Dark Spot Laser Treatment Seoul: The Aftercare Decides It

The crust does not form immediately. A PicoSure-treated spot usually darkens first, then develops a fine crust around days five to seven, which lifts on its own over the days after that. A fractional Pico Fraxel area sheds a light bronzing over the first day or two instead. The single rule for this window is to leave every speck alone until it drops by itself, because a crust removed early is the most common cause of a lingering mark.

That is expected and it is a sign the pass worked. The picosecond energy fractures the melanin, and the fragments rise toward the surface before they clear, so the spot briefly looks darker and forms a crust before it fades. By the end of week one roughly a fifth to a third of the pigment has visibly cleared, and the fuller fade builds over the following weeks. It is the fragments leaving, not the spot getting worse.

Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, or PIH, is new darkening the skin produces in response to the treatment itself, not to the original spot, and it is more common in deeper skin phototypes. RE:BERRY Gangnam manages it before the laser, not after: a patch test behind the ear checks how your skin reacts, and Fitzpatrick IV-VI skin runs a 3% tranexamic-acid course for ten to fourteen days beforehand. Immediate cooling and a barrier cream after the pass keep the inflammatory signal low.

It is the part of the aftercare with the strongest evidence behind it. Ultraviolet and even visible light re-stimulate the melanin the laser just cleared, so daily SPF 50+ and thirty days without direct sun protect the result more than any cream applied to the spot itself. A randomized trial found that sunscreen covering both UV and short-wavelength visible light meaningfully reduced pigment relapse. At RE:BERRY Gangnam the sun rule is written on your aftercare plan as a prescription, not a suggestion.

It depends on the pass. After a PicoSure session on shallow spots makeup is usually fine at around twenty-four hours once any pinkness settles, but not over a crust that is still forming or lifting. A fractional area waits until the flaking finishes. Genesis toning has almost no downtime, so makeup goes back on after roughly six hours. When in doubt, keep the treated area bare and moisturized until the physician's timeline says otherwise.

Hold off on retinoids and exfoliating acids for seven to fourteen days, skip sauna and hot yoga for at least forty-eight hours, and do not scrub, pick, or exfoliate the treated area at all. Keep the skin moisturized with the ceramide repair cream, wear SPF 50+ every day, and stay out of direct sun. The theme across all of it is the same: keep the barrier calm and undisturbed while the pigment clears on its own schedule.

Surface spots brighten first, within the first week or two as the crust lifts. Dermal pigment and melasma fade more gradually across the full three-to-six session course, with sessions spaced three to four weeks apart. Half to two-thirds clearance is commonly seen once the course finishes, and the picosecond energy adds a modest smoothing to the treated skin. Response speed varies by individual, and the physician reads your progress against baseline photos at each visit.

The two-week review is where recovery is read, not assumed. The physician compares your treated skin against the standardized-lighting baseline photos taken before the pass, confirms the crust settled cleanly, and watches for any early sign of post-inflammatory pigment before it sets. That reading is what sets the timing and intensity of the next pass, so the same physician who ran the laser carries the review, never a rotating operator.