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Laser Resurfacing Recovery - when Can I Go Back to Work?

asked 4 years ago by anon
Latest answer by Brooke R. Seckel, MD
Question viewed 12,901 times
Tags: recovery

what should i expect after a laser skin resurfacing?  how long is healing? are there tips for recovering from the laser treatment faster?

9 answers to Laser Resurfacing Recovery - when Can I Go Back to Work?

+4

Laser Resurfacing Back to Work-Erbium 1 week-CO2 2 Weeks

Thank you for your question. You will not want to go back to work after Ablative Laser Resurfacing until your skin has healed and the redness can be covered with makeup. It depends on how aggressive and deep the Laser Resurfacing treatment has been done. Generally speaking you will heal faster after Erbium Laser Resurfacing than with CO2 Laser Resurfacing. New Combined Erbium laser Resurfacing patients usually heal within 5-7 days. CO2 takes longer. Plan a week out of... more
Brooke R. Seckel, MD

Boston Plastic Surgeon
+2

Laser Skin Resurfacing Downtime

We suggest 7-10 days of downtime for Laser Skin Resurfacing with Active, Deep or Total Fx, keeping the skin with an even coat of Aquaphor. During this time you will experience the swelling and peeling which most people will want to stay home for. After that time, you can begin a lighter moisturizer and always mindful of sun exposure.
Fernando G. Serra, MD

Clermont Plastic Surgeon
+1

Laser resurfacing and returning to work

I usually tell patients to plan on about a week off before returning to work after a fractionated laser treatment. I use fairly aggressive setings. A nice thing about fractionated lasers, is that you can power down and get the patient back to work sooner, although the end result may not be as good as higher settings/more downtime. You can expect to be red and swollen for the first few days. A checkerboard pattern may appear and peeling usually... more
Lana Long, MD

Cincinnati Dermatologic Surgeon
+1

Laser resurfacing recovery time

Basically, there are 2 groups of lasers for facial skin resurfacing : The traditional: CO2 or Erbium or Fractionated CO2 or Erbium). The best results are obtained with the traditional laser resurfacing, but the downtime is 7-9 days. During the first 4-5 days of recovery, the skin is quite raw. Rarely, infections, hyper or hypopigmentation can occur. But most patients are quite happy with the results. With the Fractionated CO2 Laser, the downtime can be v... more
Eugene Mandrea, MD

Chicago Dermatologist

www.lakeviewderm.com

+1

Laser resurfacing recovery depends on agressiveness of treatment

Laser resurfacing can be done with many different types of lasers and at varying levels of aggressiveness. Different lasers are efficacious for different problems and have varying degrees of downtime depening on the aggressiveness. Therefore, if you choose to have a less aggressive treatment (non-ablative), there will be less downtime than if you choose to have a more aggressive treatment (ablative). However, usually more aggressive treatments with greater downtime produce more... more
Channing R. Barnett, MD

New York Dermatologist
+1

Frequent face wash, emollient application and strict sun protection critical to faster recovery from laser resurfacing

Not all laser resurfacing are created equal in terms of efficacy and time to achieve recovery. While traditional ablative CO2 laser had been the gold standard, it can take up to 2 months for the healing process to complete. Fractional CO2 laser has the best combination of efficacy and relatively short time to recovery, about 6-7 days. Fraxel laser can be helpful for pigmentation, but may require numerous treatments for improvement of facial texture to be appreciated. Frequent face wash and... more
William Ting, MD

Bay Area Dermatologic Surgeon

www.DrWilliamTing.com

+1

You have many options for downtime

The wonderful thing about today's resurfacing is that you can tell us how much downtime you can afford for your resurfacing. You can ask me to be aggressive, and I have to be aggressive if you have deep wrinkles or deep acne scars, but if you are looking only for a "freshener" to remove fine lines and pigmentation and improve pore appearance, we have that too. Our fractional CO2 laser can be dialed down to low energies, involve almost no pain, and with a special breathable makeup... more
Sarah B. Sawyer, MD

Birmingham Dermatologist
+1

Laser Resurfacing Recovery

The recovery for laser resurfacing depends on the type of laser used and the extent of the treatment (depth of resurfacing). CO2 laser resurfacing - 2-4 weeks. Erbium or Fractional laser resurfacing - 1 week. Non - Ablative resurfacing (many types) - back to work same day or next day.
Harold J. Kaplan, MD

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

Laser resurfacing recovery is about a week

After real resurfacing with erbium laser, you can expect about 7-10 days using Aquaphor ointment and that is how long you will want to stay home. After that you will be using lighter lotion ideally with growth factors (Skin Medica TNS Recovery Complex or Neocutis cream) to speed up recovery. Redness may last several weeks depending on the depth of your laser resurfacing procedure. For female patients that is not a problem since there are great mineral make-up products that will... more
Gregory Turowski, MD, PhD

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

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