Non-Surgical Skin Rejuvenation - Laser 360 - Harmony XL Pixel Treatment.
Everyone ages, but we never want our skin to betray us and make us look older than we actually are. Age spots, wrinkles, skin discoloration, and even fine lines around the eyes are all signs of aging skin. The earliest known treatment to keep skin young and beautiful dates back to Ancient Egypt. Cleopatra would bath her face in spoiled lamb’s milk to preserve her complexion. The milk contained lactic acid that helped exfoliate her skin. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that more effective treatments were invented.
Surgeons in the early 1900s observed that when a large, but shallow, scrape or burn on a patient’s face healed, the skin was less wrinkled and smoother than the skin around it. This observation led to a procedure called dermabrasion, which carefully removed the top layer of skin with a small rotating sander. In the 1990s, a giant leap forward in skin resurfacing happened. The CO2 laser was introduced as a high tech alternative to the small sander.
The CO2 laser proved to be effective and could replicate the same results of dermabrasion with less chance of scarring. Although the CO2 laser was supposed to be better than the older method, it had just as many drawbacks. The biggest problem was it took three to six weeks to heal completely and the results only lasted six to eighteen months.
Fortunately, advances in lasers have continued and now there is a laser treatment that helps reduce wrinkles, improve the tone of your skin, and remove discoloration from your skin with minimal healing time.
Pixel Laser Procedure
At the beginning of your appointment, the area of skin being treated is cleaned. For your protection, you will be given special glasses to protect your eyes. A hand held instrument containing the laser will be touched to the skin. As the laser flashes, it removes tiny pixels of the upper layers of skin in a grid formation. The device will be moved to the next section and the process will be repeated until the area is finished. This can take as little as a few minutes to as long as half an hour, depending on what part of your body is being treated.
Each pixel of skin removed stimulates the tissue around it, healing the injured areas, and producing younger, tighter looking skin. Since only a small portion of the skin is treated, healing time is greatly reduced compared to the older CO2 laser treatment. However, it also means that more than one appointment is required for the best results.
After each procedure, your skin will appear pinkish and possibly a little puffy for a few days. It may look and feel like sunburn, but the redness will fade after several days. Your skin may also feel dry and itchy with some flaking and peeling for up to two weeks. The best way to help your body heal is by keeping your skin moisturized, using sunscreen, and drinking plenty of fluids.
Who Should Get Laser Skin Resurfacing?
Pixel laser skin surfacing can be used to treat many skin problems, including acne scars, fine lines, wrinkles, age spots, and damage from overexposure to the sun. If you want smoother and firmer skin without the extensive recovery time required with other skin treatments. Since this process only takes away part of the skin’s layers, it can be used on more delicate areas of the body such as the chest, hands, neck, as well as the face.
However, this procedure is so effective because it stimulates new collagen growth. Collagen is a protein in our bodies that gives our skin its natural elasticity. If a person doesn’t have a lot of existing collagen, they won’t see much improvement because there isn’t anything to stimulate. This is also true of areas of the body with little natural collagen, such as the backs of your hands.
Benefits of Laser Resurfacing
The main advantage over other laser processes and chemical peels is the dramatically reduced recovery time this procedure has. This gentler laser treatment allows you to return to your daily routine within a few hours rather than weeks. Pixel skin resurfacing noticeably diminishes the look of wrinkles, reduces scarring from acne, and lightens age spots. Since it promotes new collagen growth, treated skin is firmer with improved tone and texture for a more youthful appearance. With laser resurfacing you can look years younger and actually reverse the signs of aging. By treating the imperfections on your face, chest, arms, and hands, you can have beautiful, healthy skin for years to come.
