Difference Between Fractional and CO2 Lasers?

asked 3 years ago by cajun baby in Coushatta,louisiana
Latest answer by Todd Minars, MD
Question viewed 4,557 times
Tags: acne scars

Is a Fractional non-ablative laser different than a CO2 ablative laser? Is one of these methods the best for treating acne scars? How long does the redness last?

7 answers to Difference Between Fractional and CO2 Lasers?

It depends

A fractionated laser is one that spares portions of the epidermis to affect changes in the deeper epidermis or dermis. A fractionated laser can be either an Erbium or CO2 laser. Both are effective, the physician who is using it is more important then the actual laser. Fractionated technology is aimed at acheiving similar results to standard "resurfacing" with less downtime. However, because the downtime is less the results are not as dramatic as with traditional resurfacing. That... more

Samson Lee, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Fractional vs CO2

The in vogue "fractional lasers" are fractional CO2 lasers. The fractional erbium is used only by those who purchased their systems a couple of years ago when the fractional CO2 was not yet available.The fractional CO2 treatments are more superficial than traditional "full" CO2 laser resurfacing procedures. Typically we use our fractional CO2 laser for treatment of blotchy pigmentation and very fine lines. On the other hand we use our traditional CO2 laser for... more

S. Randolph Waldman, MD
Lexington Facial Plastic Surgeon

Fractional and CO2 lasers

To answer your first question - yes, a fractional non-ablative laser is different than a CO2 ablative laser? First lets define our terms: "Fractional" simply means that instead of a solid beam, the laser creates a grid-like pattern (as if you were shining a flashlight through black paper with pinholes in it). "Ablative" means that tissue is destroyed. "Non-ablative" means that the tissue is just heated up. An ablative laser... more

Todd Minars, MD
Miami Dermatologist

Difference between fractional non-ablative and ablative lasers

The best analogy would be to compare these to different approaches to your lawn care. If the grass cover is not in the best shape you can try to do deep plug aeration by punching lots of small holes in the lawn. This preserves the surrounding grass and the lawn recovers and rejuvenates quickly. The other alternative is to remove the lawn all together and seed new grass. This process takes a lot longer but the new grass, when it comes in looks very... more

Joseph Shvidler, MD
Tacoma Facial Plastic Surgeon

Difference between CO2 and fractional CO2 and fractional Erbium lasers

CO2 laser is more invasive, hurts more, and has more downtime than fractional lasers but the results are usually better with CO2 for deeper wrinkles and skin tightening. Multiple treatments with fractional CO2 can come close to the results of CO2 especially for acne scarring. The one area that fractional CO2 doesn't do as well as CO2 is deep wrinkles around the mouth. You will get more bang for your buck with the CO2 but there's a lot of disadvantages such as... more

M. Christine Lee, MD
Walnut Creek Dermatologic Surgeon

Laser

Fractional just means that the laser is not targeting 100% of the treated area, leaving portions of your skin in between treated area, which is shown to have faster heeling time. Other advantages are lower risk of scarring and less chance of skin discoloration,

Hannah Vargas, MD
Kansas City Facial Plastic Surgeon

Difference between fractional and ablative CO2 lasers

The difference between fractional CO2 and ablative CO2 laser resurfacing is the amount of damage that is delivered to your skin. The older ablative lasers burn 100% of your epidermis (the top skin layer) while fractional CO2 lasers burn a smaller fraction, usually around 20% -the technique is like pixels on a TV screen where there is a small core of laser damage separated by healthy skin. The advantages of fractional lasers include a lower risk of scarring and skin color changes, a quicker... more

Gregory J. Vipond, MD
Pasadena Facial Plastic Surgeon

Ask a question

Get Free Email Updates