Laser resurfacing for crepey, wrinkled skin on sun damaged hands? (Photo)

Question

After one day of sunbathing with intense sun exposure to my hands without sunscreen, my skin started becoming dry, scaly and then even after plenty of E45 emollient moisturising, criss crossed wrinkles have increased with the skin turning slightly saggy and a more leathery look. I'm obsessed with sunscreen now and I use it daily but I think the damage has been done to my hands. Would Fraxel Restore be able to help with texture and wrinkles on my hands?

Cameron Chesnut, MD, FAAD, FACMS · Answer

The answer to your question is an emphatic  yes!  I love treating the back of my resurfacing patients hands, it is usually something I point out to them and recommend that they don't necessarily notice, but almost universally they make a comment afterwards about how glad they are they decided to do their hands as well. I prefer to use ablative fractional CO2 resurfacing, as it gives you a little bit of tightening for the crepey skin that forms there.

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.  Melarase AM, Melarase PM, and Melapads can seriously improve surface sun damage and UV related pigmentation. 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

Douglas Wu, MD · Answer

Both non-ablative and ablative laser resurfacing can be applied to the hand in the correct situations.  There are also a variety of other ways to rejuvenate the hands and combining multiple different treatment modalities into a single session usually yields the best results.  Good luck!

James R. Gordon, MD, FACS, FAAO · Answer

Thank you for sharing your question. Erbium laser skin resurfacing is great for the treatment of sun damaged skin on the back of hands. You must first make sure not to be tan on the area to be treated and not expose the treated skin to sunlight for a couple of months. Find an experienced laser specialist to perform your resurfacing. Good luck.

Bruce E. Katz, MD · Answer

Thank you for your photo. We have a variety of lasers that we use to treat sun damaged hands including the the FDA-approved Fractional CO2. For more information, I recommend getting a in person consultation with a board-certified dermatologist.

Laser resurfacing for crepey, wrinkled skin on sun damaged hands? (Photo)

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Laser resurfacing for crepey, wrinkled skin on sun damaged hands? (Photo)

Answers (6)

Answer: Laser resurfacing for hands

Answer: Laser resurfacing for hands

Answer: Laser Resurfacing

Answer: Laser Resurfacing

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Everything you need to know about Hand Rejuvenation

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