For years lasers have been used to improve wrinkles, stretch marks, acne, surgical scars, uneven skin tone, and other skin conditions. Lasers are well-suited to treat specific conditions because of their precision. In the dark ages of laser resurfacing (1990s) the entire skin surface was ablated (removed) leaving a very large, raw surface area. Undergoing laser resurfacing was a major ordeal, involving lots of preparation time for adequate pain control, and a prolonged recovery afterwards as the skin healed back over raw areas.
Enter fractional resurfacing technology. Instead of removing the entire skin surface, columns of laser light in a honeycomb pattern treat 20-30% of the skin surface at a time. These laser microbeams create areas of treated tissue surrounded by untreated tissue, allowing the skin to recover much more quickly and minimizing the downtime. Side effects are minimized while healing and aesthetic outcomes are maximized.
