There’s a lot of reasons you may want to improve your skin, but not everyone needs (or wants) something as drastic as facial surgery.
Many women experience textural changes in their skin as a result of aging, environmental factors, and even life events like pregnancy. This can create hyperpigmentation, sun damage, wrinkles, and sagging skin. So what’s an ideal treatment to restore your skin to its youthful appearance?
Our pick for the best skin resurfacing treatment in Cincinnati is our CO2 laser! This advanced laser technology is the gold standard for improving a ton of conditions to take years off your skin. At Amy Brenner, MD & Associates, our team of doctors and aesthetic professionals is always excited to discuss the latest and greatest in skin rejuvenation, sexual wellness, and women’s wellness.
Below, we deep dive into CO2 laser to explain what makes it the best skin resurfacing treatment for so many patients.
What is “skin resurfacing”?
Skin resurfacing simply refers to a method of improving the texture and appearance of one’s skin. For most people, skin resurfacing can improve:
- Fine lines
- Moderate-to-deep wrinkles
- Dull skin or sallow complexion
- Splotchy or uneven skin tone
- Sun damage and brown spots
- Acne scars
- Large pores
- Skin laxity
- Crepey skin
CO2 laser skin resurfacing can improve these conditions on the face, neck, and decolletage areas for comprehensive results.
Your home skin care matters too!
While professional treatments like CO2 are the best for skin resurfacing (more on that below!), there is still plenty you can do at home to maintain your skin and keep textural concerns from worsening.
Wear sunscreen and other forms of sun protection
Any good skincare professional will tell you: Protecting your skin with sunscreen is the best way to prevent signs of aging like lines and wrinkles, sun spots, and skin laxity. When you develop a tan (or a sunburn), this is your body’s natural mechanism it’s using to protect itself.
Your pigment color changes from the excess melanin production, and when this doesn’t fade away with time, it creates sun damage. This looks like spots, patchiness, or an uneven appearance from years of sun damage.
Daily sunscreen use keeps your skin young by not breaking down collagen or putting excess pigment production into overdrive. Most importantly, sun protection greatly reduces your risk of skin cancer.
Our top sun protection tips:
- Wear a quality SPF daily of 30 or higher and reapply as needed
- Wear a wide brimmed hat when walking or spending time outside
- Wear sunglasses with UV protection to protect your eyes and keep you from squinting
- Wear clothing to shield your skin from sun exposure
- Sit under an umbrella or other shady spot when you’re outside
Always take off your makeup
After sun protection, keeping your skin clean is also important.
While we all love the power of makeup, it is not meant to be worn on your skin for more than a day. The best way to keep your pores clean and healthy is to take off your makeup before bed every day! Micellar water, cleansing oils and balms, and gentle face cleansers are all great options for makeup removal.
If you suffer from dry skin, you can wash your face just once a day before bed to get your daily cleanse and wipe away any makeup products. If you prefer and your skin doesn’t dry out, wash both morning and night.
Skincare tip: Some people enjoy a double cleanse! This is a multi-step type of cleansing. First, start with 1 cleanse to remove makeup, then do a second cleanse to clean your pores and get rid of dirt and oils trapped in the skin.
Be gentle with your skin
When you’re applying skin care or doing your makeup, be gentle! Apply eye creams with your ring finger of your non-dominant hand, pat your skin dry instead of rubbing, and avoid tugging and pulling when applying makeup. Your skin will thank you long term.
Now, all of these tips above are great practices for your at-home skincare routine, but professional treatments are where you’ll get great results quickly. Let’s talk about CO2 laser and how it can transform your skin!
Why CO2 laser is the best skin resurfacing treatment
With this laser treatment, we love to say “take off 10 years in 10 days” because that’s how awesome these results are.
Dr. Thiemen, Medical Director of AB Medispa, discusses CO2 laser below.
The technology
In our practice, we use the CO2RE CO2 Laser by Candela. This laser increases your body’s natural production of collagen by triggering healing deep beneath the surface.
Collagen is essential for youthful skin because it’s the “strength” of your skin structure. The more collagen, the healthier and more youthful the skin looks and feels. We can also use this same technique to improve other skin conditions where skin needs reparation, like acne scars or traumatic scars.
This technology features many ways for us to customize the best skin resurfacing treatment for each patient.
- Light: Complexion Refresher
- Mid: Improves Skin Tone & Texture
- Deep: Improves Scars, Fine Lines and Wrinkles
- Fusion: Improve Superficial Texture Variations + Fine Lines and Wrinkles
Treatment process
After an in-depth consultation where we’ll determine that this is the best treatment for your needs, we’ll book your pre-treatment appointment and treatment day appointment and answer any questions you have. We will also recommend the best amount of treatment sessions for your desired results. Many patients receive 1 to 3 treatments spaced 8 to 12 weeks apart. During the pre-treatment appointment, we’ll take before photos and go over any necessary medication.
Your provider will ensure you are comfortable before starting the treatment by applying topical numbing cream to your skin and ProNox. Each skin resurfacing treatment with CO2 takes between 40 to 60 minutes total.
Most patients report that it feels like a quick snapping sensation on their skin. We finish the treatment with Zimmer cooling for added comfort.
The healing
Immediately after treatment, we’ll apply carboxy therapy on your skin for increased healing and go over detailed aftercare instructions. We’ll see you for a post-procedure appointment after 2 or 3 days to check in on your healing progress.
Total recovery time is between 5 to 10 days, depending on the individual treatment plan. Most patients notice significant improvement during this time. Full results are progressive, and most patients see final results after 2 to 3 months.
The possibilities
One of the coolest aspects of our CO2 laser is the possibilities of combining it with other treatments. This allows us to achieve some of the best results based on the patient’s individual concerns.
Below are some of our most commonly combined treatments with CO2 laser skin resurfacing.
Carboxy Therapy
Carboxy therapy is a great treatment to shorten healing time. It helps heal damaged tissue, greatly improves hydration, and offers a firming, lifting effect.
Cosmetic Threading
Cosmetic threading is a non-surgical treatment where we strategically place cosmetic sutures underneath the skin to reinforce structure, lift skin, and smooth wrinkles.
Dermal Fillers
Dermal fillers use ingredients like hyaluronic acid (HA is naturally found in your body) to smooth, restore, and plump skin in many treatment areas. Patients can enhance features like cheeks, lips, or chin for a rejuvenated effect or even restore hollowness under the eyes or smooth out wrinkles.
Amy Brenner, MD & Associates is an Allergan Diamond Practice. We are in the top 4% of providers for filler, CoolSculpting, DiamondGlow procedures & Skinmedica products! Our expertise is what sets us apart from other providers for these services.
The versatility
Along with being a great treatment to combine with other procedures, CO2 itself is also very versatile. We can even treat conditions for sexual wellness and vaginal rejuvenation with CORE Intima®.
Just like CO2 laser stimulates tissue regeneration in the face, it can do the same for the vaginal opening, vaginal dryness, urinary incontinence, and more.
What Intima® treats
Internally:
- Vaginal laxity (looseness)
- Vaginal atrophy (dryness )
- Incontinence (leaking of urine)
- Enhances sexual gratification
Externally:
- Vulvar pigmentation (darkening)
- Sagging of the labia majora (outer vaginal lips)
- Lichen sclerosus (white patches)
- Vulvar atrophy (dryness)
As you can see, CO2 laser at our practice is a versatile treatment, improving many types of skin conditions and women’s intimate health and cosmetic appearance concerns. Now onto the results!
The results
Most patients are very happy with their results from CO2 skin resurfacing treatment after just 1 treatment session, though we may recommend 2 or 3 treatment sessions for the best results possible.
Before
After
Before
After
How long is recovery time after CO2 laser skin resurfacing?
Recovery time is between 5 to 10 days. This time frame depends on your depth of CO2 laser treatment. Most patients see great improvement after 14 days.
How long do CO2 laser results last?
Naturally, your skin will continue to age with the passage of time, but your results from CO2 laser can last long term with proper skin care.
Visit our skin specialists for the best skin resurfacing treatment in Cincinnati!
We have patients who visit us from all over the Cincinnati region for expert, transformative treatments. We always work hard to create a personalized treatment plan for your needs.
As a medspa and medical practice in Mason, Ohio, we have the unique ability to not only boost your overall health, but also help you enhance your outer beauty with aesthetic treatments.
We offer a warm, friendly environment while providing the highest quality aesthetic treatments and wellness plans to help you look great and feel great.
Get started today by using our virtual consultation tool or scheduling an appointment.