A Pilot Study on the Treatment of Facial Rhytids Using Nonablative 585-nm Pulsed Dye and 532-nm Nd:YAG Lasers

BACKGROUND. There have been reports of successfully using the pulsed dye laser and long-pulse Nd:YAG laser to improve skin wrinkles. OBJECTIVE. To evaluate the efficacy of these lasers in the treatment of moderate to severe wrinkles. METHODS. Seven subjects had one side of their periorbital wrinkles treated with pulsed dye laser (585 nm, 0.45 ms, 2.5 J/cm², single-pass 10% overlap, three treatments at 6 weeks apart). The second part of the study involved using the long-pulse Nd:YAG laser (532 nm, 2 ms, 7.0 J/cm² with cooling, three laser passes, three treatments at 6 weeks apart) to treat the contralateral wrinkles in five subjects. Pretreatment and posttreatment photographs were taken, and blinded assessors were asked to choose the better of the two unlabeled photographs. RESULTS. Assessors found that two of the seven subjects had a better posttreatment photograph in the pulsed dye laser-treated group. Three of five subjects had a better posttreatment photograph in the long-pulse Nd:YAG laser-treated group. None of the subjects reported any subjective improvements. CONCLUSION. Neither the pulsed dye laser nor the long-pulse Nd:YAG laser at the previously mentioned parameters produced any improvement in moderate to severe facial wrinkles.