Lasers and other devices can be used to reduce the signs of aging without wounding the skin. By focusing energy beneath the skin, these revolutionary devices stimulate collagen remodeling which plumps up the skin, softens wrinkles and improves texture, fine lines, acne scars and other imperfections.
These lasers use a light to selectively heat up the collagen in the dermis to stimulate collagen remodeling. The superficial part of the skin is spared therefore, there is no injury to the outer layers of skin. This means that there will be no break in the surface of the skin and you can apply makeup immediately after laser treatment. There is little or no downtime associated with these treatments.
Intense Pulsed Light treatments best target superficial pigment and vessels yet also stimulate collagen remodeling without ablating the surface of the skin. These treatments often diminish superficial brown spots and vessels but there may be a few days of increased blotchiness until they lighten.
The VBeam Perfecta laser best targets redness and vessels and is therefore very helpful for sundamaged skin or patients with rosacea. In addition, collagen remodeling is stimulated even more than with the IPL so this can be helpful for red acne scars and fine lines associated with photoaging. This same laser is used for scars, stretchmarks, and even on newborn babies with red birthmarks, so it is very safe.
Other alternatives include serial microdermabrasion alone, chemical peels, and plasmakinetic, fractional or ablative laser resurfacing. Although rare, potential complications of laser treatment include pigmentary changes or scarring. As with any injury to the skin, there is a potential for poor healing. These risks are greatly reduced by sparing the epidermis.
Typically 2-5 treatments are performed at one month intervals and the resulting increase in collagen formation will continue for six months so that maximum benefits may not be noted for 6 - 8 months after these procedures.
