This laser is made up of a gas mixture and composed of 4 elements: Carbon Dioxide, Helium, Nitrogen, and Hydrogen.
CO2 lasers operate in the infrared, special materials are necessary for their construction. This type of laser precisely removes thin layers of skin with minimal damage to your surrounding tissue. Carbon dioxide lasers are ablative lasers, working by essentially vaporizing the surface of the skin by targeting water molecules. This reduces scars, wrinkles and imperfections. Specifically, (CO2) lasers can be used to eliminate fine line on the cheeks, forehead and upper lip, smooth and tighten the skin on both the lower and upper eyelids, improve crow’s feet around the eyes, soften deep frown lines, flatten scar tissue, reduce stretch marks and hyperpigmentation, remove sun freckles and age spots, repair smoker’s lines and rejuvenate the skin by smoothing and polishing the complexion.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) laser resurfacing is the best known method today for improving skin’s appearance. Dr. Shah uses the new fractional carbon dioxide laser technology. He works wonders at rejuvenating the skin by improving overall skin quality. Brown spots caused by sun damage can be improved, skin pores reduced in size, skin texture irregularities can be smoothed out and the skin plumped up through collagen stimulation. With the skill that only years of experience can hone, Dr. Shah will recreate the skin that you remember from your youth. The CO2 laser penetrates deeply, essentially removing the entire epidermis (the outer layer of the skin). Because of this, a CO2 laser will produce significant skin tightening and is more successful at removing deep wrinkles and scars. However, the intense heat tends to be more painful and can lighten the pigment of people with olive or dark skin.
The CO2 laser is a concentrated beam of light that creates a precision burn on the outer layers of the skin. A single pass with the laser will remove a very thin amount of skin, about the thickness of a human hair. Patients with minimal sun damage or wrinkles may only need a single pass. Patients with advanced sun damage, wrinkles or deep acne scars will need multiple passes. Every patient is different and there is no cookbook formula for the number of passes.
CO2 Laser Resurfacing is a laser treatment that addresses sun damaged skin, uneven pigmentation, wrinkle reduction, pore size reduction. CO2 Laser Resurfacing also targets loose skin while brightening under eye circles and helps with healing acne and acne scarring.
CO2 Laser Skin Resurfacing uses energy to vaporize aged or damaged skin while also stimulating new collagen growth to the surrounding tissue.
The best candidates for CO2 Laser Resurfacing are patients with a light skin tone, skin types 1 through 3. Skin type can be determined by a doctor or aesthetician.
The most common areas to treat with the CO2 Laser are the face, neck and hands. Other areas can be treated depending on the patients and their needs. Treatment areas will be discussed during a pretreatment consultation.
The amount of treatments is decided on an individual patient basis. It may take as little as one treatment or up to six treatments to obtain maximum results. The number of CO2 Laser treatments needed is discussed during a pretreatment consultation.
The entire face can be treated by the CO2 Laser in as little as 30 minutes. The total treatment time can vary depending on topical application and the number of laser passes needed for treatment.
Topical anesthetic is applied before the CO2 laser treatment to make the procedure virtually painless. Minimal discomfort may be felt but it is overall very tolerable.
In general, C02 tends to be deeper and provide more robust changes. A study in 2010 compared the 2 technologies and found that C02 improved wrinkle depth by 20% versus 10% for Erbium.
A recent study examined the effects of lasers on early scars and found improvement in the treated scars versus the untreated areas of the scars when using fractionated C02. In our practice, we treat have significant improvement in scars with C02 treatments for scars in making them much more difficult to see and feel. Fractionated C02 is often used for more mature scars while PDL or IPL can be used for reducing vascularity in early scars.
It is very important to avoid sun exposure pre CO2 laser treatment. This includes use of tanning beds and application of self-tanners. Patients should use a lightening cream, such as hydroquinone, 1-2 weeks prior to CO2 laser treatment. Patients are advised to start an antibiotic 1 day prior to CO2 laser treatment.
Downtime post Laser CO2 Resurfacing treatments is dependent on a number of different factors. Downtime should be expected and can better be addressed during your pretreatment consultation.
Immediately following your Laser CO2 Resurfacing treatment, your body will naturally start working by replacing aged tissue cells with new ones. Shortly after your procedure you will notice your skin to be visibly smoother, healthier, and younger looking. Laser CO2 Resurfacing results will continue to improve over the next 6 months.
There is a list of post-procedure care instructions that will be reviewed at the time of your consultation. Patients will also receive a copy of take home instructions. These instructions include proper times to ice, apply ointment, a list of medication to take, and if and when you should contact a doctor.
If you live near Chicago, IL, Anil Shah Facial Plastic Surgery offers Latisse among its services and is conveniently located at 200 West Superior St., Suite 200 Chicago, IL 60654
