Skin Resurfacing
(Laser, chemical peel, dermabrasion)

No one enjoys the wrinkles, lines, and creases that take over our face as we age. While sun exposure and smoking accelerates aging even more, we all fall victim to time and our genes. While surgery can help certain areas of the face, the wrinkles around the eyes, lips, and mouth are far better treated with skin resurfacing.

As the deeper skin loses the amount of underlying supportive collagen and elasticity with age, it stretches and visible wrinkling occurs in the upper layers. Resurfacing removes the wrinkled upper layer of skin which must then grow back from the deeper layers. The newly grown fresher skin has a smoother feel and appearance. The problem is that the upper layers must be removed deeply enough or the wrinkles will return. Regardless of whether the removal is by burning it off with a laser or chemical peel, or sanding it off with dermabrasion, for long-lasting results, it must go deep. This results in wounded skin which is raw, oozes, and scabs some and takes a week or more to heal. After a week or so, the new skin is very red or pink and delicate.

It is critical at this stage to thoroughly moisturize the skin and avoid damaging sunlight for at least two months. Make up can neutralize and cover the redness, which usually fades to normal color in six to eight weeks.

All areas or even the entire face can be treated by resurfacing. Because neck skin is prone to discoloration, resurfacing here is ill-advised. Individual areas ideal for resurfacing include the lower eyelids, crow’s feet, and lips. They usually heal well enough to be covered by make up after about one week, but a full face treatment may take up to two weeks. Any resurfacing that takes less than one week to heal is not going to produce anything more than temporary improvement, including micro-dermabrasion. While there are a zillion different kinds and strengths of chemical peels and hundreds of different lasers, long-lasting wrinkle results simply boil down to how deep you go and how long it takes to heal. Obviously, if you go too deep, you can get scarring, which is a small risk with experienced surgeons who are careful to avoid complications. The darker the hair and skin, the greater the risk is for blotchy irregular coloration of the skin after healing so non-Caucasians are not good candidates.

While there is little difference in the result on wrinkles between lasers and peels, each surgeon usually has a preference based on their experience. Dermabrasion does a little better job in smoothing the irregular scarring from acne, but is usually the least preferred method for wrinkles as the results are less predictable.

As always, a thorough discussion with your surgeon to understand the procedure, the risks, the recovery, and other options is essential.

 

Click on image for larger view.