Nonablative and minimally ablative resurfacing

Skin damage, resulting from surgery, trauma, acne scarring, or excessive skin exposure, often prompts patients to seek medical advice. Nowadays, even expected signs of aging, such as rhytides and “age spots,” can be distressing enough to lead patients to inquire about treatment. Traditional treatment modalities include the use of topical retinoids, bleaching agents, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and lasers. With the recent advances in technology, lasers and light sources have now become the technique of choice for skin resurfacing. Conventional lasers, like the carbon dioxide (CO2) or erbium:yttrium aluminum garnet (Er:YAG), are ablative and thus remove the entire epidermis and portions of the dermis during treatment. Consequently, results are impressive, but there is a great degree of associated postoperative morbidity. Patients are often advised to expect 1–2 weeks of “downtime” in order to recover from the swelling, oozing, crusting, and discomfort that results from the procedure [1] (V/B).