Making Sense of Laser Facial Rejuvenation Treatments

Laser facial rejuvenation treatments are one of the most popular services currently performed. Every day new technology is emerging making these laser treatments more and more effective. Notice how everyone in Hollywood is aging backwards these days? Injectables and mini-facelifts have a lot to do with it, but often times it's lasers that are behind these drastic transformations.

Lasering the upper layers of the skin creates a powerful exfoliation, essentially removing these upper layers and the blemishes and fine wrinkles that come with them. When the layers of the skin grow back within a week or two, smoother, clearer skin is revealed. When the heat of a laser reaches the deepest part of the skin, it breaks down collagen which is the building block of skin. When the collagen reforms it becomes tighter and more packed. The result is tighter skin with less sagging and looseness.

All of this sounds great, right?. The confusing thing is, there's SO many lasers to choose from, and it can be hard to decide which one is right for you. In reality, there's only a few types of lasers, but they're being branded differently, and so quickly, that things can start to get confusing.

Below you'll find a breakdown of the most popular types of laser treatments. You'll learn what they do and how they work so you can make an educated decision.
1.  Ablative lasers
Ablative lasers are the oldest types of lasers and were first widely used in the late 90's. Many dermatologists still use ablative lasers, but with the introduction of fractionated lasers, they're slowly being replaced. No pain, no gain would be a good way to describe ablative lasers. They literally burn all of the skin off the face, causing a full exfoliation which removes fine lines and blemishes. They also heat the deeper layers of the skin which results in long-term tightening.

The drawback to this very effective type of laser? The treatments are painful, with the long recovery being no less uncomfortable. The results, however, are the cadillac of laser facial rejuvenation.
2.  Nonablative lasers
The intensity of the ablative lasers caused many plastic surgeons to seek out an alternative treatment to the the intense pain and long downtime that came with them. Nonablative lasers have been found to be a suitable alternative. Nonablative lasers work by heating up the deeper layers of the skin while leaving the top layers untouched. There is no downtime with nonablative lasers, but since they don't create significant exfoliation, they have limited effects on surface wrinkles and blemishes. To achieve similar results as an ablative laser, multiple treatments need to be preformed to even come close.
3.  Fractionated lasers
Many patients can't take the intensity of ablative lasers, but find nonablative lasers not powerful enough. Enter the fractionated laser, which can be a perfect in-between option.

Ablative lasers burn off all of the skin, nonablative lasers burn off none of it, while fractional lasers burn off a 'fraction' of the skin's surface. This results in skin tightening and exfoliation with some downtime, but not nearly the same amount that's seen with ablative lasers. For best results, multiple treatments with a fractional laser are usually recommended.