Recovery Time with the Fractional CO2 Ablative Laser for Acne Scars, Wrinkles, Resurfacing?

Dear docs , what is the real downtime and total recovery time after a fractional CO2 (10600 mn)procedure for : Mild acne scars Wrinkles of upper and lower eyelid Skin rejuvenation (improving texture, etc..) I REALLY APRECIATE YOUR WORK ON THIS SITE. THANKS A LOT

Tags:

Comment on this

4 Doctor Answers | Asked by Angelo Vaddoni in Romania

Doctor Answers (4)
Community Comments (0)

Recovery Time

Recovery time is completely dependent upon depth and aggressiveness of the resurfacing. If my patient only needs a fractional CO2, then initial wound recovery is complete in 4-5 days. Redness will takes weeks to resolve and final results will take 6-8 weeks. However, if we are trying to completely ablate deep wrinkles, then an aggressive complete resurfacing will take 10 days to heal, 3-4 months for redness to fade and 3 months for maximum collagen in-growth.

Recovery time typically a week

We use the Active/Deep FX in our office. I typically counsel patients patients undergoing our typical Deep FX/Active FX of the full face with moderate settings that they will be socially unpresentable for 4-5 days, may start to wear make-up around 5 days, and could go to a social outing in approximately 1 week. If more aggressive settings are used to treat deeper wrinkles, especially around the cheeks, eyes, or mouth, a longer downtime may be required. It is a... more

Melanie D. Palm, MD

10 reviews

San Diego Dermatologic Surgeon

Recovery time with Fractional CO2 laser

Fractional CO2 laser drill tiny dots through the skin, leaving intact skin between these dots. In contrast to fully ablative CO2 lasers that we used to do in the past, only a certain percentage of the skin is treated. Thus, the fractional CO2 has less downtime with minimal crusting, oozing, bleeding etc. There is typically minimal bleeding with fractional co2, but there can be some pinpoint bleeding. The recovery time really depends on how aggressive the setting are. However for the most... more

Downtime with fractional CO2 facial skin resurfacing

Over the last 10 years there has been many advances in skin resurfacing technology. However, it has become clear that the degree of improvement is directly proportional to the aggressiveness of the treatment. My experience is with CO2 laser resurfacing over the past 15 years. Our current devices treat only a fraction of the skin surface with each treatment instead of removing all of the outer skin layer. Fractional CO2 treatments result in less injury to the tissue and therefore faster... more