Laser Skin Resurfacing
     and Face Rejuvenation

laser skin resurfacing - laser skin rejuvenation - laser facial treatments - laser skin tightening - laser skin clinic

What is Laser Skin Resurfacing

Laser skin resurfacing is a laser treatment which burns away the outer layer of the skin to reveal younger looking skin. The laser also heats deeper layers of the skin, which stimulates the growth of new collagen. Skin lasers can be used on specific areas of the face or all over the face.

Laser treatments on the face can cause a change in skin pigmentation and are not generally recommended for people with dark skin,

Who Should Consider Laser Skin Resurfacing

As we age, repetitive facial muscle movements contribute the formation of lines and wrinkles in the face. Other factors such as exposure to the sun, diet, and smoking can effect how our skin will age. Skin laser treatments can be used to remove acne scars, birth marks, fine lines and uneven skin pigmentation.

Laser Facial Treatments

Laser facial treatments are carried out under a local anaesthetic, so you are awake during the procedure, and can return home shortly after the laser treatment. During the procedure your eyes will be protected by special goggles.

After treatment, there may be some discomfort and you would need to take an analgesic for pain relief. It can take up to two weeks for the skin to heal, and you may experience skin redness lasting up to 6 months. You will need to protect your skin from the sun and wear a sunscreen for 12 months after laser treatment.

There should be some improvement to the skin after one laser face treatment, but repeated treatments may be required to achieve the desired results.

You should discuss your expectations with your therapist before treatment, and ask how many treatments will be required.

Fractional Laser Skin Resurfacing
By Dr Barry Eppley

The removal of an outer facial skin layer to improve its texture is a concept that has been around for decades. Historically, this has included chemical peels and, in the past decade, laser resurfacing.

Laser resurfacing essentially 'burns' off a top layer (the depths can be very varied from 6 microns to hundreds of microns) and allows new skin (epithelium) to heal over it, removing some imperfections and improving the texture of the skin.

Recovery from laser resurfacing varies by the depth to which it is done, a 10 micron laser peel may be a few days, a 100 micron laser peel will be 7 to 10 days. The depth issue aside, laser resurfacing always involves some recovery (as it is a burn) and it only treats the outer layers of the skin.

Fractional CO2 laser resurfacing takes a conceptually different approach.

Rather than 'burning' 100% of the skin's surface that it hits, it only treats or penetrates a 'fraction' of it. For every area treated, it may only actually hit 10 - 20% of the skin area. Hence, a fractional treatment approach. But equally importantly, the laser penetrates much deeper (hundreds of microns) into the skin, actually stimulating the deepest part of the skin layers. (think of it as boring holes much like you do to your lawn to allow nutrients to get 'to the roots' so to speak).

Because only a fraction of the skin is treated, there is less recovery than with traditional laser resurfacing even though the depth of laser penetration is much deeper. Also because it is fractional, it requires a series of treatment, at least five, to effectively get all of the skin's surface treated.

In theory, there is more of an anti-aging effect (due to the deeper penetration) but less recovery due to less skin being injured at any one time.

Fractional laser resurfacing of facial skin is being currently touted as being better than traditional laser resurfacing. The evidence to support that claim, to date, is still conclusively lacking. Plus, I am not sure how the laser knows during sequential treatments to hit previous skin areas that have yet to be treated. (of course, it cannot know, so some skin areas undoubtably get treated more than once and some probably are missed altogether as we are talking about fractions of millimeters here) For this reason, it probably take 6 or 7 treatments to truly treat all facial skin areas in the laser's target. Despite these reservations, fractional laser resurfacing remains appealing and more time will tell exactly what its role in medical skin resurfacing actually is.

Dr Barry Eppley is a board-certified plastic surgeon in private practice in Indianapolis, Indiana at Clarian Health Systems. (http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com) He writes a daily blog on plastic surgery, spa therapies, and medical skin care at http://www.exploreplasticsurgery.com