Difference Between Fractional and CO2 Lasers?

Fractional 1540 Non-Ablative Laser Resurfacing works by heating up the targeted tissue, without actually destroying it. This process stimulates your body's collagen production to fill in unwanted skin imperfections such as fine lines and wrinkles. Has less downtime and less inflammatory response. Great treatment for those who are Fitzpatrick Skin Type III-IV therefore it is recommended for all skin types. Less likely to have Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation. Treats sundamage, melasma, acne scarring, crepey sagging skin on face, neck, chest and body. Produces collagen remodeling and skin tightening. Treatment produces it's own growth factors within the skin and clears environmental damage. Ablative Laser Resurfacing (CO2) Carbon Dioxide treatment vaporizes the outer layer of the skin where the Non-Ablative Laser Resurfacing, the skin surface remains largely intact.

Fully ablative CO2 laser treatments were at one point very common.  The issue with the treatment was the prolonged downtime, redness, and the pasty white skin that followed after the healing.  Healing could be 3-4 weeks to 3-4 months with this device but the results were amazing in terms of tightening and helping with scars and pigment.In recent years, most individuals don't have 3-4 weeks of downtime to take from work (let alone 3 months) so a fraction of the original CO2 laser energy was utilized to create fractionated CO2 lasers.  Downtime was reduced to 7-14 days and the appearance of white pasty skin was eliminated.  Of course, the results are not as amazing but individuals still enjoy an improvement in fine lines, scars, pigment, pore size, and breakouts and can be repeated easily in 1-2 years if desired with a week or 2 of downtime.Fractionated lasers are ablative lasers but the laser only ablates a fraction of the skin surface unlike fully ablative CO2 lasers.  I hope that helps.