However CO2 laser resurfacing has several limitations including a prolonged and difficult recovery period, often lasting three weeks, prolonged facial redness that can last three months, hypo pigmentation or lightening of skin color, and the potential for infection which can lead to scarring.

During the past three years new technology called fractional laser resurfacing has been developed which has dramatically shortened recovery time and lessened the occurrence of complications.

With Fractional laser resurfacing the laser beam is broken up or fractionated into many small micro beams which are separated so that when they strike the skin surface small areas of the skin between the beams are not hit by the laser and left intact. These small areas of untreated skin promote a much more rapid recovery and healing with less risk of complications. The small areas treated by the fractional micro beams, called micro treatment zones, cause sufficient laser injury to promote new collagen production and resultant facial skin rejuvenation.

The first fractional laser Fraxel and subsequently Lux1540 have produced excellent results treating acne scars and facial pigmentation and have improved skin texture and facial rejuvenation. They have not however achieved the same degree of wrinkle removal and skin tightening as the traditional ablative CO2 laser resurfacing technique. (See Below Before and After Lux1540 Fractional Laser-Photo Courtesy of Palomar and Dr. Dwight Scarborough)

To ablate means to “surgically remove”. The Fraxel and Lux1540 are non ablative lasers which mean that when the laser beam strikes the skin the skin is not removed immediately, rather the laser beam heats the skin to cause inflammation and new collagen production. The benefits of non ablative laser skin treatments are dramatically reduced recovery time, but the results in terms of wrinkle removal and skin tightening are much less dramatic.

The results achieved by ablative CO2 resurfacing are more significant because ablation removes damaged, aged skin as well as heating the deeper skin layers to promote new collagen production.

Recently several new micro fractional ablative lasers have been developed which have the benefits of fractional treatments, less down time and complications, as well as the benefits of ablative skin resurfacing, better wrinkle removal and facial rejuvenation. The diagram below shows how this new technology works in comparison to previous laser methods.

The first on the left is traditional CO2 laser resurfacing. Next is ActiveFX which fractionally ablated the surface of the skin down to a depth of 70-100 microns. Next are the non ablative fractional technologies which heated but did not ablate the skin. More recently the Palomar Lux2940 fractional laser has been developed to provide fractional ablative laser resurfacing treatments that reach much deeper into the skin, 200 to 600 microns, and can produce much more effective wrinkle removal and skin rejuvenation with significantly less down time and recovery than traditional CO2 ablative laser resurfacing.

The photo below shows the wrinkle removal results achieved with Palomar’s new Lux2940 fractional resurfacing laser with 4-6 days of redness as compared to 3 weeks of down time and 3 months of redness with a traditional CO2 laser resurfacing.

The new Lux2940 fractional ablative laser resurfacing technique is a very exciting advance in the field of non surgical facial rejuvenation and wrinkle removal. Many new applications are being developed which will likely improve our ability to rejuvenate the skin and possibly improve scars, stretch marks, and remove pigment.

To learn more about non surgical facial rejuvenation, read Save Your Face or contact me.

Dr. Seckel

Concord, Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts

978-369-4499

During the past three years new technology called fractional laser skin rejuvenation has been developed which does not require significant recovery or anesthesia.

With Fractional laser skin rejuvenation the laser beam is broken up or fractionated into many small micro beams which are separated so that when they strike the skin surface, small areas of the skin between the beams are not hit by the laser and are left intact. These small areas of untreated skin promote a much more rapid recovery and healing with less risk of complications. The small areas of the skin treated by the fractional micro beams cause sufficient laser effect to promote new collagen production which plumps the skin improving wrinkles, pigment and acne scars.

The first fractional laser Fraxel and a newer technology called the Lux1540 have produced excellent results treating wrinkles, acne scars and facial pigmentation and have improved skin texture.

To ablate means to “surgically remove”. The Fraxel and Lux1540 are non ablative lasers which mean that when the laser beam strikes the skin the skin is not removed as it was with the traditional CO2 ablative lasers, rather the laser beam heats the skin to cause inflammation and new collagen production. The benefits of non ablative Fraxel and Lux1540 laser skin treatments are dramatically reduced recovery time. After the treatment your skin is pink the first day and the second day the skin may have “bronzing” which is easily covered by make up.

The new fractional skin rejuvenation lasers safely go deep into the skin (see diagram below) where they can produce more effective new collagen production than more superficial laser treatments. This new collagen production replaces collagen that has been damaged by sun, aging, and acne. The new collagen produced can actually plump the skin wrinkles and acne scars and improve skin texture.

This skin plumping effect can significantly improve wrinkles and acne scars, reduce enlarged pores, remove pigment and actually improve surgical scars. (See below)

Above-Before and after Lux1540 treatment-Photos courtesy of Palomar and Dr Dwight Scarborough

We have the new Palomar Lux1540 fractional non ablative laser in our practice and I am very impressed with the results.

The Lux1540 treatment takes about 30 minutes and we use a topical numbing cream for your comfort. Your face will be pink the first day but your skin is intact, no oozing or open areas. The second day you may have a “bronze” cast to your facial skin but make up can be applied. In some patients who have more significant scars or wrinkles we use higher settings and in these patients there may be peeling and redness for 3-4 days after treatment. Patients with thin skin from prior use of Accutane or previous dermabrasion or laser resurfacing can benefit from the skin plumping effects but may also have 3-4 days of redness

The new fractional skin rejuvenation lasers are very exciting and a very significant development in non surgical facial rejuvenation. For further information on facial rejuvenation and lasers read Save Your Face or contact me.

Dr Seckel

2/01/08

Concord, Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts

However CO2 laser resurfacing has several limitations including a prolonged and difficult recovery period, often lasting three weeks, prolonged facial redness that can last three months, hypo pigmentation or lightening of skin color, and the potential for infection which can lead to scarring.

During the past three years new technology called fractional laser resurfacing has been developed which has dramatically shortened recovery time and lessened the occurrence of complications.

With fractional laser resurfacing the laser beam is broken up or fractionated into many small micro beams which are separated so that when they strike the skin surface small areas of the skin between the beams are not hit by the laser and left intact. These small areas of untreated skin promote a much more rapid recovery and healing with less risk of complications. The small areas treated by the fractional micro beams, called micro treatment zones, cause sufficient laser injury to promote new collagen production and resultant facial skin rejuvenation. ( See Diagram Below)

In the above skin diagram, the first red area on the left represents traditional non fractional ablative CO2 and Erbium laser resurfacing. To ablate means to surgically remove and the skin tissue is removed by the heat of the CO2 or Erbium laser. Since these lasers were not fractional, all of the skin in the treated area is removed creating an open wound that takes a long time to heal.

The second drawing is the Lumenis® ActiveFX fractional CO2 laser which fractionally ablated the surface of the skin down to a depth of 70-100 microns. This laser is fractional and the skin heals much quicker, but depth of penetration is not deep enough to produce substantial wrinkle removal, skin tightening and skin rejuvenation.

The third red areas represent the non ablative fractional laser technologies which heat but do not ablate the skin. These lasers use an Erbium laser to heat small columns of the deep skin layers to promote new collagen production and plump the skin and skin wrinkles. Recovery time is much less than with traditional ablative CO2 and Erbium lasers. Examples of the non ablative fractional lasers are the Fraxel® and the Palomar® Lux1540 fractional non-ablative lasers. These lasers are excellent for improving skin texture, plumping wrinkles and acne scars, and shrinking pores, but multiple treatments are required.

More recently several new fractional ablative lasers (ablate means to surgically remove) have been developed which actually remove the heated column of skin tissue and provide more substantial wrinkle removal and superficial skin tightening than the non ablative fractional lasers (See Last Figure on Right in Above Diagram). The Fraxel® Repair laser and the Lumenis® Bridge laser are ablative fractional CO2 lasers and the Palomar® Lux2940 laser is an ablative fractional Erbium laser. These new ablative fractional CO2 and Erbium lasers have the advantage of producing better wrinkle removal and skin rejuvenation than the non-ablative fractional lasers, the Fraxel® and Palomar® Lux1540 with less down time than the traditional non fractional ablative CO2 and Erbium lasers.

These fractional ablative CO2 and Erbium lasers reach much deeper into the skin, 200 to 900 microns, and can produce much more effective wrinkle removal and skin rejuvenation with significantly less down time and recovery than traditional CO2 and Erbium non fractional ablative laser resurfacing. The Erbium laser produces less heat than the CO2 laser and traditionally recovery time, the time for redness of the skin to go away, has been less with the Erbium laser than with the CO2 laser.

The photo below shows the wrinkle removal results achieved with the new Palomar® Lux2940 micro fractional ablative Erbium laser with only 4-6 days of down time as compared to 3 weeks of down time and 3 months of redness with a traditional CO2 laser resurfacing.

The new micro fractional ablative Erbium and CO2 laser resurfacing techniques are very exciting advances in the field of non surgical facial rejuvenation and wrinkle removal. Many new applications are being developed which will likely improve our ability to rejuvenate the skin and possibly improve scars, stretch marks, and remove pigment.

To learn more about non surgical facial rejuvenation, read Save Your Face or contact me.

Dr. Seckel

Concord, Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts

978-369-4499

However CO2 laser resurfacing has several limitations including a prolonged and difficult recovery period, often lasting three weeks, prolonged facial redness that can last three months, hypo pigmentation or lightening of skin color, and the potential for infection which can lead to scarring.

During the past three years new technology called fractional laser resurfacing or fractional skin rejuvenation has been developed which has dramatically shortened recovery time and lessened the occurrence of complications.

With Fractional Skin Rejuvenation the laser beam is broken up or fractionated into many small micro beams which are separated so that when they strike the skin surface small areas of the skin between the beams are not hit by the laser and left intact. These small areas of untreated skin promote a much more rapid recovery and healing with less risk of complications. The small areas treated by the fractional micro beams, called micro treatment zones, cause sufficient laser injury to promote new collagen production and resultant facial skin rejuvenation.

The first fractional laser made by Reliant the Fraxel laser and subsequently Palomar Medical’s Lux1540 have produced excellent results treating acne scars and facial pigmentation and have improved skin texture and facial rejuvenation. They have not however achieved the same degree of wrinkle removal and skin tightening as the traditional ablative CO2 laser resurfacing technique.

To ablate means to “surgically remove”. The Fraxel and Lux1540 are non ablative lasers which mean that when the laser beam strikes the skin the skin is not removed immediately, rather the laser beam heats the skin to cause inflammation and new collagen production. The benefits of non ablative laser skin treatments are dramatically reduced recovery time, but the results in terms of wrinkle removal and skin tightening are much less dramatic.

The results achieved by ablative CO2 resurfacing are more significant because ablation removes damaged, aged skin as well as heating the deeper skin layers to promote new collagen production.

Recently several new micro fractional ablative lasers have been developed which have the benefits of fractional treatments, less down time and complications, as well as the benefits of ablative skin resurfacing, better wrinkle removal and facial rejuvenation. The diagram below shows how this new technology works in comparison to previous laser methods.

The first on the left is traditional CO2 and Erbium laser resurfacing. Next is the Lumenis CO2 ActiveFX which fractionally ablated the surface of the skin down to a depth of 70-100 microns. Next are the non ablative fractional technologies which heated but did not ablate the skin. More recently the Palomar Lux2940, the Sciton Profractional, the new Lumenis Bridge Therapy and Reliant’s FDDA or Repair lasers have all developed new ablative or microablative fractional laser systems that reach much deeper into the skin, 200 to 1000 microns, and can produce much more effective wrinkle removal, new collagen production and skin rejuvenation with significantly less down time and recovery than traditional CO2 ablative laser resurfacing.

The photo below shows the wrinkle removal results achieved with Palomar’s new Lux2940 micro fractional ablative laser with 4-6 days of down time and a week of redness as compared to 3 weeks of down time and 3 months of redness with a traditional CO2 laser resurfacing.

The new Fractional Skin Rejuvenation lasers are a very exciting advance in the field of non surgical facial rejuvenation and wrinkle removal. Many new applications are being developed which will likely improve our ability to rejuvenate the skin and possibly improve scars, stretch marks, and remove pigment.

Another very exciting aspect of Fractional Skin Rejuvenation is that unlike older ablative laser resurfacing techniques, the new Fractional Skin Rejuvenation lasers appear to be safe to use on darker skin for Asian Skin Rejuvenation and African American Skin Rejuvenation. This will make the latest skin rejuvenation techniques available to millions of people with dark skin who could not be safely treated with previous skin rejuvenation techniques.

The patient below was treated with the Lumenis ActiveFX fractional ablative CO2 laser by Dr Bosniak in NY:

To learn more about non surgical facial rejuvenation and Fractional Skin Rejuvenation, read Save Your Face or contact me.

To stay current on the exciting new advances in Aesthetic Laser Technology sign up for my email newsletter.

Dr. Seckel

Concord, Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts

978-369-4499

However CO2 laser resurfacing has several limitations including a prolonged and difficult recovery period, often lasting three weeks, prolonged facial redness that can last three months, hypo pigmentation or lightening of skin color, and the potential for infection which can lead to scarring.

During the past three years new technology called fractional laser resurfacing or fractional skin rejuvenation has been developed which has dramatically shortened recovery time and lessened the occurrence of complications.

With Fractional Skin Rejuvenation the laser beam is broken up or fractionated into many small micro beams which are separated so that when they strike the skin surface small areas of the skin between the beams are not hit by the laser and left intact. These small areas of untreated skin promote a much more rapid recovery and healing with less risk of complications. The small areas treated by the fractional micro beams, called micro treatment zones, cause sufficient laser injury to promote new collagen production and resultant facial skin rejuvenation.

The first fractional laser made by Reliant the Fraxel laser and subsequently Palomar Medical’s Lux1540 have produced excellent results treating acne scars and facial pigmentation and have improved skin texture and facial rejuvenation. They have not however achieved the same degree of wrinkle removal and skin tightening as the traditional ablative CO2 laser resurfacing technique.

To ablate means to “surgically remove”. The Fraxel and Lux1540 are non ablative lasers which mean that when the laser beam strikes the skin the skin is not removed immediately, rather the laser beam heats the skin to cause inflammation and new collagen production. The benefits of non ablative laser skin treatments are dramatically reduced recovery time, but the results in terms of wrinkle removal and skin tightening are much less dramatic.

The results achieved by ablative CO2 resurfacing are more significant because ablation removes damaged, aged skin as well as heating the deeper skin layers to promote new collagen production.

Recently several new micro fractional ablative lasers have been developed which have the benefits of fractional treatments, less down time and complications, as well as the benefits of ablative skin resurfacing, better wrinkle removal and facial rejuvenation. The diagram below shows how this new technology works in comparison to previous laser methods.

The first on the left is traditional CO2 and Erbium laser resurfacing. Next is the Lumenis CO2 ActiveFX which fractionally ablated the surface of the skin down to a depth of 70-100 microns. Next are the non ablative fractional technologies which heated but did not ablate the skin. More recently the Palomar Lux2940, the Sciton Profractional, the new Lumenis Bridge Therapy and Reliant’s FDDA or Repair lasers have all developed new ablative or microablative fractional laser systems that reach much deeper into the skin, 200 to 1000 microns, and can produce much more effective wrinkle removal, new collagen production and skin rejuvenation with significantly less down time and recovery than traditional CO2 ablative laser resurfacing.

The photo below shows the wrinkle removal results achieved with Palomar’s new Lux2940 micro fractional ablative laser with 4-6 days of down time and a week of redness as compared to 3 weeks of down time and 3 months of redness with a traditional CO2 laser resurfacing.

The new Fractional Skin Rejuvenation lasers are a very exciting advance in the field of non surgical facial rejuvenation and wrinkle removal. Many new applications are being developed which will likely improve our ability to rejuvenate the skin and possibly improve scars, stretch marks, and remove pigment.

Another very exciting aspect of Fractional Skin Rejuvenation is that unlike older ablative laser resurfacing techniques, the new Fractional Skin Rejuvenation lasers appear to be safe to use on darker skin for Asian Skin Rejuvenation and African American Skin Rejuvenation. This will make the latest skin rejuvenation techniques available to millions of people with dark skin who could not be safely treated with previous skin rejuvenation techniques.

The patient below was treated with the Lumenis ActiveFX fractional ablative CO2 laser by Dr Bosniak in NY:

To learn more about non surgical facial rejuvenation and Fractional Skin Rejuvenation, read Save Your Face or contact me.

Dr. Seckel

Concord, Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts

978-369-4499

Laser resurfacing is a technique which removes wrinkles and brown spots, and tightens the skin. (See Chapter 8 High Tech facial Rejuvenation, and Chapter 9-What can Plastic Surgery Do For You in my book “Save Your Face”).

Originally laser facial skin rejuvenation was done with the CO2 laser and more recently with the Erbium laser. These lasers are used to strip the outer aged, damaged skin layers off of the face and following a period of healing, the results are frequently spectacular, with new fresh youthful tightened skin free of pigment and age spots.

Laser Resurfacing-Contact Dr Seckel

The problem with laser resurfacing is that it is a surgical procedure and there is significant down time or recovery time. There is an initial 8-10 day period during which the skin is raw and “oozing” fluid until new skin covers the surface of the face. Following this healing period, the skin is very pink for three to six weeks requiring the patient to wear make up. Although the results are beautiful many patients cannot take 2-3 weeks out of their life to have this procedure done.

The traditional laser resurfacing is called an ablative procedure meaning the old skin is ablated or removed so that new skin will grow back on to the face. Because of the down time associated with traditional ablative resurfacing scientists have developed “non-ablative” lasers which attempt to rejuvenate the skin without removing or ablating the outer layer.

IPL(Photofacial) , Cool touch®, Gentlewaves®, Titan®, Thermage®, LuxIR, and laser photo-rejuvenation are some examples of non-ablative facial skin rejuvenation therapies which you may have heard of.

The problem with older non-ablative skin therapies is that the results or benefit, if any, are very minimal and only occur after many treatments over a period of 6 or 7 months. Improvements of 20% in wrinkling after 6 or 7 months and thousands of dollars are hard to justify in my opinion.

All resurfacing techniques work by injuring the skin and causing the skin to form new collagen to replace the old damaged collagen in the skin. This process is technically called selective photothermolysis (see Chapter 8-High Tech Facial Rejuvenation in Save Your Face for a thorough discussion). Laser resurfacing with the CO2 and Erbium do this in a very dramatic way all at once. The non-ablative therapies do it slowly over time but not nearly as effectively.

Fraxel®, a laser, and the new Lux 1540 by Palomar use a new approach called fractional photothermolysis (FP), also called fractional skin rejuvenation. Fraxel® and the Lux 1540 are non ablative lasers,  the laser beam is broken up into tiny beams which are spread apart so that not all areas of the skin are treated. Rather tiny “cells” of skin called microscopic treatment zones or MTZ are heated but not ablated beneath the skin leaving the surrounding skin intact.

The result is that the skin is inflamed so that new collagen will form but much of the skin stays in place-so the face is not left raw and recovery time is shorter.

Down time is less than that with traditional laser resurfacing. However multiple treatments  are required to get a result. So expect that after each treatment you will be red and may have bronzing and some flaking skin for several days.

Early results with Fraxel and the Lux 1540 are impressive and similar to what is achieved with the Sciton®Erbium Microlaser peel (see chapter 7-Save Your Face).

Photos courtesy of Palomar and Dr Dwight Scarborough-Lux 1540

Fraxel® is a very exciting new concept in laser technology by Dr. Rox Anderson in Boston, who is the brilliant scientist who first conceived the theory of photothermolysis and started the whole laser facial rejuvenation field.

Fraxel® and the Lux 1540 are certainly more effective than the “non-ablative” therapies available today. The benefit to the patient will be similar to that of the Microlaserpeel performed with the Sciton® Erbium laser which I use.

Just don’t plan on going to a social event the evening after having this procedure done. If you want honest unbiased information about the confusing array of facial rejuvenation treatments and wrinkle cures offered today please read my new book Save Your Face, it will make sense of all the conflicting information you read.

Contact me for more information on any of the procedures mentioned above.

Dr. Seckel

Boston, Massachusetts