LIGHT YEARS YOUNGER…Looking at Skin Laser Resurfacing
As we age, our skin and appearance are affected by the everydaywear and tear that life throws at us… stress, diet, genetics, and evenpollutants,.
Wrinkles,skin discoloration, lack of tone, and the age spots (also known as solarlentigos) are some of the common signs of skin aging. There are many options inreversing this, including topical regimens, chemical peels, dermabrasion, non-ablative laser procedures, and laser resurfacing. For years, the gold standard for skin tightening and resurfacing havebeen phenol peels and CO2 resurfacing.
Formost people, the cardiac risk of a phenol peel and the risk of skindiscoloration, along with the significant downtime involved in undergoing suchresurfacing procedure to reverse the obvious signs of aging skin are notrealistic given today's busy, deadline-driven lifestyle. The traditional CO2laser has been another option, however, it too has a long down-time and it isalso associated with discoloration. Therefore, newer technologies rely onpartial ablation, or fractional laser technology, where the entire skin is notablated, and only microscopic areas are affected, allowing for quicker healing.Fraxel is a recent buzz word, and it is a fractionated Erbium YAG laser.However, this year, the gold standard in laser resurfacing, i.e, CO2, has beenfractionated. Numerous clinical studies have shown this technology to be safeand effective in treating patients of all skin types, including skin of color; fine lines; wrinkles; uneven skin tone;and even acne scars. This is a first for my ethnic skin patients, includingmyself. Three companies have been successful in developing a fractionated CO2device.
Howdoes it work? The laser penetratesthrough the outer layers of skin and into the deeper tissue below. Thetreatment produces thousands of tiny columns in your skin which are known asmicroscopic treatment zones. The laser light reaches these zones and ablatesthe skin tissue while leaving the tissue surrounding these tiny zones intact. When we areyoung, our skin is smooth and firm because of a healthy build up of tissue,including collagen beneath the skin. As we age, skin tissue shrinks and ourcollagen production slows down, thus we experience wrinkles, fine lines andsagging skin. Fractional CO2ablates some areas of the skin but not all, new collagen growth is encouragedand skin is effectively tightened. Furthermore, since the total skin surface isnot ablated, adjacent pigment cells and skin cells can quickly induce healingand quicker recovery, usually within 5-10 days, compared to the 1-2 months oftradional CO2.
Formy patients, this laser system has been extremely effective in the treatment ofwrinkles and scars, while tightening the underlying tissue. Thelaser treatment is done using topical anesthetics, and is well tolerated. Theprocedure takes about 30 minutes for the entire face. The first 5-7 days, theface feels very dry, and needs repetitive moisturizing. The swelling of thearea subsides in one week, and the reparative changes thak a few months to see.This technology is effective in reducing skin discolorations, tightens skin,reduces acne scars, and shrinks pore size. All of this with minimal downtime.
