8 Things You Need to Know Before Laser Skin Resurfacing（2）

Certain medications or conditions can affect how your skin responds to laser treatment

Acne medications containing isotretinoin can cause poor healing or scarring from laser resurfacing, while common over-the-counter products like aspirin can increase the risk of postoperative bleeding. Diabetes and other chronic conditions can also affect the safety and results of laser resurfacing. You should also quit smoking for at least 2 weeks before and after laser treatment to avoid healing complications and to give your body the best chance of getting the best results.

Different lasers are optimized for different concerns and skin types

* CO2 lasers are usually ablative lasers used to treat scars, warts, wrinkles and other deeper skin imperfections.

* Fractional lasers break down laser energy into thousands of tiny beams, treating only a small portion of the skin in that area, reducing downtime.

*IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatment is not technically a laser, but is often used to treat problems similar to lasers, such as sunburn, vascular lesions, acne, rosacea, and hyperpigmentation.

* Erbium (Er:YAG) lasers can be ablative or non-ablative. They promote collagen remodeling, making them a popular choice for treating fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin, and age spots.

Need multiple treatments

While in some cases, a single laser session can address a patient's concerns, most non-ablative lasers require a series of treatments to produce the most satisfactory results. This is the trade-off that comes with no-downtime treatments, but once the treatment series is complete, the results are long-lasting.

Need some downtime after laser treatment

While laser therapy is often considered non-surgical, not all treatments require downtime. Recovery time for laser resurfacing varies depending on the type of laser used and the individual's health and healing rate. The ablative laser may require a 2 to 3 week healing process, depending on depth, before the new skin is fully healed and the final results are evident.