Laser Skin Resurfacing
Aaah, to be young forever. Everyone is looking for the elusive fountain of youth. From Oprah’s Dr. Oz to Allure Magazine, the beauty industry is a billion dollar business. While there is no fountain of youth, we can arm ourselves with a little technology and some laser light, making wrinkles and other skin imperfections a thing of the past.
According to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery in Chicago, nearly 170,000 Americans, men and women, underwent laser resurfacing of the face in 1998, up from 138,891 in 1996–a 64 percent increase. That’s nearly twice the number of the more traditional surgical facelifts performed in the same year.
Laser resurfacing is a very controlled burning procedure during which a laser vaporizes superficial layers of facial skin, removing not only wrinkles and lines caused by sun damage and facial expressions, but also acne scars, some folds and creases around the nose and mouth, and even precancerous and benign superficial growths. In a sense, the laser procedure creates a fresh surface over which new skin can grow. Modern girls are also arming themselves with a little Restylane too.
Using lasers for facial skin resurfacing was discovered almost by accident. While treating acne scars with a laser, surgeons noticed that after resurfacing the skin around the scar to make the scar less visible, small adjacent wrinkles were greatly diminished.
Laser skin resurfacing is very appealing to people because it leaves smooth refreshed skin after a treatment. Collagen is a key fibrous protein in the skin’s connective tissue, and it helps give the skin its texture. Natural aging and such factors as sun damage and smoking help break down the collagen layer so that the skin’s once smooth surface develops wrinkles. New, more youthful collagen actually forms after laser treatment.
Laser resurfacing can often make patients look 10 to 20 years younger, and the results can last for eight to 10 years, says Tina Alster, M.D., director of the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery in the nation’s capital. But she warns that after surgery, patients must avoid sunbathing and destroying their skin again. Patients can have a repeat treatment after one year, but usually the first procedure is so successful a follow-up is not needed.
