are laser treatments safe for rejuvenating skin and inducing collagen lasers and other
thermal treatments are used to induce collagen production for the purpose
of improving your skin's appearance although laser technology has advanced to reduce risk
of complications the importance of knowledge and experience by higher level practitioners
cannot be overstated it's become routine for me to see patients whose skin has been over treated
by aggressive heating resulting in their skin looking even more aged
it's generally understood that complications can happen even with a highly experienced doctor
I often see patients who chose a particular device-based treatment on the recommendation of a
non-physician using a cookbook approach only to later realize that there were specific issues
that were not factored into their treatment that later turned out to be very important
I'll discuss my approach to helping patients with cosmetic skin issues
in my practice including how I combine device-based treatments with
other therapies to reduce risk and optimize results I'm Dr Amiya Prasad I'm a Diplomate
of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery and a Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic and
reconstructive surgeon I've been in practice in New York City and Long Island for over 25 years
I've been using lasers since the first fully ablative CO2 lasers which were introduced
in the mid 90s I have several different lasers in my practice including fractional co2 and
fractional erbium lasers as well as Nd YAG and Q switch lasers I use radiofrequency treatments like
Pelleve for skin types that cannot be safely treated with laser I was an early adopter
of PRP or platelet-rich plasma for collagen induction therapy and skin quality improvement
for the purpose of skin rejuvenation lasers and thermal energy devices as well as treatments
like microneedling are based on a controlled injury model to stimulate collagen production
collagen is a critical protein that provides skin its structure and strength new collagen production
can make skin appear firmer and tighter to treat signs of aging like skin wrinkling and skin laxity
in recent years an increasing number of devices are being presented to the general public
as alternative options to surgical procedures such as facelift surgeries these devices are designed
to induce collagen production by heating the skin to a critical temperature for a specific period of
time the assumption is that the individual being treated has the capacity in their skin to produce
the expected amount of collagen in my opinion this assumption needs to be more critically examined
specific details in an individual's history such as previous cosmetic medical procedures including
other laser treatments are very important in determining the potential benefits of
an additional laser type of procedure the medical history the current medications the patient may be
on need to also be factored in to the planning of any treatment including a cosmetic laser procedure
I also look at my patient's skin to determine if the critical issue is limited to wrinkles
and skin laxity in addition to other issues such as sun damage causing skin discolorations I think
it's important to understand that the skin has a physiology like any other important organ in the
body and that your lifestyle impacts your skin the way it impacts your heart your lungs your
liver etc I often compare skin rejuvenation to resistance training for muscle building
if you work out properly you stimulate your muscle to grow and support that growth with nutrition
if you over stress your muscle you're at higher risk of injury
this same principle in my opinion applies to your skin in the context of aging skin where
one percent of collagen is lost every year from the age of 25 my approach is to be less aggressive
and combine therapies to support collagen production and minimize the risk of complications
for example I routinely perform fractional co2 laser procedures combined with the application
of PRP or platelet-rich plasma a laser is being used to induce collagen production after
controlled injury PRP also induces collagen production without an injury I'm not saying
that PRP is an alternative to laser but in my experience the synergy of less aggressive laser
combined with PRP to enhance collagen production has worked very successfully for my patients
now taking it a step further PRP can also be administered in combination with hyaluronic acid
in a procedure we call skin boosting this is where a synergistic benefit of PRP
and hyaluronic acid delivered to the dermis which is the backbone of your skin can be very effective
without inducing a significant injury similar to my comparison with muscle building the benefits
can be additive with subsequent sessions as I mentioned earlier skin discolorations often
accompany collagen loss in the skin due to sun damage and aging changes I'll often perform a
procedure called laser skin toning which is a non-ablative treatment in combination with skin
boosting in contrast to an ablative procedure the outermost layers of skin remain intact and so the
patient has no downtime and they can come in on a regular basis without disrupting their schedule
there are a lot of new and interesting devices in the marketplace for aesthetic treatment
in my opinion the financial incentives driven by the high cost of marketing and leasing of these
devices results in overselling of these treatments to people who are not appropriate candidates
it's a very slippery slope when people looking to avoid surgery go to a medical retailer
selling a procedure that's represented as an alternative to facelift surgery
very often a person who'd had this treatment doesn't see the results they were expecting and
the practitioner who sold them the treatment subsequently increases the amount of heat
being delivered to the skin resulting in worsening of their skin laxity and thinning of their skin
this same individual would have probably been better served non-surgically with the procedure
such as Structural Volumizing with long-lasting hyaluronic acid fillers such as what we do
in a procedure called the Y Lift again the assumption of both the patient and practitioner
was that facial aging was limited to their skin completely missing the significant impact
of bone volume loss the cliche that to the person with the hammer everything appears to be a nail
is applicable here the take-home message is that there's more to facial aging than skin tightening
and that a comprehensive evaluation by an unbiased professional can potentially help you avoid
problems like those I've discussed strategically combining lower risk and effective procedures
can help you look your best at any age I hope this information from my experience helped you
if you're interested in recommendations for your individual situation
you may contact us through our websites or call our offices to schedule a consultation thank you