Question:
I have severe Rosacea, so bad that I don’t even want to leave the house some days. Would a Fraxel laser treatment be able to eliminate the redness and blotchiness of my skin?
Answer:
Fraxel is not the best treatment for Rosacea. Severe Rosacea is best treated with a combination of good skin care and a vascular laser such as a pulsed dye laser.
Posted by Dr. Buckingham
Question:
Aside from a facial spider vein treatment, are there any creams or serums that would help eliminate the appearance of spider veins in my cheeks?
Answer:
There are creams that can improve spider veins. Some of them are prescription and others part of skin care lines. Usually though these will only be partially effective and often laser therapy is needed as well. These creams can then be beneficial in maintaining the result.
Posted by Dr. Buckingham
Question:
I’m in my early thirties and am considering getting a laser skin resurfacing procedure done. I’d like to know a bit more about the procedure such as the average time it takes and possible side effects.
Answer:
Laser skin resurfacing in our practice is performed with a fractionated CO2 laser. There are many different lasers and all of them can have different degrees of improvement and downtime. Even with the fractionated CO2 the treatment can be tailored to the individual patient’s needs and limitations for down-time. The down-time can be as little as about 5 days and as much as about 2 weeks. The risks are minimal as the laser leaves microscopic areas of untreated skin for healing, but they include, scarring, infection, pigmentation alterations, milia, acne, redness, itching etc.
Posted by Dr. Buckingham
Question:
Does fraxel repair eliminate fine facial lines better than an injectable filler?
Answer:
Fraxel repair and and injectable fillers are usually utilized for different facial lines or in conjuction with each other for the best results. Fillers are best for lines around the mouth or to fill in areas of facial volume loss. Fraxel repair can also be used to improve the lines around your mouth, but is also very useful for improving fine lines around your eyes and forehead. It really depends more upon what your goals are and less upon comparing techniques. The best solution is to come in for a consultation and develop a complete treatment plan that is best for you.
Posted by Dr. Buckingham
Question:
What exactly is dermabrasion? Is there a certain skin type that would benefit the most from this procedure?
Answer:
Dermabrasion is a procedure where a rough tool is used to resurface the skin. Oddly enough even sterile sand-paper has been described as a tool for this procedure. More commonly, and in our practice, we use a power instrument to perform the skin “sanding”. The process is much like any other kind of resurfacing where the outer layers of the skin are removed in order to offer improvement in wrinkling or scarring. The procedure is mostly used for discrete areas of the face and should be used mostly in people with lighter skin color as loss of pigmentation can be a side-effect of the procedure.
Posted by Dr. Buckingham
