospital, as before; 01993 832823.

COSTS Fees vary by device, and range from £250 to £500 per area per treatment; several treatments are usually required.

OPTIMUM AGE Your thirties are a good time to start, although earlier would be appropriate for imperfections or skin conditions that require treatment, such as rosacea, acne or melasma.

THREAD VEINS

THE PROCEDURE These red, squiggly lines appear on the face, legs, nose, chest and arms. Those on the face can be treated with IPL; elsewhere, injections of various solutions (including salt water and detergent) and/or laser therapy can be used to zap the vein and cause it to collapse. Electrolysis can work, too. Thread veins appear mainly near the surface of the skin, whereas deeper veins, often blue or purplish, appear on the legs. The energy emitted by the laser is absorbed by the redness of the blood in the veins — although only one in three leg veins responds to lasers. Over time, the closed-off vein will be absorbed and disappear.

TIME TO HEAL Some swelling and redness for a couple of weeks.

RISK FACTORS Infection, swelling, bruising, scarring, discoloration and recurrence of veins.

HOW LONG IT LASTS Veins may disappear permanently, but new ones could appear.