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A chromophore is the structure in the skin that absorbs a particular wavelength of light. The three that matter in aesthetics are melanin, haemoglobin and water—choosing a wavelength is really choosing which chromophore to target.
A chromophore is any molecule or structure that preferentially absorbs light at certain wavelengths. In aesthetic medicine, three chromophores account for almost everything we treat: melanin (pigment and hair), haemoglobin (blood vessels and redness) and water (the target for ablative resurfacing).
Each chromophore has an absorption peak at specific wavelengths, and that is what links chromophore to device selection. Melanin absorbs strongly across 600–1100nm (hence diode, Alexandrite and Nd:YAG hair lasers); haemoglobin peaks around 540–580nm and again near 1064nm (vascular lasers and IPL); water absorbs heavily in the far infrared (CO2, Er:YAG ablation). Choosing a treatment is, at heart, choosing a wavelength that the target chromophore drinks up and the surrounding tissue largely ignores.
This is the link clinics should keep front of mind: indication → chromophore → wavelength → device.
Indication, then chromophore, then wavelength, then device—every treatment decision flows down that chain.
A chromophore is the skin structure that absorbs a given wavelength of light—melanin, haemoglobin and water are the three that matter in aesthetics. Matching wavelength to chromophore is the basis of laser and IPL treatment selection.
