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Ablative lasers shine an intense beam of light at the skin. The light completely removes (ablates) the entire epidermis. It also stimulates the underlying dermis to produce more collagen and elastin over time.
Used Ablative Non-fractional Lasers? Rate It:
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October 29, 2006
Cons:
Post-surgery redness and itchiness. Can't leave the house for about two weeks. First week after surgery will suck, period.
CO2 Laser resurfacing worked well for me. I had severe acne as a teen. When my skin cleared after accutane, I was left with bad scarring and pitting. I had two CO2 treatments. My first treatment cleared up about 60% of the scarring, pitting. My second treatment cleared up about 25% more. I paid about $6,500.00 total and feel like an 85% improvement from where I was was money well spent. You can camoflauge (sp?) the redness with makeup after two weeks. I have no idea what men could do other than look like a tomoato. So, I guess the treatment is more suited to women. I was red (without makeup) for a good three months. Then I was pink for another two. That said, there's really nothing else you can do to get a permanent improvement. For me, it was a life-saver. I feel bad for the people for whom it did not work.
October 31, 2007
Pros:
Almost totally erased terrible acne scarring all over my face
Cons:
expensive and long down-time -- two weeks. It's surgery, you look horrible after, red, swollen, hideous. Perhaps it isn't the right thing for everyone, I don't know.
I can't understand how people can get the surface of their face blasted off and not see some significant improvement in scarring! But according to some of these posts, it happens. But it saved my life, it got rid of most of the scars except four really deep ones. It doesn't work for raised scars, as far as I know, and may make them worse.
January 14, 2017
I dont recommend CO2 and any other type of lasers.. Be careful..
CO2 Laser gives me more indentation and extend my scar... My acne scar now also more visible and ı am also suffer from mild depression obssession because of enlarged my scar... I wish ı hadnt done laser treatment... My doctor didnt tell any complications these procedure we have to investigate and protect ourselfes...Now ı'm trying to correct co2 laser(eco2 lutronic) harm... Please dont do these procedure..
October 10, 2007
Pros:
The smoothness right after the swelling, which is fleeting of course. So enjoy it while it lasts!
Cons:
The most recent procedure after 10 yrs of skincare frustrations. The erbium laser, $5000 for nothing. I had it done in april of this year. I have talked to my dr. since and he seems insensitive about my distress.
My surgeon and his entire staff glorified the procedure. As soon as i let them know i was unhappy, they made me feel like one of those people who expect miracles in plastic surgery. I know i am not, i have had other surgeries in which i still enjoy the results. I guess my thoughts are that the procedure is too expensive for what results people seem to be getting. Scarring makes you self concious. And i think it is hard for people to understand that. I can think of many things to do with five grand, but the fact is when you have bad skin you will pay anything for improvement....and they know it.
March 6, 2009
Pros:
Skin looks younger, smoother, firmer. Wrinkles and brown spots gone.
Cons:
Not a lot of change in scars or pore size. Painful, lots of post-op maintenance, 1-2 weeks down time.
I would recommend this procedure for wrinkles and freckles/age spots, but not for scarring. My doctor gave good instructions to avoid infection. In some of the negative reviews, I wonder if those people got infections. My doctor warned me that infec. could cause scarring, so I was meticulous. Also I got realistic down-time estimates. Some negative reviews are from people who have not yet healed. It does look scary at first! Scary lasts a week to 10 days, then bright red for 1 week, then light red, and slowly fading. I think going to a VERY GOOD doctor is vital, which you may have to pay for. Looking at some of the prices people paid, I wonder if they went to a reputable place.
Don't bargain-shop your face! A "cheap" skin treatment is likely to give "cheap" results.
July 30, 2007
Pros:
Erased wrinkles around eye area
Cons:
Not the results I had hoped for. 2 weeks off work and face really red like severe sunburn.Did not do any thing for scares or pit marks.Almost eight months now and no real difference.
For almost $5000 not at all satisfied. Saw a different dermatologist last month who advised filling in scars with Ridiasse. Worked very well on deep scars and creases around mouth area. First doctor agreed to re-do lazer with me paying only for the anathesiologist. Still thinking about it.
August 10, 2007
Pros:
had CO2 laser done about 1.5 yrs ago. very painful, bleeding, swelling. i now have these white spots on my face and the Dr. kept giving me bleaching cream and retin A...its obvious that Dr.Pozner went to deep, i now have permanet blotchiness
Cons:
all of it.
Dr. Pozner was supposed to be the best....???
He just kept giving me bleach and retin A. People ask me all the time what happened to my face.....
March 23, 2007
Pros:
Overall, skin looks fresher, BUT--I could have gotten that with good facials.
Cons:
I just had "deep" laser skin resurfacing done exactly one week ago, today for some acne scarring I had...the procedure was EXTREMELY painful and you know what? My acne scars are STILL visible...
I didn't expect my acne scars to fully disappear, but after all that pain, not to mention the $$, I expected to at least see a dramatic reduction...and it looks like the same d***m scars are around and I'm feeling really frustrated and helpless as to what to do.
January 10, 2009
Pros:
I did see some improvement after my first co2 laser peel, six months later I had another and had horrible results. I started getting cystic ance, every pore on my faces was broken out and I have been battling acne ever since.
Cons:
Some results after the first co2 laser. It's been all downhill from there. I'm 32 and I still find myself taking antibiotics for acne. My skin was never this way before the laser peels.
I've had two co2 laser peels and 2 fraxel laser peels. After my second fraxel peel I've been continously fighting acne and my skin is blotchy. If you have ance scars try microdermabrasion first, I wish I would have.
July 12, 2007
Pros:
Significant improvement (better than I expected). Skin is softer than it's ever been
Cons:
Down time/cost/anesthesia
I had CO2 resurfacing done 1.5 years ago and am quite satisifed with the results. I am 49 years old and quite frankly, most of the older procedures were quite scary, and as bad as my scarring was, it just never got in the way of my personal or professional life. The procedure, which I have no memory of because of the conscious sedation, was painless, post op painless, and the recovery was long and more annoying than anything else. Went out in public after a few days just out of boredom. Looked horrendous, but pretty much I generally don't care what other people think! Itching and crusting drove me batty. All in all, I had about a 70% improvement, and went in knowing that my skin would never, ever be perfect. The procedure cost $3700, and I had some micro dermabrasion prior to that to see how my skin would respond for about $1500. Took me a year to finally decide to get the procedure done. May or may not consider other procedures for more improvement
Pros:
Permanent improvement, unlike superficial treatments. Relatively safe if done by a god surgeon.