Depending on the depth of your treatment, your healing time may vary from one to several weeks. If you have a medium depth laser resurfacing, you may be able to return to work wearing makeup after only one week.

How Long Will Results Last?

	Laser skin resurfacing.

With proper skin care and sun protection, the results of a complete resurfacing in most cases will last a minimum of five years, and for many people even eight or ten years. As the aging process continues, you will see gradual changes appear. It is not unusual to repeat a complete ablative resurfacing, but your doctor can offer a variety of complementary treatments to prolong the renewed appearance of your skin.

Potential Risks

Ablative laser resurfacing, because it exposes a raw new layer, introduces the same risk of infection as any technique that removes a significant depth of skin. Proper follow-up care can protect you from the possibility of infection. If there is undiagnosed herpes simplex virus (HSV) present in the skin, it may be activated by the laser and produce scarring.

Are You a Candidate for Laser Treatment?

Laser treatments work best on people with fair skin that is relatively oily, although other skin types have been successfully treated. Only your doctor can determine whether your skin is appropriate for a specific type of laser procedure.

Treating the Skin with Nonablative Lasers

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These lasers treat skin imperfections by destroying defects caused by tissues beneath the skin, leaving surface layers undamaged. Accordingly, there is no wound to the skin surface and healing time is minimal. These lasers are used to make a variety of cosmetic improvements.

Nonablative laser resurfacing also causes the collagen layer just beneath the epidermis to gradually thicken, which firms and tones the skin. This helps eliminate finer lines and wrinkles such as those around the eyes, upper lip, cheeks, and forehead. Although you'll need a series of treatments, depending on your skin's condition, downtime is minimal compared to ablative resurfacing. For this reason, many patients prefer these more frequent, but less aggressive treatments. However, if your skin is heavily damaged, an ablative procedure may be the best option.

Other uses for the nonablative laser include the removal of age spots, dark skin splotches, spider veins, port-wine birthmarks, warts, and excess facial hair. Laser hair removal is most effective on dark hair. Why? The laser targets only dark melanin pigment within or near a hair follicle. Blonde, red, and gray hair follicles lack this pigment, so laser hair removal isn't effective for them. A nonablative laser treatment may also offer some improvement, perhaps 10 to 20 percent, to facial scars.

If you have laser hair removal scheduled, you'll need to stop plucking or waxing for four to six weeks in advance. And don't shave for several days before your appointment, as the stubble will help your doctor guide the laser's direction.

Your Nonablative Laser Procedure

	Laser skin resurfacing.

These procedures can be done in the doctor’s office. Most nonablative laser procedures are performed by a member of the doctor’s staff, often a technician.You’ll lie on a table or recline in a dental-style chair, usually with a simple gown or medical smock over your clothing.You’ll wear protective eye goggles or eye shields.

Your need for any anesthetic will vary depending on the complexity of your skin problem and your pain tolerance. A fairly superficial age spot, for example, will normally produce brief strong stinging but nothing intense enough to require a numbing cream. If you are having a blood vessel or deep pigment area corrected, you may require either an injection of lidocaine or a topical cream, which should numb the area in about 20 minutes. Ask your doctor what kind of pain relief would be most appropriate for you.

After your skin is cleansed, your doctor will pass the laser’s handpiece over the affected area on your face.You may occasionally hear a sharp “pop.” This noise is simply the sound of the laser fizzling a hair within a follicle. These follicles are present in many parts of your skin, even where you have only light, barely visible facial hairs.

These procedures usually take from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on how much of your face is being treated. Afterward, you may be given a cold gel pack to place over your face for a few minutes to cool any residual burning you may feel.

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