JANIGA MDs

Plastic Surgery & Cosmetic Center

Treatment Spotlight: All About Laser Resurfacing

Treatment Spotlight: All About Laser Resurfacing

Some of our most popular treatments use lasers. These are one of the most versatile treatment options, as they can be used a variety of ways for many different skin issues.

Laser resurfacing in Reno is used to treat acne scarring, large pore size, fine lines and wrinkles, and loose skin. They also are a fast and effective way to stimulate collagen. Laser resurfacing gives us an immediate and large collagen stimulation burst.

There are many types of lasers for the skin, some treat brown and red spots like the IPL laser, others are used for resurfacing such as the ICON laser.  Resurfacing lasers can be erbium or CO2. They can be aggressive or mild in their intensity. Downtime can range from a few hours to seven days.

There are two intensity levels of resurfacing lasers. First are Ablative Lasers. These treat superficial layers of skin in addition to the deeper layers.

Ablative lasers remove portions of the top layers of skin as well as treating the deeper layers, so there is even more improvement in a fine lines and wrinkles as well as better skin tightening. However, this setting requires 5 to 7 days of downtime.

The other form of laser resurfacing is called non-ablative lasers. These allow you to penetrate through the superficial layers of the skin and treat only the underlying areas, decreasing downtime.

The non-ablative resurfacing laser will shrink the pores, treat acne scarring, give some tightening, and treat some fine lines. When you treat only the deeper layers, the downtime can be a few hours to two or three days at most.

In my practice, most of my patients will do a few resurfacing lasers with the shorter downtime first. Then slowly graduate into the more intense versions if their schedule allows.

Personally, because I am not able to do the 5 to 7 days of downtime, I do the non-ablative version. It helps the texture of my skin, shrinks the pores and stimulates collagen underneath my skin. I consider it a good maintenance treatment and a good investment in my collagen stores as I age.

If you’re interested in learning more about resurfacing lasers, call our Reno office for a consultation.

~ Dr. Jennifer Janiga

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