Hello Interloper!
Menu
Traditional ablative laser resurfacing has been shown to be very effective in improving deeper lines and wrinkles associated with sun damaged skin. The downside is the recovery time and potential complications.
As a consequence of this, the development of lasers has focussed on non-ablative laser and IPL light sources that do not remove the surface of the skin, but still cause visible improvement of lines and wrinkles. These alternatives do not, as yet, produce such dramatic and long lasting results as ablative lasers, but they are safer and involve virtually no recovery time. Please see our laser/IPL/LHE skin rejuvenation section for more details.
The fractional laser arena can also be divided into fractional ablative and fractional non-ablative devices.
Whilst not 100% as effective as traditional ablative laser procedures, (depending on the depth and severity of the wrinkles being treated), fractional laser skin resurfacing (ablative and non-ablative) appears to achieve comparable skin improvements as obtained with conventional ablative laser skin resurfacing but with fewer potential side effects.
However whether standard ablative or fractional ablative technologies are a clear performance leader is still to be determined. Similarly, the argument for ablative fractional versus non-ablative fractional is heavily contested within the industry. We will watch this space…