Skin Resurfacing

Aging, sun exposure, heredity and lifestyle factors including nutrition, alcohol consumption and smoking all may contribute to facial wrinkling.

Pigmentary changes of the skin, such as blotchiness or brown spots, may also occur with age or as a result of birth control pills, pregnancy or genetic factors. Prior acne may have made the surface of your skin uneven. These problems, as well as certain other skin conditions, may be improved by skin resurfacing.

During the consultation, you may be asked to look in a mirror and point out the specific areas of your face that you would like to see improved. This will help your surgeon to understand your expectations and determine whether they realistically can be achieved.

Skin Resurfacing Techniques

Chemical peels, dermabrasion and laser skin resurfacing all achieve results in basically the same way. Layers of your skin are removed and, as the healing process progresses, a new, healthier-looking skin emerges. What differentiates the various resurfacing methods is the way in which the skin's layers are removed. Chemical peels involve the application of a caustic solution, dermabrasion utilizes high-speed rotary wheel, and laser resurfacing uses a laser beam.

Am I a good candidate for skin resurfacing?

You may be a good candidate for skin resurfacing if you have one or more of the following conditions:

• wrinkled or sun-damaged facial skin
• vertical wrinkles around your mouth, such as those that cause lipstick "bleed"
• "crow's feet" lines around your eyes and perhaps some skin laxity in your lower eyelid area
• fine wrinkling of your upper eyelids
• brown spots or blotchy skin coloring
• certain precancerous skin growths
• acne or chicken pox scars
• superficial facial scars from a past injury

Patients may have their skin resurfaced at almost any age. You may have certain characteristics that make you a better candidate for one technique rather than another, or your surgeon may have a preference based on his or her personal experience with the different methods.

The amount of time you can allow for recovery also may be an important factor in selecting a particular resurfacing method or determining the extent of treatment. All resurfacing techniques can be performed to varying depths.

A more superficial treatment will require less healing time, but you may need to have the procedure repeated more than once to achieve the same results as a deeper treatment. If you are having aesthetic (cosmetic) surgery, such as a face lift or eyelid surgery, you may be able to have a skin resurfacing procedure performed at the same time.

Laser:
There are many different lasers available for the treatment of different conditions. The best laser for the resurfacing of the skin with the best long term follow-up is the CO2 laser. It is has been in use for the last 8 years and has shown good success in the treatment of wrinkles.

It has a few limitations in the use of patient with dark pigmented skin. These patient are not good candidates because they develop areas of severe pigment changes. The other problem is the prolonged healing time with redness of the skin for up to 6 months. The pre-op and post-op treatment is also very extended with different medications. We usually start you on Retin-A, a bleaching creme and glycolic washes 2 months before the surgery and continue with them. The ERBYIUM laser was introduced 1997 and has the potential to widen the spectrum of patients which can be treated with the laser. The studies showed no problems with the pigmentation in darker skinned patient and the healing period is markedly reduced with this new laser. The ERBYIUM laser seems to work for fine lines and wrinkles in the mid age patients of all races. The future will tell us, if this laser is as good as promised. Chemical Peel: we using 3 different peels in our practice: phenol, TCA (trichloracetic acid) and glycolic. Each of the different solutions has its place in the treatment of fine wrinkles. The skin care program is the same as for the laser patients.

Dermabrasion:
Dermabrasion is mainly used for the treatment of acne in patients and for the revisions of scars. It is a sanding down of the skin surface. Pigment changes can also be seen with this treatment.

For more information
Schedule your consultation with Dr. Wittenberg to discuss this procedure in full. Our experienced and professional office staff members are here to help you with all your questions. Call our offices at (831) 636-9808.