Miranda Stanley, nurse practioner at SKIN at the Institute of Facial Surgery is excited. “Up until now, we have been able to do just about everything in our office (to battle the signs of aging) – Dr. Stanley is a surgeon so he can do face lifts, brow lifts, eyelids and neck lifts. We do medical grade skin care, facials and peels.  However, we were missing the full skin resurfacing.”

After doing months of research, SKIN at the Institute of Facial Surgery now has a Fractional CO2 resurfacing system. Traditional CO2 lasers take off the outer layer of skin, jump start your collagen, even out pigment and get rid of fine lines and wrinkles. However, there are weeks, if not months of down time and bad side effects.

Before Core treatment

The Fractional CO2 resurfacing system is the gold standard of skin resurfacing. It bores tiny holes in the skin using light energy and those holes fast forward collagen formation. So, it stimulates collagen, tightens up the skin on the surface and evens out skin tone. It leaves some skin untouched so there is less down time, less side effects and discomfort. The skin heals faster.

Stanley said they decided to go with the Core CO2 because it is different than the other systems:

“The sun, the way that we age and the pollutants in the air break down our skin, cause hyper-pigmentation and wrinkles. It affects all of the different layers of our skin. You can treat all of those different layers with a traditional CO2, but you have to do multiple passes. The more times you go over the skin, the more down time, the more discomfort and increased risk of adverse side effects. With our Core CO2 we can do all of the skin layers with one pass. And, most people will only require one treatment.

There are many benefits with the Core CO2 system. The down time is only four to seven days. Down time means rest, moisturizing the treated skin, staying out of the sun – basically staying home for a few days. With a traditional CO2, it would be weeks, even a couple months with redness and other side effects. The best news – the results will last eight to ten years, depending on how you age. The results will be seen immediately and continue to improve for three to six months.

After Core treatment

Stanley said they can treat the neck, ear lobes and back of the hands with this laser. It can also be used for scar revision. She offered this information on the treatment steps:

Preparing for treatment:

• Always an initial consultation to go over risks, benefits and alternatives. It might not be the best treatment for a person’s particular concern.
• Skin may need prepping, depending on pigment
• Take ‘before’ photos
• Start some medications

Treatment day:

• Arrive an hour prior to treatment for application of topical anesthesia cream & pain medication
• Cold air is used for anesthesia
• There is some pain, but it is tolerable

– Treatment takes approximately one hour

Call SKIN at the Institute of Facial Surgery for your initial consultation, 255.4000. Visit online at beautyisinthei.com