How Soon After CO2 Laser Resurfacing Can Restylane Be Used?

Hi, Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing causes inflammation and swelling of the skin. I advise my patients to wait a week or two for the swelling to resolve before having Restylane or other fillers. I would not use filler and then immediately use the CO2 laser as the 1.5 mm penetration of the laser would affect the filler. Most patients do not need filler for months after the Fraxel re:pair fractionated CO2 laser due to improved tone and texture of their skin. Good luck and be well. Dr. P... more

Depending on the areas where you had CO2 resurfacing, the depth of the resurfacing, and surgeon preference, you may be able to have Restylane or other injectibles on the same day. There is no intrinsic reason to wait though I would inject the Restylane before undergoing any resurfacing to ensure that the desired result is achieved.

I would advise a patient to wait at least 2-4 weeks, or until I feel they are ready. Your doctor should follow you through your healing process and should give you recommendations on when it is safe to do any type of injection. Best of luck to you!

If you know that you are definitely having the Restylane after the CO2 resurfacing, we would probably wait about 1 month. While the answer to the question does depend on how deep the resurfacing treatment is, if you are getting the Restylane after the CO2, we would just feel better having you wait until the majority of the major healing has been completed -- which is almost always by 4 weeks.

In theory, you could have Restylane and CO2 laser the same day, but I would wait 2-3 weeks. Since Restylane attracts water and absorbs fluid, swelling caused by the CO2 may cause the Restylane material to overly swell up and create too much fullness. It's best to wait a few weeks until swelling from the laser resurfacing has gone away.

CO2 laser resurfacing is a major procedure and not one to trifle with by any means. If it is done correctly, you will have weeks of recovery time and adding one more variable to recover from will only worsen any complications if they occur (and they will in many cases). While fillers such as restylane and others are quite safe when used alone, they have many side effects of their own such as bruising, swelling and the potential for pain. There is absolutely no reason to add these side... more