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 having the ability to evaporate water. Since skin mainly consists of water, tissue can be evaporated: it is accurate to a fraction of a millimetre!

This procedure also heats up tissue which in turn has the effect of stimulating new 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:

Fractionated laser treatment (vertical skin treatment)

Using this new method, laser light drills minute holes into the skin. It's along these thermally created channels that the collagen remodelling occurs, thus improving fine lines and atrophic scars. The social down-time is quite short for each treatment. However, since a series of 4 – 8 treatments are necessary the total time period remains the same as with older methods of laser skin resurfacing. 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 with topical anaesthesia using creams.

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

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

Skin resurfacing (horizontal skin treatment)

This type of treatment can be used on the face only. The entire epidermis and superficial connective tissue is ablated using laser light. The facial skin has the potential to regenerate completely, which means that a new tighter skin can be generated, and wrinkling will lessen dramatically. Very often the new skin will have lost actinic bronzing (a permanently darker colour of the skin due to UV exposure) and is thus 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 — such as the upper lips — colour change then has to be taken into consideration. A skin resurfacing 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 phenol peeling than from a skin resurfacing.