I’ve had numerous acne scar treatments over the last 15 years . Only ‘full’ ablative laser resurfacing and fillers/ skin boosters have helped . Fraxel laser , peels and microneedling didn’t help . Fraxel actually make my skin worse and gave me cystic acne again . The doctor who performed the laser resurfacing said it could only be done once , is that always true ?. How bad my skin looks is very dependent on the lighting and angle as you can see by the photos .
May 24, 2018
Answer: Can you have laser resurfacing twice? Thank you for your question.
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
May 24, 2018
Answer: Can you have laser resurfacing twice? Thank you for your question.
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
May 24, 2018
Answer: Multiple Laser Resurfacing Hello,The term "laser resurfacing" is used quite loosely to mean so many different things. Adding the word "ablative" still means very little by itself. Ablative laser skin resurfacing ranges from little lunch time peels to major events that take months to heal. The results you get at those two ends of the spectrum will be very different. I will speak here to "full strength" ablative resurfacing. At the higher power range, the laser removes most of the epidermis and creates a coagulation injury of the deeper dermis. That coagulation injury triggers you skin to extensively repair and remodel itself, repairing old damage/wrinkles in the process. The dermis is where the collagen and other structural components of your skin are located. It is the dermis where wrinkles and scars are located. The epidermis is just "along for the ride" as it covers the ups and downs of scars and wrinkles located in the dermis. For a result that actually "fixes" scars and wrinkles you must get that deep dermal level treatment. Also, realize that multiple low energy treatments will never equal a single high energy treatment. Even 100 treatments at 25% energy wouldn't equal a single 100% energy treatment. You must get well into the dermis to fix wrinkles and scars and repeatedly treating the more superficial skin never does anything to that deeper skin where the wrinkles/scars are located.Full strength ablative resurfacing is a procedure that can be repeated, though a careful examination of the patient between treatments is needed. The deeper treatments can alter aspects of your skin that you don't want changed, like your pigment. So you need to look for signs of changes you are trying to avoid before doing a second or third treatment. You would typically wait at least a year between two treatments and it would be unlikely that you would ever do more than 3 in a lifetime. As I look at your photos, I see very normal looking skin (aside from the acne scars) that appears to have tolerated your first treatment quite well. So I think a second treatment all these years later is reasonable, but only an in person exam can say for certain.
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
May 24, 2018
Answer: Multiple Laser Resurfacing Hello,The term "laser resurfacing" is used quite loosely to mean so many different things. Adding the word "ablative" still means very little by itself. Ablative laser skin resurfacing ranges from little lunch time peels to major events that take months to heal. The results you get at those two ends of the spectrum will be very different. I will speak here to "full strength" ablative resurfacing. At the higher power range, the laser removes most of the epidermis and creates a coagulation injury of the deeper dermis. That coagulation injury triggers you skin to extensively repair and remodel itself, repairing old damage/wrinkles in the process. The dermis is where the collagen and other structural components of your skin are located. It is the dermis where wrinkles and scars are located. The epidermis is just "along for the ride" as it covers the ups and downs of scars and wrinkles located in the dermis. For a result that actually "fixes" scars and wrinkles you must get that deep dermal level treatment. Also, realize that multiple low energy treatments will never equal a single high energy treatment. Even 100 treatments at 25% energy wouldn't equal a single 100% energy treatment. You must get well into the dermis to fix wrinkles and scars and repeatedly treating the more superficial skin never does anything to that deeper skin where the wrinkles/scars are located.Full strength ablative resurfacing is a procedure that can be repeated, though a careful examination of the patient between treatments is needed. The deeper treatments can alter aspects of your skin that you don't want changed, like your pigment. So you need to look for signs of changes you are trying to avoid before doing a second or third treatment. You would typically wait at least a year between two treatments and it would be unlikely that you would ever do more than 3 in a lifetime. As I look at your photos, I see very normal looking skin (aside from the acne scars) that appears to have tolerated your first treatment quite well. So I think a second treatment all these years later is reasonable, but only an in person exam can say for certain.
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
