Laser Resurfacing Could Be the Solution to Your Skin Issues
Since the day you were born, your skin has had to protect you against a wide variety of things, including foreign contaminants, germs, injuries, and UV damage. In addition to protecting you, your skin has had to go through some major changes, such as puberty and middle age. By the time you reach your 40s, your skin had had to contend with an awful lot and you know what? It shows. From acne scarring to wrinkles and sun damage, your skin’s condition is one of the earliest indicators of age. The hardest part about it is that once the damage is there, it is difficult to treat and becomes even more so the older you get. Thankfully, laser resurfacing is a treatment option that goes down to the deepest layers of your skin to rejuvenate and revitalize your appearance.
Laser resurfacing is almost exactly how it sounds – a technician uses a laser to carefully change the surface of your skin. However, the treatment is not as simple as it sounds. The laser doesn’t change your skin completely, nor can it cure all the damage done to your skin at once. There are two major types – traditional resurfacing and fractional resurfacing.
In traditional laser resurfacing, the technician uses the laser to change your skin at the surface by removing individual layers. The technician can’t remove too many, or they could risk damaging your skin even more and making you vulnerable to infections. By removing the individual layers, the treatment will even out your skin and remove any existing damage.
Fractional laser resurfacing doesn’t involve the individual layers of skin. Instead, the laser is used to poke microscopic holes in your skin all the way down to the dermis. It’s a strange notion – wouldn’t poking holes in your skin cause more damage? Actually, those holes cause your dermis to boost its production of collagen, which is an important fiber used to keep your skin firm and smooth. As the collagen begins to build up in the bottom layers of your skin, the top layers will begin to look and feel healthier as new skin cells replace the damaged ones.
Both laser treatments are extremely effective at removing damage from your skin and replacing it with healthy skin that is smoother and tighter. After the treatment, the skin needs time to heal and replenish the cells that have been removed, which means that you won’t see results right away or even after one session. It usually takes two or three to begin to see results and you could require more depending on the level of damage present. Once the results begin to show, you’ll be able to enjoy them for a long time. It takes a long time for damage to build up enough to be noticeable and it will take a long time for it to building up again.
Regardless of which laser treatment you have, it’s extremely important that you take extra special care of your skin in the weeks following the procedure. Your skin will be vulnerable to infection or other contaminants and could be damaged even more if you don’t practice good skin care. That means regularly washing your face and using moisturizer and sunscreen daily. Your doctor will give you a full set of skin care recommendations to practice before and after your treatment sessions. Following these recommendations will not only protect yourself and your skin, it will also prevent any new damage from building up as quickly.
To set up a laser resurfacing consultation at Spalding Drive Plastic Surgery, call (310) 275-2467.