Growing Prevalence of Skin Diseases Adding Wings to Medical Lasers Demand
The rising incidence of skin and chronic diseases is pushing up the demand for medical lasers across the world. In addition to this, the surging population of ageing people in several countries is also propelling the worldwide demand for medical lasers. This is because geriatric people are highly susceptible to various skin ailments such as pigmentary alteration, skin sagging, dryness, and wrinkles, on account of the loss of fibrous tissue and the reduced glandular and vascular network in their skin.
This is why the mushrooming population of ageing people in the developing nations such as China and India is causing a sharp surge in the demand for medical lasers. As per the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the population of people aged above 60 years would grow to 437 million, 324 million, 107 million, and 58 million, in China, India, the U.S., and Brazil, respectively, by 2050.
Besides, the rapid advancements and innovations being made in the laser technology are also driving the popularity of medical lasers. As these advancements provide various benefits such as reduction in the pain intensity, faster recovery after cosmetic or surgical procedures, and small incisions, they have massively increased the application of medical lasers in the healthcare industry. These advancements have also augmented the usage of the laser technology in various cosmetic treatments such as skin rejuvenation, body contouring, and hair removal.
These advancements have also fueled the development of small hand-held diode lasers. Apart from these factors, the rising appearance consciousness in people and the expanding medical tourism industry are creating lucrative growth opportunities for the players operating in the global medical lasers market. As per a report published by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), in India, nearly 420,454 and 515,033 surgical aesthetic procedures and non-surgical aesthetic procedures, respectively, were performed in 2015.
The major application areas of medical lasers are urology, dentistry, cardiology, ophthalmology, dermatology, and gynecology. Out of these, the adoption of medical lasers is increasing rapidly in dermatology applications, especially for skin resurfacing. The increasing requirement for aesthetic procedures across the globe is further boosting the demand for laser systems. As per the American Society of Plastic Surgeries, in the U.S., nearly 14.2 million minimally invasive cosmetic procedures were performed in 2015.
The demand for medical lasers was found to be the highest in North America in the years gone by, on account of the huge requirement for cosmetic surgical procedures, the existence of several leading industry players, reimbursement policies, and the high incidence of skin and chronic diseases in the region. On the other hand, the popularity of these systems will surge sharply in Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the upcoming years, as per the forecast of the market research firm, P&S Intelligence.
Hence, the demand for medical lasers will shoot-up in the coming years, primarily because of the rising incidence of various skin and chronic diseases, surging geriatric population, and the rising requirement for minimally invasive cosmetic procedures across the world.