Laser Treatments for Anti-Aging Skincare
Within the world of fractional lasers used in antiaging skin treatments, there are two basic categories: ablative and non-ablative. With ablative lasers, the energy impacts the top layers of the skin and removes or “resurfaces” the treated area, achieving rejuvenation by allowing a new top layer of skin to grow. When treated with these types of lasers, patients typically experience a longer healing period and more downtime compared to non-ablative lasers. Non-ablative fractional lasers work in a slightly different way. Energy penetrates the skin to the deeper layers, leaving the top layers in tact. This mechanism of action reaches the deeper structures of collagen and elastin which support the skin. By damaging many tiny areas of the deeper skin, the body is forced to produce fresh, new collagen and elastin to replace the damaged areas, resulting in a reduction in wrinkles, as well as tighter, younger and more youthful looking skin. In general, because they leave the top layer of the skin unaffected, non-ablative lasers are not as effective at removing pigmentation or spots. They are however, very effective at working on fine lines and wrinkles and overall skin tightness and appearance.
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Lasers are commonly used in the treatment of photo-aging and other skin conditions related to aging. The most advanced and widely used laser treatments employ fractional technology. Simply put, with fractional lasers, only a fraction of the skin is being treated at any given time. Picture a grid with many, tiny dots spaced evenly throughout, this is what the pattern of a fractionated or fractional laser treatment looks like. This has many advantages over other laser technologies, the most obvious being that because the energy is only applied to a fraction of the skin at one time, the untreated skin between each treatment site allows much more rapid healing and less downtime after treatment.
