Is "CO2 fully ablative laser" the gold standard much more effective than CO2 fractional laser?

Fractional lasers have less down-time, but may not give you the results you want. Typically I do a combination of lasers like clear and brilliant, fraxel, viva 4-6 weeks after co2 with microneedling/prp to get the best outcomes with texture and tone.  Please see an expert. Best, Dr. Emer.

In my practice, I offer both treatments. Patient response is found to be similar between the two treatments, however, the downtime for CO2 is generally around 3-4 weeks vs the fractional laser which is just a few days. The CO2 laser is usually a one time deal and while less invasive, the fractional treatments may require up to three treatments.

Give it more time for the collagen replenishment to take place. Those dots are actual new collagen and will blend in over the next 2-4 months. Standard CO2 is very helpful and has about 10 days of recovery.