May 5, 2026—Patients don’t come in talking about what’s happening beneath the surface. They come in pointing to what they can see: pigment, rough texture, scattered actinic keratoses.
But as providers, you know there could be more going on beneath the surface.
Skin Cancer Awareness Month is a good reminder of that. Not just to screen more closely, but to take a step back and ask a bigger question: Are we approaching sun-damaged skin as comprehensively as we could be?
Where laser and light-based treatments enter the picture
By the time photodamage is visible, the underlying changes are often more widespread.
Field cancerization refers to skin that appears clinically normal yet harbors subclinical mutations resulting from chronic UV exposure. It’s why patients who develop one lesion are at higher risk of developing more.
Topicals, cryotherapy, and procedural interventions remain the standard of care for treating individual lesions. But many providers are asking a broader question:
How do we address the entire treatment area, or “field,” rather than just what’s visible?
This concept of treating the “field,” not just individual lesions, is also how many dermatologists are beginning to think about long-term skin health in practice.
As Dr. Dianne Quibell, MD, a board-certified internist and cosmetic laser surgeon, and Dr. Jennifer Holman, MD, FAAD, a board-certified cosmetic and medical dermatologist, shared at UP Xchange™ Austin, patients with a history of skin cancer or significant sun exposure often have more going on than a few isolated concerns—their skin requires ongoing management.
In these cases, the goal shifts from spot-treating visible lesions to more comprehensively addressing sun-damaged skin at a cellular level, treating what’s visible while also targeting what may still be developing beneath the surface.
Certain laser and light-based technologies are now being studied for their potential to reduce photodamage and support overall skin health.
Non-ablative fractional wavelengths, particularly in the 1927 nm range, have shown promise in targeting superficial actinic damage while promoting epidermal renewal. These treatments create controlled microthermal zones in the skin, stimulating repair processes without the downtime associated with more aggressive resurfacing.
In dermatology, these modalities are increasingly used adjunctively with traditional therapies to improve skin quality and address diffuse sun damage.
What the evidence reveals
Emerging data suggest that these treatments may have implications beyond visible improvement.
A retrospective study published in Dermatologic Surgery looked at patients with a history of facial keratinocyte carcinoma who were treated with non-ablative fractional lasers.
Here’s what stood out:
- Fewer patients in the treated group went on to develop new facial keratinocyte carcinomas
- When new lesions did occur, they appeared later compared to the control group
- Overall risk was reduced by roughly half
It’s early, and more research is needed. But it points to something important: addressing photodamage more broadly may have implications beyond what we see in the mirror.
As Dr. Joel L. Cohen, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, explains, newer 1927 nm lasers can reduce precancerous lesions such as actinic keratoses. Recent data show that consistent use every few months may improve sun-damaged skin over time, including the potential for new lesions to develop.
That doesn’t change the standard of care. But it does open the door to thinking differently about long-term management.
In practice, many providers are already seeing how this plays out clinically.
As Dr. Holman notes, treatments such as HALO® TRIBRID™ and MOXI™ not only improve visible photodamage but also, alongside standard interventions, create more regular patient touchpoints that support earlier detection and ongoing skin maintenance.
What this looks like in practice
For providers, this isn’t about replacing what already works. It’s about expanding your approach to sun-damaged skin.
That starts with zooming out—looking beyond isolated lesions to the skin’s overall quality and behavior.
Light-based technologies like BBL® HEROic™ are often used to address visible signs of photodamage, including uneven tone, redness, and pigment, while supporting a more even, revitalized appearance across larger treatment areas.
From there, fractional lasers come into play. Devices like MOXI™ use a 1927 nm wavelength to target superficial actinic damage and early photodamage, helping refine texture and improve overall skin clarity with minimal downtime.
As discussed by Dr. Dianne Quibell and Dr. Jennifer Holman, treatments such as HALO® and MOXI™ play an important role in improving photodamage and overall skin quality. In her own practice, Dr. Holman shared that she would often layer in her 2940 nm erbium single-spot tool to directly treat and “polish” certain growths, incorporating it before or after these treatments as needed.
Dr. Homan shared, devices such as HALO® TRIBRID™ build on this approach by combining multiple wavelengths to treat different skin depths in a single session. With the ability to achieve higher treatment densities and create a more exfoliative effect, providers can more fully address actinic damage and certain lesions that don’t respond to lighter treatments.
For providers managing more advanced sun damage, this flexibility can be particularly impactful.
For patients with more extensive sun damage, ablative resurfacing techniques, such as erbium (Er:YAG) lasers like Contour TRL™ and ProFractional™, can be used to more comprehensively renew the skin, improving texture, tone, and overall skin quality.
In practice, these technologies are rarely used in isolation. They’re thoughtfully layered into treatment plans, supporting the skin at multiple levels and across the entire treatment area.
This approach also extends into how providers think about long-term care: combining cosmetic treatments with medical management to monitor changes, maintain results, and provide earlier additional intervention opportunities when needed.
For the right patient, at the right time, this approach can make a noticeable difference in how the skin looks and responds over time.
A smarter approach to treating sun-damage
Patients are more informed than ever. They’re not just asking for clearer skin; they’re asking for healthier skin. And as the science continues to evolve, so does the opportunity to meet that expectation.
Removing visible damage is only part of the equation. Supporting healthier skin over time is what makes the difference.
To learn more about Sciton’s suite of ablative and non-ablative treatments, visit sciton.com.