Fractionated Laser Skin Resurfacing Replaces “Crepey”, Crinkled or Scarred Skin With Brand New Skin
Fractionated ablative laser skin resurfacing is the most effective treatment today for improving “crepey” or crinkled skin, fine lines, and certain scars. Treatments can be done on any skin color or area of the body.
Because this treatment is relatively aggressive, you need a clinician with extensive experience. Dr. Cynthia Elliott has been a certified laser trainer for other clinicians since 2007, and she and her staff have performed more than 1,500 Profractional resurfacing treatments. With this much experience, you can be confident you’ll get the most dramatic results possible, safely.
How Does Fractionated Laser Skin Resurfacing Work?
With fractionated ablative laser treatments, the laser beam vaporizes columns of skin down to depths not possible with full-field laser resurfacing. Because the surrounding untreated skin reacts by releasing healing substances & growth factors, the columns are replaced with brand new, tighter skin faster than if the entire surface was removed.
There’s less chance of losing pigment, infection, or scarring compared to full-field laser resurfacing & there’s much less discomfort and downtime.
In the last few years, we’ve also discovered that fractional ablative laser treatments replace a percentage of scar tissue with brand-new healthy skin and not just more scar tissue. Scars not only become softer, hair follicles and sweat glands return.
What to Expect With a Fractionated Laser Skin Resurfacing Treatment?
On the day of your Profractional treatment, we’ll apply a prescription-strength anesthetic cream and do a painless dental block if treating the mouth area. When we start the treatment, we do a light pass with shallow settings so that we can paint on liquid anesthetic to penetrate deeper than surface anesthetic can get, which makes the rest of the treatment more comfortable. We also offer complimentary nitrous oxide (laughing gas) during resurfacing treatments.
During the treatment, we paint on medications and/or vitamins, specific to your goals and skin type, to penetrate down the open columns made by the laser to reach the depth where they’ll be most effective. For example, if treating acne scars, we paint on retinoic acid to help prevent post-treatment breakouts. If treating fine, crinkly skin, we add vitamins to stimulate collagen, or even Sculptra, to thicken skin further.
What to Expect After The Treatment
The treated area will feel hot immediately afterwards so we apply cold compresses to soothe it until it cools down. Once you’re comfortable, we apply a thick moisturizing dressing. We provide you with everything you’ll need for the next few days, including gentle cleanser, moisturizer, and a disposable pillowcase. During your consultation we can provide you with prescriptions for pain medication, anti-anxiety medicine, and cold sore medicines that you can get filled before the day of your treatment.
With deeper treatments, the treated skin may have spots of pinpoint bleeding immediately afterwards. With Profractional treatments for acne scars, there’s often also some swelling for a few days.
From the second day post-treatment through possibly day ten, depending on the area treated and your skin response, the treated area will go from a patchy red to a mild pink. People find it hard to believe initially that they’ll look presentable usually in less than a week.
“I didn’t think anything could be done except for major surgery. To go through something this simple and it’s like night and day. As bad as my skin was, 3 days later and Ta Da” Donna F
Prices for Profractional laser treatments start at $350 and there’s a 15% discount on packages of two treatments.
If you are interested in learning more about how laser treatments can improve your appearance, schedule a complimentary consultation by registering online here or by calling 727-571-1923.
