Your skin’s outward appearance significantly determines your facial appearance, which may negatively or positively affect your self-esteem. Flawless skin is attractive and gives you confidence, which is essential in everyday life. Unfortunately, natural body processes like aging are inevitable and come with undesirable side effects such as age spots and skin laxity. Other skin irregularities like acne scars, sunburns, and hyperpigmentation can also alter your appearance. Thanks to laser resurfacing in San Francisco, you can now regain your youthful look and achieve a balanced skin tone.
What is laser skin resurfacing?
Laser resurfacing is a procedure that uses pulsating beams of light at irregular skin to minimize minor flaws like acne spots, wrinkles, age spots, and sun-damaged skin. Ablative laser devices remove your skin’s outer layer and heat the dermis, stimulating the growth of new collagen fibers. Over time, the wounded area grows new skin that is smoother and tighter than the old one. There is an option of using a non-wounding laser, which is less invasive and requires little recovery time than an ablative laser. However, with a non-ablative laser, the results may not be readily noticeable.
Types of laser skin resurfacing.
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Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) laser resurfacing involves the use of short and precise pulsed light energy to remove thin layers of your skin. This treatment option may help if you have imperfections like large pores, mild to moderate acne scars, wrinkles, and birthmarks. While the procedure is relatively safe, it may not be suitable if you desire dramatic results, have poor general health, or have active, fungal, bacterial, or viral infections. Your doctor may use topical anesthetics to ensure you are comfortable during treatment. Other forms of anesthesia, such as regional nerve block and intravenous sedation, are used if your skin condition requires deeper penetration of the laser. Recovery time ranges from seven days to two weeks, depending on the depth.
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Erbium laser resurfacing
This type of treatment is effective for people with a darker skin tone and mild to moderately deep lines and wrinkles. Erbium laser resurfacing can be used on different body parts, including your face, neck, chest, and hands. Unlike carbon dioxide lasers, erbium lasers cause minor injuries and lesser side effects such as redness, swelling and bruising. Your recovery period with erbium laser resurfacing should be approximately a week.
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Fractional laser resurfacing
Fractional laser resurfacing involves delivering numerous narrow columns of laser light beneath your skin’s surface. This type of laser resurfacing can be used to minimize the appearance of flaws on different parts of your body, including the arms, chest, face, neck, and arms. Although it causes minor injury to the surrounding tissues, the laser light in fractional laser resurfacing penetrates more profound than other lasers, increasing your risk of complicated healing and scarring. You may require a series of treatments over a one-to-four-week interval to attain the desired results. Your doctor numbs the treatment area with a local anesthetic to ensure you are comfortable during the process. Most patients recover from this treatment after a week.
Like any other treatment, consultation is necessary to establish whether you are suitable for treatment and what the process entails. To regain your youthful appearance, book a session with your doctor at the Aesthetic Surgery Center for laser skin resurfacing.
