Laser Resurfacing Results After Age 60

Collagen does continue to build in the skin after a laser treatment, though after 1-2 months, you may not see significant changes.  Fractional C02 laser, regardless of the name (Mixto, Pearl, Active/Deep FX, etc.) can be combined with fully-ablative treatment (i.e. removes layer of skin) to get more aggressive results.

The deeper you go, the more improvement, the more recovery you will have.  If you go too deep, you can remove all of the wrinkles and all of the pigment, leaving an alabaster white-like appearance, like a china doll mask.  Most patients don't want this of course, and we focus on a middle ground that gives the maximum natural improvement.

The MOST important decision you will make is not the laser, it is the artist/doctor that you choose.  Please let us know if you have any additional questions, and best of luck to you.

Results of resurfacing are not dependent on your age but dependent on the extent of your sun damage.  If you have sunspots, these discolorations are treated differently than deep wrinkles which are different from dynamic lines, or those lines that exist because of underlying muscle movement.  These conditions have to be evaluated prior to performing laser resurfacing.  Multiple finer laser treatments or chemical peels won't address the deep collagen and elastin damage that exist with bad photodamage.  Improvement continues usually for up to six months after your treatment from newer collagen deposition.
 

The strength of the laser treatment could have been inadequate to achieve the desired results for tightening of your skin, especially if your Mixto doctor was too conservative in the application of the laser.  Realize however that lasers will work for fine and medium deep wrinkles but not highly deep wrinkles, so make sure that you expectations are not too high.  The laser will remove a lot, but not all, of the sunspots and pigments, so you should see a nice reduction from that standpoint.  If not, then perhaps your treatment was a little conservative.  An experienced doctor would know the best parameters to give you appropriately aggressive treatment without causing undue risk of burns or discolorations.