Is Active FX a good treatment for smoker's lines?

Bridge Therapy is a fractional CO2 laser procedure that basically uses 2 computer pulse generators (CPG) to make holes in the skin. The Active FX CPG makes bigger holes that go into the upper dermis & gives a "deep peel" for improvement in texture & tone. It also does a good job of stimulating collagen for the next 4-6 months. The Deep FX CPG makes holes 1/10th the diameter as Active FX, but goes 2-4x deeper to stimulate collagen & break up any scar tissue better than Active FX, but less improvement in texture & tone.

In Bridge Therapy, a single CPG can be used for either an Active FX or Deep FX procedure, or they can be used in combination called Total FX.

In my experience, from a single treatment with "aggressive energy settings", I generally see about a 30% improvement with Active FX & 50% improvement with Total FX when treating "deep" smoker's lines around the mouth.

For my patients with deep wrinkles around the mouth that want them "gone", I usually recommend a far more aggressive procedure called Max FX with Laserbrasion. This is performed by doing an Active FX using a higher than normal density of holes followed by wiping off the destroyed layer of skin with gauze. This is repeated a second time & then a third time, but this time, instead of wiping it off with gauze, a fine grade sandpaper is used to lightly abrade the skin in the mid dermis. With this procedure, I usually see an 85-90% improvement in deep wrinkles around the mouth.