How to Treat Broken Capillaries
If you actually want to treat broken capillaries, Dr. Herrmann says, "The workhorse laser is the Pulsed Dye Laser, or PDL."
"The laser light targets hemoglobin, a protein which is in red blood cells. It heats it up, and this heat collaterally damages the blood vessel walls surrounding it, which causes them to collapse and disappear. Because we have so many extra vessels in the skin, removing a few doesn't have any negative health consequence," Dr. Herrmann says.
"Sometimes one treatment effectively zaps capillaries, but often a series is needed to knock down more diffuse redness, especially in the setting of rosacea.
Here's an example of the before-and-after results from one of our editors, who got a laser treatment for her broken capillaries at Debbie Thomas's Clinic in Chelsea, London.
— Additional reporting by Tori Crowther
