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Fractional Co2 Laser: Who's Allowed to Perform?

Is it important that it is a dermatologist who is performing co2 fractional facial laser? Would a plastic surgeon be ok to? What about a beautician since they seem to perform co2 laser facial peelings as well? How reasonable is it to require/demand a dermatologist surgeon kinda doctor for this treatment instead of assistents, since they seem to perform these treatments as well? Should it be a pre? Like to discuss all what is relevant to this. Thank U very much for all your help again.

Doctor Answers 2

Be Careful

November 5th, 2011
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Hi. Fractionated CO2 laser is a great procedure for helping to decrease wrinkles and improving facial skin texture. This laser is ablative. That means it breaks the skin. It can go relatively deep for a laser. This helps it give such great results. This also makes it a bit more technically challenging to use. It has the risk to cause great scarring in the wrong hands. This is a procedure that should be limited to use by a highly trained dermatologist who has knowledge of the skin or a plastic surgeon with significant experience.

Beth Lertzman, MD


Rochester Dermatologic Surgeon
4.7 out of 5 stars 12 reviews

November 5th, 2011

Be Careful

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}

Hi. Fractionated CO2 laser is a great procedure for helping to decrease wrinkles and improving facial skin texture. This laser is ablative. That means it breaks the skin. It can go relatively deep for a laser. This helps it give such great results. This also makes it a bit more technically challenging to use. It has the risk to cause great scarring in the wrong hands. This is a procedure that should be limited to use by a highly trained dermatologist who has knowledge of the skin or a plastic surgeon with significant experience.


Rochester Dermatologic Surgeon

Fractional CO2 laser only by qualified physician

October 11th, 2011
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The fractional CO2 laser is a very powerful laser that can give great results but can also result in severe complications and side effects. For this reason, it is my opinion that it should only be performed by a qualified physician - preferably a dermatologist or plastic surgeon or oculoplastic surgeon who has extensive experience with lasers. The results from fractional co2 can be very rewarding for the patient but the results are very much operator dependent -choose your physician carefully.

Elizabeth F. Rostan, MD
October 11th, 2011

Fractional CO2 laser only by qualified physician

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}

The fractional CO2 laser is a very powerful laser that can give great results but can also result in severe complications and side effects. For this reason, it is my opinion that it should only be performed by a qualified physician - preferably a dermatologist or plastic surgeon or oculoplastic surgeon who has extensive experience with lasers. The results from fractional co2 can be very rewarding for the patient but the results are very much operator dependent -choose your physician carefully.

Elizabeth F. Rostan, MD
*Treatment results may vary

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