If acne, aging, or excess exposure to the sun has turned your face into a landscape of scars, blotches, lines, and wrinkles, then laser skin resurfacing is your best bet for making your skin look young and healthy again. It removes layers of old and dead skin cells with pinpoint precision. The old skin cells are replaced by new ones through the healing process, giving your skin a tighter and smoother surface. The procedure can also be combined with other facial procedures.
Preparation Instructions
Arrange a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon to see if you are a good candidate for the procedure. You can ask the plastic surgeon for before and after photos to get an idea of how successful the results will be. Make sure that you let your doctor know about any underlying medical conditions. If there are any, they may have to be treated before you go for the treatment.
Let your doctor know if you have had any fever blisters or cold sores around your mouth in the recent past. If you decide to go ahead with the procedure, your doctor will ask you to stop taking ibuprofen, aspirin, and vitamin E, as they can affect your clotting enzymes.
If you are a smoker, then you need to quit smoking at least four weeks before the procedure, as it can interfere with the healing. Your doctor might also prescribe an antibiotic to prevent the occurrence of bacterial infections. You will be given antiviral medication if you are prone to fever blisters or cold sores.
The Laser Skin Resurfacing Procedure
Laser resurfacing is usually performed on an outpatient basis, which means that you do not need to stay overnight after your treatment. The surgeon might treat the wrinkles around your mouth, eyes, and forehead individually or choose to treat your face as a whole. If only a minor portion of your face is going to be treated, then a local anesthetic will do. However, if your whole face is going to go under the laser, then you might need general anesthesia. A full treatment can take up to two hours.
Once the procedure is complete, the surgeon will bandage the treated areas. After a day, you will need to clean your face four times a day and apply petroleum jelly to prevent the formation of scabs. If you experience any swelling after the procedure, you have no cause to worry. You will be prescribed steroids to help with the swelling and it will go down after a day or two. You may also feel a degree of temporary stinging or itching on your skin for a couple of days after the procedure.
A week after the treatment, your skin will begin to dry up and peel off. Depending on the skin problem that is being treated, the healing will take anywhere between one and three weeks. Once your skin heals completely, you can use makeup to minimize the redness, which will go away in a couple of months, leaving you with beautiful skin.
Contact Us for a Consultation
Laser skin resurfacing is an excellent way to achieve beautiful facial rejuvenation. Contact the office of Dr. Alexander Golger, a well-respected board-certified plastic surgeon, to schedule your consultation.