Profactional Vs CO2 Fractional Laser Resurfacing?

After performing more than 4600 CO2 procedures since 1992, I can catagoricaly state that threre is no contest. Microfractional CO2 laser resurfacing is Superior to All of the Erbium lasers. the reason is simple. CO2 lasers are 10,600 nanometers and Erbium-yag laser are at 2640 nanometers. This higher wavelength produces much more heat in the deep dermis that Erbium can and this deep, higher temperature is what is needed to ensure long lasting (10 years or more) tightening.  The Profractional Laser by Sciton Is a fractionated Erbium laser and cannot defy the laws of physics and give more tightening than a Microfractional CO2 laser. The real problem here is  the deliberate confusion by the manufacturers of CO2 and erbium lasers. (Most companies make both). eg. Fraxel Repair is a CO2 laser(10,600nm) Fraxel Restore is an Erbium laser(1550nm) and Fraxel refine is (1440nm) all three made by the same company. In my opinion, the C02 laser> erbium> 1440. The consumer sees "Fraxel" in ads and has no way of determining effectivness. I conclude by mentioning that Sciton does make a double erbium-yag laser the Contour trl which is the only Erbium laser that comes close to Microfractionlal CO2, but still isn"t as good.

 

Both of the laser you mention create small dots or mtzs (Micro Thermal Zones) of tissue injury or heating. The MTZ heal from the surrounding injured tissue so that you get a smoother, tighter more uniform appearance of the skin.
ProFractional lasers utilize an erbium laser that is very specific for water. With this laser you can remove or vaporize a specific amount of tissue giving your skin a beautiful resurfacing. You can also add heat to the columns of tissue or not depending upon what your doctor and you are trying to accomplish. Heat causes the surrounding collagen to contract.
CO2 fractional lasers utilize CO2 which has a higher wavelength of light in the Infra red spectrum. While it also uses water as a chromophore it is not as specific so the thermal relaxation time isn't reached as quickly and the tissue surrounding the MTZ absorb the excess heat. This allows for collagen contraction and again can gives the skin a nice uniform color and texture. The difficulty with the heat for both lasers is that this can cause hyperpigmentation in darker skin types or long term hypopigmentation.
CO2 has been considered the gold standard for facial resurfacing, however the ProFractional with its ability to deliver prescribed depths of tissue ablation and heat may give your provider a little more control.
I hope this helps. Often it is not the tool that matters but the person using it and the material with which they are working with.