Lasers

Skin resurfacing techniques include chemical peels, dermabrasion or laser resurfacing. These techniques can help with the skin’s textural problems, including deeper wrinkles.

Active FX (CO2/Fractionated CO2)

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Fraxel

Fraxel is arguably ‘state of the art’ for sun damaged skin. While it is not as effective as a full face CO2 laser resurfacing, it does not have the downtime and negative effects that can result from deeper laser resurfacing. CO2 laser resurfacing is ‘ablative’, meaning that the entire surface of the skin is removed and raw. Fraxel is ‘non-ablative’ because the surface of the skin remains intact. Only microscopic laser beams are applied to the skin leaving intact skin surrounding each spot. This allows the skin to heal much more quickly. Since only a portion of the skin is treated during each session, 4 treatments are generally required to treat the entire skin surface. Each session results in swelling with approximately 4 day downtime.

Fraxel is effective for treating sun damage to the face, neck, chest and hands. The new Fraxel SR1500 is more powerful and can improve wrinkling and can mildly tighten skin.

IPL

IPL, Intense Pulsed Light or Fotofacial are all names for the same treatment. IPL also treats sun damage to the face, neck and chest. It is better than Fraxel for treating broken blood vessels, telangiectasia, but not as effective for brown spots from sun damage. It decreases pore size and improves texture. IPL requires about 6 sessions but has no significant downtime and is less expensive than Fraxel.

Thermage

The Thermacool procedure, Thermage, uses radiofrequency energy to heat collagen in the deeper layers of the skin which consequently tighten over time. One treatment is required but more can be beneficial. The newer treatment heads and better results than the original heads have allowed a resurgence of Thermage. Mild swelling occurs for 1-2 days but the result due to changes in the collagen continues for 2-6 months. It is now used for the abdomen as well as facial tightening.
Results are fairly mild but Thermage is still a good choice for patients with only minimal looseness or those who cannot undergo more significant procedures.