14 months ago
There are two kinds of lasers:
Ablative:
- Removes top layer of skin.
- Requires one treatment.
- Requires 3-4 weeks of downtime.
Non-ablative (Fraxel):
- Doesn't remove the top layer and doesn't create a raw surface.
- Requires multiple treatments.
- Doesn't require downtime.
Fraxel is a non-ablative laser that only treats 20% of the area, and therefore requires 5 total treatments. Fraxel works by heating up tissue so the body can lay down collagen. You need to wait 2-3 weeks between treatments. And, because it is milder than an ablative treatment, you need to wait several month to see results.
Ablative CO2 laser resurfacing is considered the gold standard laser treatment. Ablative treatments tend to be cheaper, because they only require one treatment, but do require more downtime.
Ultimately, the patient needs to choose between faster results and more down time (ablative) or slower results and no downtime (non-ablative, Fraxel)
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