Laser Skin Resurfacing
Laser skin resurfacing, which is also known as lasabrasion, laser peel, or laser vaporization, is a relatively new treatment which improves the appearance of skin by reducing facial wrinkles, fine lines, and skin irregularities, such as blemishes or acne scars. This skin treatment usually targets the area around the eyes and mouth, however, it can also be used to treat larger areas of the face. The technique directs short, concentrated pulsating beams of light at irregular skin. Laser skin resurfacing removes skin layer by layer, leaving the new skin smoother and more even.
Product Use
There are many types of lasers used in laser skin resurfacing. The two common ones are carbon dioxide (CO2) and erbium. When choosing the type of laser, consider the following:
Carbon dioxide laser skin resurfacing has been used for years to treat wrinkles, scars, warts, birthmarks, enlarged oil glands on the nose, skin cancer, and other conditions. The newest version of the CO2 laser resurfacing uses very short pulsed light energy or continuous light beams applied in a scanning pattern to precisely remove thin layers of skin with minimal heat damage to the surrounding structures. The recovery period from the carbon dioxide skin resurfacing procedure is up to two weeks. Erbium laser skin resurfacing is designed to remove superficial and moderately deep lines and wrinkles on the face hands, neck, or chest. The benefits of erbium laser resurfacing is minimal burning of surrounding tissue and minimal side effects, such as swelling, bruising and redness. Recover time should be more rapid than with CO2 laser resurfacing and take about one week. Also, if you have a darker skin tone, erbium laser resurfacing may work better than CO2 laser resurfacing.
Both erbium and CO2 laser skin resurfacing are performed as outpatient procedures, using local anesthesia in combination with oral or intravenous sedative medications. The procedure can take from 30 minutes to about 2 hours, depending if you are doing a partial-face or full-face lasabrasion.
Possible Side-Effects
You may experience some temporary side effects, including swelling and mild discomfort. It is also possible that you develop a red, crusted appearance on the treated area for three to 10 days. Camouflage makeup can help improve the appearance of post-surgery swelling, bruising, scarring and unusual bulging areas. There are, however, some more serious risks of laser skin resurfacing including burns and other injuries associated with the laser’s heat, scarring, abnormal pigmentation and infection.
Product Cost
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the fee for laser skin resurfacing can range from $1,350 to $2,200. This only includes the physician’s fees for one treatment session, however, multiple sessions may be necessary. These fees also do not include anesthesia, operating room facilities or other related expenses. Insurance does not usually cover laser resurfacing because it is an elective cosmetic surgery.
How to Get It
Consult a board certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist who has extensive experience in laser skin resurfacing. Only experienced and knowledgeable doctors will know which laser is most appropriate for each condition and will have received the appropriate training.
Dr. Brian Kinney on Laser Skin Resurfacing
We interviewed Doctor Brian Kinney about Laser Skin Resurfacing,
Laser skin resurfacing has been around since the beginning of the 1990’s. Originally in the 1980’s, the procedure involved a CO2 beam. This type of laser was a continuous, powerful wave. It was reserved for warts, burns and other serious conditions. The burns penetrated deep into the tissue. When used in a cosmetic setting for wrinkles, the continuous wave proved to be too much to offer proper results.
More recently, two companies solved this problem: Coherent and Sharplan. They developed pulsed lasers that utilized a computer pattern generator (CPG). This allowed the size and shape of the beam to be varied to suit the anatomy and contours of any particular patient. The very short pulses helped to control the depth of injury. Some physicians still use these machines to this day. Because of their power, most are used in the operating room and while a patient is asleep or heavily sedated.
The results were often fantastic. Wrinkles were removed, sunspots eliminated, skin tightened and a more youthful appearance was achieved. However, weeks passed before the redness and swelling subsided, and many patients (as many as 5-10%) became a couple of shades paler when the final healing occurred. In addition, the consistency of the skin could be too tight and a porcelain look was occasionally seen.
At one time or another in the past, Dr. Brian Kinney has used these different types of these laser devices. Today, Dr. Brian Kinney M.D. no longer uses them because better options are available.
About five years ago, another advancement in laser technology took place. This bore “fractional lasers,” which creates a fractional computer pattern generation. This technology has also been called Fraxel, Pixel, DOT or other terms. This fundamentally changed the laser skin resurfacing treatment and patients benefit dramatically. While pulsed lasers create a beam that completely covers up an area up to several square centimeters (half a square inch), fractional lasers create a checkerboard pattern of microdots. Some of the skin is burned and some is left intact. As Doctor Brian Kinney educates us, the key behind the success of this technology is the understanding of what was required to restore the skin properly. While it is important to create the proper injury, this is only one-half the story in achieving an optimal result. Healing is the other. Having each “dot” of laser treatment be surrounded by untreated, normal skin speeds up the healing and improves results. Uninjured skin cells “seed” the burned areas with normal tissues, and promote growth of healthy skin cells during the healing process. This results in a more natural appearance sooner and it offers less redness, swelling and pain.
The other major improvement is that it allows the plastic surgeon, Brian Kinney M.D., and others, to control the laser beam with more precision. The level of power can be controlled so a gentler burn can be created, making it easier on the skin tissues.
With fractional lasers, patients generally get comparable results to the old lasers (perhaps ¾), but with minimal downtime. The level of “burn” depends on how aggressive the treatment is. Downtime is most often one or two days, but some patients return to work the next day. Doctor Brian M. Kinney reminds us that staying out of the sun is essential. The energy can be “dialed up” to mimic that of the last generation lasers. This creates more downtime with more dramatic results.
Hispanic, African-American, African and some Asian patients with dark skin are not good candidates for this type of laser. Wound healing is generally good, but the pigment cells for these particular skin types react unpredictably after injury. Temporary irregular pigmentation, lightening more often than darkening of the skin, occurs after the procedure and prior to complete healing. The contrast between light and dark skin can be unsightly and in a certain percentage of patients, the skin color may never be restored. This is generally considered an unacceptable risk, even for a small percentage. This means, the lighter the skin, the less the contrast and the less the risk. In fair-skinned patients, it is not a major concern. According to Doctor Brian M. Kinney M.D., there may be exceptions. Ask your doctor about your particular circumstances.