About a month ago, I went to the dermatologist because I had something on my right upper arm which looked just like some kind of warts. I had those since childhood, back then I was told they would go away sooner or later. Well, obviously they didn't, so I went to see the Doc.
He told me those weren't exactly warts, but some weird kind of nevus (didn't get the exact name), which just had an optically negative effect. He asked me if I wanted to have them removed, and told me of the opportunity of using advanced laser technology (long live the technocracy). The usual way to have something like what I had removed was just cutting it away, which would definitely leave scars - exchanging one evil for another. Doc enlightened me with the pros and cons of a using a laser (using too much power might also scar the skin for good, and might also result in cancer, using too little power might result in the nevus regenerating). My mom had made good experience with laser technology on her own, so I took the chance - I had to put my name on some paper which also clarified the dangers of laser use, but I usually trust modern technology, and had no problems with that.
After some time spent waiting - which I used to move myself into a really relaxing position on that chair (you know, like one of those at a dentist's) and admiring the seemingly outer simplicity of the laser tool - the surgery began.
I had to put on some protective goggles (safety first). Doc gave me some shots of local chemical anaesthesia, and switched on the tool of beaming (which had a laser pointer similar to those sniper rifles, by the way). Well, how shall I describe the feeling of being penetrated by laser beams ? Due to the drugs, it didn't hurt (well, one point seemingly wasn't enough anaesthesiated; that one really felt like burning), but it smelled quite funny - well, it actually smelled just like something burned, nothing really extraordinary (besides the fact that it was my own skin I was inhaling), though that smell lasted on me till evening. The real experience was to witness you own skin changing the color where the laser hit with cracking sound.
The total charge for the whole fun was 50 € (which include the mandatory 10 € Praxisgebühr there is in Germany).
The healing process (yes, lasers leave wounds behind) lasted about 2 - 3 weeks, because laser wounds are superficial, like abrasions; I could remove most of the bandages after 3 days, the rest was, as expected, already adhered to the scurf, but went off after one and a half week or so. The skin is still a bit pink where the weapon hit, though.
All in all, I can say I am quite content with the results. The fruits of work and research in technology pay off indeed.
