Will a series of laser treatments be less effective if I get them done many months apart from each other?

Question

I've been thinking of getting a series of laser treatments 4 to 6 months apart (it will vary each time). It's inconvenient for me to have lots of downtime spaced closely together. Will that be less effective than if I got them done closer together like a more typical treatment series?

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

Fractional laser is an amazing and highly effective treatment in our office. We use the laser treatment to help with acne scars, large pores, fine wrinkles, tissue collagen loss, scars, sebaceous hyperplasia, active acne, and for brightening dark pigmentation. Although there are very strong fractional lasers such as CO2 laser, we use lighter treatments for corrective skincare and maintenance of results. Our Thulium fractional laser, clear and brilliant laser, and Ultra Thulium laser are excellent options in our clinic. We also perform CO2 fractional and erbium depending on skin tone and tolerance for downtime. Patients do have to use a Melarase cream before and after treatment to help further reduce pigmentation after laser. Dark spots can improve with these treatments. I recommend fractional laser for incisional scars as well, especially after plastic surgery.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian 
Realself100 Surgeon

Amir Mortazavi, MD · Answer

This depends on so many different factors. For example your age, skin condition, what type of laser treatments you were having, and etc. In general for optimal result you have your non ablative lasers (such as IPL) 4 weeks apart for 4-6 times and then you go on a maintenance that can be pushed for 4-6 months at a time. IPL has very little downtime. If you were having long downtime you were probably having ablative such as CO2 that has the longest down time. If so you can instead do Erbium which gives you very similar results to CO2 with much less downtime (on average 3-5 days).

Will a series of laser treatments be less effective if I get them done many months apart from each other?

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Will a series of laser treatments be less effective if I get them done many months apart from each other?

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Everything you need to know about Laser Resurfacing

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.