But as we do, our skin also ages, losing skin collagen and fat. This often shows itself in thin skin, wrinkles and loss of volume.
In keeping with progress, ablative lasers have evolved with time and clinician expertise. The best outcome is combination therapy that takes into account the dermatology rating of patient skin type, treatment indication, recovery and efficacy/ side-effect profile. For these reasons, skin resurfacing is best performed by a laser dermatologist. We have developed and published a modern classification for skin resurfacing with all of the above in mind.
There are 7 levels of resurfacing in order of intensity. Generally, the higher the intensity, the better the results – however expert assessment of individual skin type is key to avoid unwanted side-effects that can occur with higher level resurfacing. Resurfacing can be classified as ‘Fractional’ or ‘Full’ or various combinations of the two. Fractional resurfacing only targets a fraction of the skin surface and is less aggressive than full resurfacing which targets the entire skin surface. Classifying resurfacing according to downtime is a very useful concept.
A lower level resurfacing is a very useful addition to the vascular lasers and IPL. When started early enough it can slow down the ageing process. In the 30-40 plus age group, Level 2 resurfacing is the most frequently performed for anti-ageing indication. In the older age group (60 plus) with significant sun damage, a higher level resurfacing (Levels 5-7) may be required for anti-ageing and age-reversal.
