Laser Skin Resurfacing

A laser works when its light is absorbed by a target in the skin. In 1983 Anderson and Parrish showed that brief pulses of a well-absorbed wavelength damage the target, such as small blood vessels or pigment granules, and spare the tissue around it. They named this selective photothermolysis.

Ablative lasers remove damaged skin one thin layer at a time. ASPS names two: carbon dioxide (CO2, 10,600 nm) and erbium (2,940 nm). The laser removes the epidermis and heats the dermis, which makes new collagen, and the skin that heals is smoother and firmer.

Fractional lasers treat a grid of microscopic columns and leave the skin between the columns untouched. In the first report, in 2004, each column was about 100 microns wide and 300 microns deep, and the surface healed within 1 day. Fractional lasers come in ablative (CO2, erbium) and non-ablative (1,550 nm, 1,927 nm, 1,440 nm) types.

Intense pulsed light (IPL) is not a laser: it emits many wavelengths that target pigment, blood vessels and hair follicles. BroadBand Light (BBL) emits wide-spectrum light from 500 to 1,400 nm. Non-ablative lasers often need a series of treatments; ablative lasers need one to two weeks to heal.

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