Laser Skin Resurfacing

Lasers of the Present vs. the Past

CO2 lasers are the gold standard other lasers are compared to. CO2 laser resurfacing is generally more aggressive and potentially more effective than Erbium lasers but results in a longer recovery time. In fact, you may not be presentable in public for two weeks or more due to the redness and weepy skin! Erbium lasers, on the other hand, will give modest improvements in one session and may required multiple sessions to achieve the effect wanted. Generally, Erbium laser patients can return to work in one week or less. This applies to ablative 2940nm and non-ablative 1540nm lasers. The difference between an ablative CO2 / Erbium laser and that of the Non-Ablative 1540 laser is simple. Ablative lasers remove layers of skin whereas Non-Ablatiave lasers leave hundreds of holes in the skin interspersed with normal skin. This results in the formation of new collagen and elastin that tend to soften and smoothen out skin.

What is “Fractional” or “Fractionated” treatments? Unlike an ablative laser that blasts the surface of the skin and denudes the layers, “Fractionated” systems place hundreds of holes in the skin surface that is intermixed with normal skin surface. Healing produces an expulsion of materials from the holes with new collagen and elastin growing in the holes that then pull the normal tissue in resulting in tightening and smoothening of skin. Fractionated treatments have revolutionized the industry by giving outstanding results with rapid recovery and almost no down-time.