The condition of your skin could say a lot about your age. When you take good care your skin, you look fresher, healthier, and consequently, younger. However, if you don’t take good care of your skin, that may cause you to appear older than you actually are.
A lot of things about your skin can be age indicators, including wrinkles, scars, discolorations, etc. Damage to your skin comes from a wide range of sources starting almost as soon as you’re born. Damage also accumulates over time, making it very difficult to treat. Some conditions caused by skin damage may be treatable with laser resurfacing, which targets the deepest layers of your skin to improve its appearance and health.
How Laser Resurfacing Works
The deepest layer of your skin is responsible for creating new skin cells. As your old skin cells are being shed, new ones are growing up from the deepest layer to replace them. Over time, however, these new cells can’t do enough to erase the damage that is present in your skin; it’s been there too long and covers too big of an area.
Laser resurfacing works to remove the damaged layers of skin and boost the growth of new skin cells so that they have a chance to erase or improve the damage. A laser is used to send pulses of high-energy light into your skin, which turns into heat and essentially destroys your skin in a very thin layer. This removes the damage built into that layer. The laser also stimulates the deepest layer of your skin so that it grows new cells quickly to replace the cells that were just removed. The new cells cause your skin to look brighter, smoother, and younger.
Skin Conditions Treated with Laser Resurfacing
- Wrinkles – These can include thin or fine wrinkles and the deep dynamic wrinkles. Wrinkles are caused by a lack of collagen that comes with aging and consistent movement of your facial muscles. Laser resurfacing boosts collagen production to tighten your skin and treats the wrinkle damage.
- Scarring – The most common type of scarring treated with laser resurfacing results from acne. People who struggle with acne in their teens and twenties can be left with deep pockmark scars on their face. Laser resurfacing can remove the scar tissue to smooth out the skin.
- Discoloration – Sometimes your skin can look darker or lighter in places. There are a lot of possible causes that range from benign to an indication of a serious condition. When the discoloration is the result of something nonmalignant, it may be treatable with laser resurfacing. The treatment removes the layers of skin that are discolored so that new skin can replace it and ideally better match the surrounding skin tone.
Laser resurfacing can also be used to treat conditions like dry skin, especially oily skin, or enlarged pores. Certain conditions can’t be treated with laser surfacing, including active acne. The doctor will be able to determine if laser resurfacing is the best choice for you during your consultation.
Laser Resurfacing from Dr. Hobgood
This non-invasive procedure is currently being offered at Dr. Todd Hobgood’s facial plastic surgery practice in Scottsdale, AZ. Dr. Hobgood utilizes erbium and carbon dioxide lasers in his resurfacing treatments, both of which are extremely effective at improving and removing signs of damage from the face.
Dr. Hobgood starts by marking the areas that need to be treated and applying a numbing anesthetic to them. A special instrument containing the laser is passed carefully over the area, allowing the light pulses to enter the skin. In between passes, a saline solution is used to cool the skin and remove any damaged tissue. After the laser has been passed a sufficient number of times for the session, a dressing is applied to the area which will need to be changed frequently to prevent the skin from experiencing dryness or additional damage.
After several days, the new skin cells will have grown in and the production of collagen will be increased to improve the look of your skin. Depending on the extent of the damage to your skin and the type of condition that needs to be treated, you could require additional resurfacing sessions to get the full effect of the treatment.
Schedule Your Laser Resurfacing Consultation
If you struggle with the appearance or condition of your skin, are concerned about the presence of wrinkles or scars on your face, or would just like to make your skin look a little healthier and younger, contact Hobgood Facial Plastic Surgery to set up a patient consultation. Laser resurfacing is just one of the many surgical and non-surgical procedures for the face, head, and neck offered by Dr. Hobgood to help you look and feel your best. You can contact him by calling (480) 214-9955 or by sending him your information through the Contact page on his website.
Leave a Reply