Is Laser Resurfacing Of the Face For Wrinkle Reduction Worth It?

Q: Dr. Eppley,  I am interested in laser resurfacing to help reduce the growing number of wrinkles on my face. I don’t know much about laser surgery and how it works. I have seen some very good results and then read some bad stories about it. I know to get a really good result it is not s one day recovery. Do you think the results will be noticeable or rather worth the ordeal?

A: In laser resurfacing the historic rule is…the deeper you go, the better the results. Simplistically, the more bad skin you remove the new skin that heals over it will look better. But laser skin resurfacing is not all one tool and there are different ways to do it. By far today’s use of fractional laser resurfacing is superior to what has been done in the past. What makes fractional laser different is that it only treats a fraction of the skin’s surface. (as the name implies) But each penetration of the beam goes deeper, creating a better effect but with less recovery. These laser treatments can be done at all levels from light to deep and is based on the severity of the problem and how much time one has fofr recovery. Even a lighter fractional laser resurfacing treatment does really produce a noticeable result with very tolerable recovery. It can look pretty bad the first day or two (by your standards) but by five to seven days be completely healed.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana