Laser Resurfacing in Plano and Frisco, TX

laser skin resurfacing in plano tx

What is Laser Resurfacing?

Laser Skin Resurfacing is a term used to describe a type of cosmetic laser surgery that falls under the category of photorejuvenation. It is pretty much what it says: the top layers of skin are removed/damaged using a variety of lasers to remove or reduce wrinkles, improve skin texture, tighten and tone, and undo skin damage caused from UV rays (sun, sunbeds). Pigmentation problems can also be addressed, along with acne scarring or scars from other causes. The results can create quite dramatic changes in the skin, particularly after several treatments, which is recommended for best results – one treatment is usually just the beginning.

Why choose SKIN MD and Beyond for your Laser Skin Resurfacing?

There is a vast array of lasers available for skin resurfacing which all offer unique features – and most clinics will offer you the one laser that they have. But, at Skin MD and Beyond we offer not one, but several laser options to provide you with the best outcome for your needs.

1)Extensive Laser Knowledge: Dr. Wright has more than 20 years of expertise and experience with lasers and is a diplomate of the American Board of Laser Surgery, specializing in Cosmetic Laser Surgery.

2)Best of Both Worlds: Traditionally, laser treatments have focused on using a single machine to treat only the face. While this still has some merit, Dr. Wright has focused on using COMBINATION laser therapy to help enhance the benefits of her laser treatment results, while minimizing the risks. CO2 LASER THERAPY and ERBIUM LASER THERAPY can be combined together to create a more robust result. Dr. Wright combines both these modalities to create the “BEST OF BOTH WORLDS” scenario. By combining a fractionated C02 laser protocol in combination with an Erbium laser into the one procedure, Dr. Wright can achieve a more uniform appearance, achieves better wrinkle elimination and reduces the chances of side effects.

3)Excellent After-Care: Dr. Wright’s excellent results are partly due to her high standards of after-care in the form of frequent checks on your healing and regular changes of dressings until you are fully healed. She certainly won’t agree to you going home and looking after yourself, as some clinics advocate.

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Who can benefit from Laser Resurfacing?

As we age, our skin succumbs to the effects of sun, gravity, and even our unique facial movements, to create lines and wrinkles that make us look older than we feel. A good candidate for laser resurfacing is typically a patient who has developed significant facial lines and wrinkling. A person may also have facial scars or uneven pigmentation they wish to correct. The best way to find out if you are a candidate for a laser skin resurfacing treatment is to speak with a qualified personnel and Dr. Wright to discover the best treatment for your best results!

What Areas can be Treated with Laser Resurfacing?

Most clinics offer laser resurfacing that can treat skin concerns of the FACE, NECK and DECOLLETE.
At Skin MD and Beyond, we provide the above services as well as laser resurfacing of the HANDS and LOWER ARMS. We are able to treat these additional areas as our state-of-the-art laser has a specialty hand piece that can treat these areas – where most laser systems cannot.

Why are the Different Types of Laser Resurfacing Treatments Available?

To help you choose which one is best for you, it is helpful to know some vocabulary which is often used. There are 1) ABLATIVE and NON-ABLATIVE lasers as well as 2) FRACTIONATED and NON-FRACTIONATED lasers. There are also two main forms of laser energy used CARBON DIOXIDE (C02) and ERBIUM-Yag.

What are ABLATIVE vs. NON-ABLATIVE LASERS?
ABLATIVE lasers vaporize/remove tissue and therefore are more aggressive compared with the gentler NON-ABLATIVE lasers that leave the skin intact. Although ABLATIVE lasers result in far more down time and a more difficult recovery process, for more severe facial wrinkles, dyspigmentation, and textural skin challenges, the ablative laser is often the treatment of choice. With NON-ABLATIVE lasers, no tissue is actually ablated (vaporized) and only tissue heating occurs. The heat can stimulate collagen production and help to renew underlying skin and address problems such as acne scarring and texture improvement but tends to be a less effective treatment than ablative lasers. In general terms, ABLATIVE lasers provide skin resurfacing and deep tissue remodeling, while NON-ABLATIVE lasers offer deep skin remodeling but only some resurfacing.

Laser resurfacing

Fractionated Beams of Laser Light

What is the Difference between NON-FRACTIONATED and FRACTIONATED LASERS?
NON-FRACTIONATED lasers are very different from FRACTIONATED lasers. Fractional lasers only treat a ‘fraction’ of the skin’s surface – while non-fractionated lasers remove all of the skin. The fractional laser produces a laser beam and fractionates, or pixelates the laser beam into thousands of tiny little shafts of light. These tiny shafts of light penetrate into the deeper layers of the skin. The unaffected skin then repairs those tiny shafts by pushing out the old damaged skin and replacing it with new skin. Fractionated laser treatments have a 1) less trauma to the skin and 2) a faster recovery time. This makes fractional laser treatments for skin resurfacing both very useful and less effective than other means. It is a compromise depending on your needs.

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WHAT is Better?

A CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) Laser – or an ERBIUM-YAG Laser?

There are two main types of laser energy used in skin resurfacing, the Carbon Dioxide Laser(C02) and Erbium-Yag (ER-Yag) Laser. For years, CO2 LASER RESURFACING has been the treatment of choice for a range of skin issues, including wrinkles, scars, sunspots and pores, and other conditions. The laser pulses can be administered as fully ablative or in a scanning (fractional ablative) pattern, which causes minimal “peripheral” damage while precisely removing thin layers of skin. The CO2 ABLATIVE laser removes dead skin cells by overloading skin cells with light energy (photo-THERMAL), causing them to vaporize. However, in this reaction, significant amounts of heat dissipate into surrounding skin tissue, causing additional damage that gives little benefit to the patient. Recovery from this ablative laser facial resurfacing treatment takes up to two weeks.

The ERBIUM -YAG laser works in a similar manner, except that it is photo-MECHANICAL in nature, meaning that when targeted cells are destroyed, it takes off a skinny slice of the top layer of skin, but without as much heat as the CO2 laser. Less peripheral heat means less damage to adjacent skin tissues, with shorter recovery times and less undesirable outcomes than the CO2 laser. It is a very effective laser skin resurfacing tool but treatment with an Erbium laser is considered to be less intense than a CO2 laser, and provides minimal skin tightening as compared with the CO2 laser.

BEST RESULTS (MOST EFFECTIVE AT TOP)Laser Skin Resurfacing

  • CO2 lasers
  • Fractional CO2 lasers
  • Erbium lasers
  • Fractional Erbium lasers

RECOVERY TIMES (LONGEST TO SHORTEST)

  • CO2 lasers
  • Fractional CO2 lasers
  • Erbium lasers
  • Fractional Erbium lasers

RISKS OF TREATMENTS (RISKIEST AT TOP)

  • CO2 lasers
  • Erbium lasers
  • Fractional CO2 lasers
  • Fractional Erbium lasers

ReSurFX Laser Resurfacing

Lasers can work by gently removing the top damaged and discolored layers of skin and allow healthier skin to rise to the surface.  When the skin heals, new collagen is formed which will create a smoother surface.  The fractional lasers break the laser beam up into tiny little beams of light and the skin is treated like a lawn being aerated, with little plugs of laser treatment.  This causes less damage and less downtime and allows for a more powerful treatment. By treating micro-islands of skin, the surrounding untreated skin drives the healing process, filling in the treated area with healthy skin and without the long-term downtime associated with traditional skin resurfacing technologies.

Laser Skin Resurfacing Plano TX

The ReSurFX Laser is the newest fractional laser treatment, which unlike other devices, is the only true fractional non-ablative technology which requires only one pass over the skin to effectively treat scars.  Why is this important? As a National Expert Panel Advisor on the ResurFX Laser, Dr. Wright  will educate physicians that typical lasers  deliver energy in a standard pattern that requires multiple passes which can overheat the skin very quickly causing burns and hyperpigmentation.  In addition, the very advanced ResurFX scanning pattern, allows our doctor to choose from more than 600 combinations of shape, size, density and energy strength for a highly customizable treatment to fit each patient’s precise needs.  No other laser has this ability.

 

Click here To see more examples of Laser Resurfacing

Micro-Peel Laser Resurfacing

The Micro Laser Peel is a superficial exfoliation to a light dermal resurfacing skin treatment.  The depth is controlled by the energy of the Erbium:Yag laser, and is predetermined by Dr. Wright to achieve the desired goals of each patient.  Unlike microdermabrasion, which can remove 10 microns of the skin’s surface, the Micro Laser Peel can remove up to 50 microns of skin tissue in only one treatment. And, unlike a fractional laser resurfacing, a Micro-Peel Laser treatment will remove a full layer of skin, instead of “islands” of skin.

This procedure provides a safe, reliable, relatively painless outpatient treatment which can be performed with topical anesthesia only.  Compared to a surgical laser resurfacing, patients will heal in a fraction of the time, and experience less redness, swelling, and bruising.  Afterwards, patients will experience a smoother, healthier more vibrant complexion with a significant and immediate change in skin texture and tightness.

The Micro-Laser Peel is an Ablative Non-Fractional Laser Resurfacing treatment which offers an effective way to treat sun damage, aging skin and scarring without the need for deeper surgical skin resurfacing.  This advanced technology was designed specifically for busy individuals who are seeking significant improvements without significant downtime. 

Frequently Asked Questions


When Will I See Results?

Fractional CO2 and Erbium laser treatments can be customized, with treatments focusing deeper into the skin, with more healing and downtime, or shallower, with less healing time. The deeper the treatment, the better the results generally. But some patients prefer to have two treatments that aren’t as deep so they can avoid a lot of downtime.

You will see some immediate results but you won’t see the full results for 3-6 months. After your skin heals, which may take up to 3-14 days, there will be a period of 4 to 6 weeks after that when your skin might be slightly pink or red. During this period, your skin will be more sensitive and feel smoother.
As the color returns to normal, you will see fewer lines, less blotchiness, and more glow.


How Many Treatments Will I Need?

The number of treatments needed depends on the extent of your sun damage, scarring or wrinkles, and on how much downtime you can accept. If you can tolerate 7 days of downtime, you would generally need only 1 or 2 fractional CO2 treatment. If your work or social schedule requires less downtime, then a series of 5 to 6 treatments of either CO2 or Erbium Laser Resurfacing would be more appropriate.


How Long Is The Recovery?

For your recovery, you will need to stay home for the first 48 hours to ice and care for the treated area. For the lighter fractional CO2 treatments, you will need 3-5 days of downtime. For the deeper treatments, plan on 7-10 days of healing before you can go out in public.


Can Laser Skin Resurfacing Be Performed On Dark Skin?

Because ERBIUM-YAG lasers are known for minimal burning of surrounding tissue as well as less severe and fewer side effects, it makes it a better choice for patients with darker skin tones, or those who may experience discoloration with a CO2 laser. Erbium is the ideal choice for those who have less skin damage to repair and want to be able to recover and rapidly to get back to their normal lifestyle.


What Can Laser Resurfacing Not Treat?

Laser Resurfacing does not take care of redness including- dilated blood vessels (telangectasias), or that reddish blotchy discoloration on the neck (poikiloderma). Temporarily, it can even make these problems look worse because the laser treatment itself causes some redness. For problems with redness, vessels and veins, a medical (not salon) grade IPL or PhotoFacial Treatment, such as or Lumenis M22 IPL Machine is very effective to correct these concerns.


Who Cannot Be Treated With These Lasers?

Those who are not suitable for laser resurfacing treatments, include use of medications that increase photosensitivity, use of anticoagulants (some are fine), use of Accutane in the last year, chemotherapy, history of difficulty healing or scarring, history of bleeding disorders, and pregnancy.


Before and After

ReSurface Laser skin Plano TXLaser Resurfacing Micro-Peel Laser Plano TXFacial Resurfacing Laser treatment | Frisco, TXLaser Skin Resurfacing

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Cosmetic Skin Care Specialist Plano, TX