Laser Resurfacing in Lake Forest, CA
What You Need to Know About IPL Treatment
Click HERE to view IPL treatments on our Services pageIPL, or intense pulsed light requires minimal to no recovery time, is minimally invasive, and has a low risk of side effects.
Light waves pulse and heat the surface of your skin, pigmented spots will be pulled to the surface. (Each pulse will appear as a bright flash of light.) These flakes of pigment will darken and slough off over the next few days. (If you're treating a vein, you may see the vein blanch, or undergo a color change, and then flake off.)
The device’s heat also stimulates your body’s natural collagen production, making pores look smaller and skin look firmer and smoother.
The number of treatment sessions you will need will depend on the severity of skin damage you have. Each laser treatment takes between 15-45 minutes depending on the area treated. For best results, 1 to 5 treatments are recommended. Effects of IPL therapy is cumulative, so you will see improved results with more treatments and over time.
What You Need to Know About Laser Resurfacing Treatments
Click HERE for more information about Saddleback Dermatology's CO2 Fractional Laser Procedures
Each type of Laser Resurfacing requires a different set of pre-instructions, post-instructions, healing-times, and protocols. Depending on each patient’s needs, laser resurfacing treatments will be recommended, and will come with customized requirements for each patient to follow, prior to, and immediately following, the procedure. Patients will also receive customized post-procedure protocols and recommendations, provided by the physician, in order to achieve the safest and most optimal results during the healing process.
Fractora and CO2 Fractional Laser Procedures (such as, Active FX, Deep FX, and Total FX) are various laser resurfacing procedures offered at Saddleback Dermatology.
Fractora: Fractional Rejuvenation and Resurfacing Treatment
- Approximately 1 week of downtime
- Minimally invasive
- Requires that you protect your skin by using sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 and a moisturizer daily.
- Hats and sunglasses recommended during post-procedure healing
CO2 Laser Resurfacing Procedures
- Approximately 1 month of downtime (1st – 2nd week after procedure requires most downtime)
- ActiveFX/MaxFX/TotalFX/Deep FX
- Intense levels of invasiveness (varying by each level of CO2 laser resurfacing treatment)
- Requires that you protect your skin by using sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 and a moisturizer daily.
- Hats and sunglasses recommended during post-procedure healing
Fractional Laser Resurfacing
Fractional laser procedures typically have one week of downtime, meaning that there is redness and swelling. Patients typically return back to work in about 5 to 7 days, and they are just red, as if they had a bad sunburn.
The Fractora laser resurfacing procedure uses radio frequency energy to heat the deep layers of the skin in a controlled way to revitalize collagen. Fractora is a minimally invasive procedure due to the matrix of micro-pins used to resurface and restore the skin, with almost no patient downtime. Fractionated RF (radio frequency) energy, found in Fractora, is a scientifically proven method to reduce wrinkles.
Active FX: The CO2 Resurfacing Laser procedure, Active FX, performs a superficial resurfacing of the skin. It is ideal for fine lines and mild acne scars.
Active FX is an ablative laser, which means that it will vaporize the skin as the laser is being performed, thus cutting through the skin. Active FX will give you a deeper penetrating laser result than more shallow penetrating laser resurfacing procedures.
Depending upon the severity of your acne scar and your skin tone, you might need more than one session. Typically, acne scar patients get about 25% to 50% improvement per session. Usually, multiple treatments may be required to get adequate and good improvement.
Deep FX: The CO2 Resurfacing Laser Procedure, Deep FX, is used for deep scars and deep wrinkles, various types of acne scars, mainly on rolling scars but also on shallow boxcar scars. As with any fractional CO2 procedures, more than one treatment may be necessary to get a satisfactory response.
Active FX and Deep FX are the most penetrating laser resurfacing procedure because they remove layers of skin as the procedure is being performed.
Total FX: Total FX combines Total FX and Deep FX, combining both superficial and deep laser resurfacing. Total FX is ideal for acne scars and deep wrinkles.
Am I a candidate for Total FX?
In order to be a good candidate for Total FX, you should:
1. Have no history of Accutane over the past 12 months
2. Have no history of scarring, or keloid formation
3. Cannot be tanned
4. Must have enough acne scar to warrant the treatment. The acne scars that work the best with Active and Deep FX include rolling scars and boxcar scars.
If you would like to learn more about laser resurfacing, please call our Lake Forest, CA office at (949) 770-8115.
