Fractional laser resurfacing

Fractional resurfacing treats the skin in a pattern rather than all at once. The laser divides its energy into a grid of very small columns, so treated skin sits beside untreated skin across the whole area. That is what keeps the recovery shorter than a full resurfacing treatment, and it is also why the treatment is usually repeated. Irene sets the density and the energy for your skin type and for the area she is working on. Numbing cream is applied and given a full twenty minutes, and cold air runs during the pass.

The pass takes fifteen to twenty minutes for a full face. Afterward the skin feels hot, looks red, and is swollen the following morning. Over the next several days it goes bronze and rough before it flakes away. This is the treatment with the most downtime on the list, and Irene will ask what your week looks like before she books it. Skin tone matters here: darker skin needs a different approach and sometimes a different treatment, and she will tell you which applies to you.

• Sun damage and surface texture across a whole area rather than one spot
• Having a week where looking obviously treated is not a problem
• Wanting the tradeoff between downtime and number of sessions explained
• Planning for the cooler months rather than the summer

Irene reviews your skin type, your sun history, and the week ahead before anything is set.

Numbing cream is applied and left on for a full twenty minutes.

Eye shields go on, the skin is cleaned, and cold air runs throughout.

The laser is passed over the area in sections, and the sensation is hot and prickling.

The skin is cooled, an occlusive ointment goes on, and you leave with detailed written aftercare.

Up to a week.

• Plan for up to a week: redness, swelling on the first day, then a bronze and rough look before it flakes.
• Keep the skin moist with the ointment you are given, and let the flaking come away on its own.
• No sun at all during recovery, and daily sunscreen for months afterward.
• Irene decides the interval to the next session after she has seen how you healed.

• You are pregnant or nursing
• There is an active skin infection or a cold sore in the area
• You have had recent sun exposure or a tan
• You have a history of keloid scarring
• You have used certain prescription skin medications in the recent past
• You cannot give the recovery the time it needs in the days afterward

Irene decides candidacy at your consultation.