What Should I Know About Hypopigmentation Before a CO2 Laser Correction for Acne Scarring?

Hypopigmentation after CO2 laser skin resurfacing has a low risk. This is especially true if done in a fractionated manner and not one laser treatment under general anesthesia. The chances of getting hypopigmentation are low, but not zero. You should always take the risks into consideration before undergoing any procedure. Have a good conversation with your dermatologist about your concerns before making your final decision. Good luck.

Hypopigmentation is less likely to occur in Type 2 skin than in a darker pigment. The Fraxel 1540 laser-although called nonablative is mildly ablative but I have not seen any cases of permanent discoloration. The Pixel CO2laser has also drastically lowered the risk of discoloration which I have not seen to date but can occur. There is always a risk of skin color change but use of Hydroquinone and sunscreens may further lessen the risk.

The original CO2 lasers (15 years ago) did a nice job on wrinkles and acne scars but did cause loss of pigment in a large minority of patients.  The pigment loss generally did not appear for a year after the CO2 laser treatment.  This is no longer a problem with the fractional CO2 lasers.  The fractional lasers (Active FX, Fraxel and others) treat less than 100% of the surface area of the face leaving untouched cells that result in rapid healing and elimination of the... more

CO2 laser resurfacing treats the surface of the skin and does carry a 10% risk of hypopigmentation and demarcation lines next to untreated areas. Correction of acne scars requires the production of new collagen in the deep skin layers. New fractional non-ablative 1540 Erbium laser resurfacing is much more effective at building new collagen in the deep skin layers, and thus is much more effective at correcting acne scars. Non-ablative fractional 1540 Erbium laser resurfacing is also much... more