Light-Based Therapies for Skin of Color

Light-based therapies have been a major component of dermatologic practice. Historically, these treatment modalities have been mainly tailored to the treatment of patients with light skin. Principles governing use of light therapies in skin of color are less defined. However, there is a tremendous need to understand the benefits and limitations of these therapeutic options for dark-skinned patients as well. Demographic data in the United States alone indicate that the population and recipients of health care are rapidly changing with regard to skin phototype. Physicians who are involved in the delivery of care for patients with cutaneous problems that can be addressed by light treatments need to be able to fully understand the mechanisms, applications, risks, efficacy, adverse events, and other pertinent issues in considering treatment options for their patients with pigmented skin.

The science and practice of photodermatology has been largely based on knowledge derived from white skin. Therapeutic modalities based on lasers and light sources are often based on protocols that have been utilized in Caucasian populations. The biologic effects of light in pigmented skin are not as well understood. Consequently, the mechanisms are only now being discovered and elucidated in darker skin types and therefore treatment strategies are now being developed that are more specifically tailored to these patients.

Light Therapies for Skin of Color has been written to address the fact that there is little information in the literature providing suitable recommendations for treating pigmented skin with lasers and light sources. The information presented here represents current knowledge and the future directions. Included within are the basic foundations in photobiology, such as principles of optics, biology of photodamage and photoaging, protection afforded by endogenous pigmentation, and the issues surrounding the use of photoprotective agents in non-white skin. Practical information on the use of specific treatment modalities and the approach to specific dermatologic conditions in dark-skinned patients, such as vitiligo, follicular disorders, pigmentation, among others, are also included, making this book enormously useful to all dermatologists and other health care providers who manage patients with pigmented skin.