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  • Fractional CO2 Laser Refreshes Skin's Appearance With Minimal Downtime
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A lot of us hear the term fraxel and fractionated CO2 and fraxel and pixilated lasers. And it's important to understand what this laser is and what's just a name brand. Fraxel is just the name brand. And the technology that we're all talking about and we're all pretty excited about is that we're taking, most commonly the traditional carbon dioxide laser, which was a very common and used frequently back in the 1990 and turn of the century. And we're taking that same technology and instead of blasting off the entire skin layer from our faces, what we're doing is we're fractionating that energy down, so actually treating microdots of skin. Skin tend to... Treated skin heals from its neighboring healthy skin. So, when you're treating microdots, your healthy, untreated skin right nearby to help provide healing to the treated skin. So, when we do this fractionated CO2, we're actually cutting down some of the healing time. So, instead of weeks or even months of recovery, in a week, our skin will be looking much fresher.

What does it accomplish? Well, it helps accomplish getting rid of fine lines. It helps in minimizing the appearance of brown spots. It also restores kind of a youthful flush to the skin. As we get older, our skin tends to get a little sallow and grey. And after the fractionated CO2, there's a nice rosiness, the nice restoration, a brilliance and life to the skin, which really provides a very nice result.

Not everyone is a candidate for fractionated CO2. And you might need to take antibiotics or certainly antivirals if you have a history of herpescal sores.

It's a great technology and a great option for a nice lift in a short recovery period and one that you discuss with your facial plastic surgeon.

Fractional CO2 Laser Refreshes Skin's Appearance With Minimal Downtime

Dr. Yael Halaas explains the process of the Fractional C02 laser, also commonly named a "Fraxel" laser, which creates micro lesions in the skin to promote new collagen production and freshen the skin's appearance.