Laser

How can Laser-Light Improve Wrinkles and Scars?

Depending on the type of laser light the effects on tissue varies. To improve wrinkles and lines we use a so-called ablative laser. It is an infrared light with the ability to evaporate water. Since skin mainly consists of water, tissue can be evaporated: Accurate to a fraction of a millimeter!

This procedure also heats up tissue which in turn has the effect to stimulate neo-formation of collagen. The new collagen is tighter than the old one and hence wrinkles are improved.

In contrast to a face-lift, new skin is generated and not just stretched.

There are two different laser methods to treat wrinkles and scars:

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Fractionated Laser Treatment (vertical skin treatment)

This new method uses holes which are drilled into the skin by the light of a laser. It's along these thermal channels that the collagen remodelling occurs, thus improving fine lines and atrophic scars. The social down-time is significantly shorter for one treatment. Since a series of 4-8 treatments are necessary remains the same overall as with older methods of laser skinresurfacing. The treatment sessions are spread some 4 weeks apart. The result is only visible after 6 months. Compared to conventional ablative laser treatments risks are lower. Above all there is no significant risk of permanent pigmentation changes. The treatments are performed on an outpatient basis in topical anaesthesia with creams.

Fractionated laser-treatments can be carried out not only in the face, but on the neck, decolleté, the hands and elsewhere.

Fractionated laser-treatments are today's gold-standard method for the improvement of atrophic  Acnescars

Skinresurfacing (horizontal skin treatment)

This type of treatment can be used in the face only. The entire epidermis and superficial connective tissue is ablated with the help of a laser light. The facial skin has the potential to regenerate completely, such that a new skin is generated, which is tighter and wrinkling will improve dramatically. Very often the new skin has lost actinic bronzing (a permanently darker colour of the skin due to UV-exposure) and is slightly lighter than untreated skin. If the whole face is treated this may not be an issue. If only part of the face is treated - like the upper lips, colour change has to be taken into consideration. A skinresurfacing typically is a one step procedure. The social down time is between 7 and 10 days. Faces with a lot of wrinkling and other sun damage may profit more from a deep phenolpeeling than from a skinresurfacing.