Question:
What is Fractional Skin Resurfacing? What does it do and how effective is it?
Answer:
Fractional skin resurfacing is a laser treatment for the skin. It utilizes a laser of either an erbium or more commonly carbon dioxide wavelength to resurface the skin. The difference between fractional and traditional laser resurfacing is that in traditional resurfacing the entire outer layer of the skin is removed. This yields good results, but the healing time is long and complicated. A fractionated laser removes a portion of the outer layer of the skin, but leaves a portion intact to heal. The treated portion can be adjusted tailored from patient to patient to meet desires for result with limitations in downtime. The more tissue treated the better the results, but the longer the downtime.
Posted by Dr. Buckingham
