Non-Surgical Procedures
Fractional Laser
What is fractional laser skin treatment?
Fractional laser skin treatment is an exciting new technology that successfully corrects many dermatological and cosmetic skin conditions, with increased comfort and minimal downtime. Fractional laser skin treatments give excellent results for skin resurfacing and when correcting skin conditions including scars, superficial lesions, epidermal nevi, actinic chelitis, warts, skin tags, and keratoses.
How do fractional laser skin treatments work?
Fractional laser skin treatments create areas of treated tissue surrounded by untreated, healthy tissue. Fractional skin treatments create narrow, deep columns that extend through the epidermis into the dermis through an array of intense laser energy microbeams. The body's natural healing process creates new, healthy tissue to replace the columns of affected tissue - improving the skin condition being treated. Throughout the process, the integrity of the top layer of skin is maintained which protects the tissue from infection as it heals.
How do fractional laser skin treatments differ from traditional laser skin treatments?
Traditional full-surface ablative laser skin treatments are performed using a beam of intense laser energy that is passed over the entire skin surface to vaporize the entire top layer of skin. The damage to the tissue is extensive and takes significant time to heal and regrow a new top layer of skin (i.e., re-epithelialize the entire top layer of skin).
Fractional skin treatments deliver laser or high-powered light energy in a pattern. The fractional pattern leaves untreated areas of skin between the treated areas of skin. As these treated areas are much smaller than the surrounding healthy tissue, the healing time is significantly shortened.
Traditional full-surface ablative treatments deliver effective results but require significant downtime - patients experience a much longer healing process, and the risk of complications, including infection, is much greater. Fractional ablative treatments provide results as good as traditional ablative treatments, with far less downtime and risk.
What are the benefits of fractional laser skin treatments?
Fractional laser skin treatments have three significant benefits as compared to traditional laser skin treatments:
Increased Comfort - The fractional array of microbeams does not cause bulk damage as traditional ablative treatments do but instead cause small areas of damage each surrounded by undamaged tissue. As a result, fractional treatments are a much gentler laser treatment. Many patients tolerate the treatment well without anesthesia; other patients may opt for a light topical anesthetic.
Increased Safety - Following a fractional ablative procedure, each tiny fractional column re-epithelializes (i.e., regrows the missing tissue and closes over) typically within one day. This minimizes the risk of scarring, infection, or long-term pigmentation changes.
Decreased Downtime - Depending on the type of procedure, most fractional patients can return to normal daily activities almost immediately (for fractional non-ablative treatments) or typically within 4 days (for fractional ablative treatments).
How many fractional laser skin treatments will I need?
The number of treatments necessary will depend on the condition being treated, and your skin type. It may take four or six non-ablative treatments to achieve the desired results. Patients should consider how quick they would like to see results and how much downtime they are willing to experience when deciding on what type of treatments to have.
What should I expect after treatment?
Immediately following the treatment, skin may be mildly red (erythema) and swollen (edema). These effects are normal, and indicate a successful treatment. Any swelling typically subsides within a day, and most redness dissipates within a few days. Other side effects may include discharge, crusting or scaling, and milia - these too typically resolve within one week and are rare.
What precautions should I follow after treatment?
For best results and to prevent complications, all patients should strictly follow their post-treatment care protocol. Cool, moist compresses applied immediately post-treatment may soothe the treated skin. Cool packs used after treatment may provide comfort, if necessary. Soaking and gentle cleansing may aid exfoliation as new tissue replaces old tissue. For two weeks following treatment, avoiding sun exposure is important.
How long will it take before I can put on make-up, go out in public, go to work, the gym, etc.?
With a fractional non-ablative treatment, there's little to no downtime - most patients may resume their daily activities immediately.
Non-Surgical
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