Patient Information / Facial rejuvenation with laser

SKIN REJUVENATION WITH 21^ST CENTURY CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY


Fractional laser treatment with the SCITON^® ProFractional XC™ equipment. SCITON^®, one of the market leader companies of the United States developing and manufacturing laser technology created the most modern and effective skin rejuvenation laser.





History overview 

In order to understand the main points of fractional laser treatment we need some history overview.
Laser skin rejuvenation/skin renewal has a history of more than ten years. The first equipments – similarly to the skin burns caused by superficial scald – removed the surface of the skin to a certain depth adjusted precisely by laser technology. After healing, the new skin was smoother and tighter. The wrinkles were also reduced because during the treatment new collagen fibres were produced by the heat transmitted to the lower skin layers, the fibre structure was transformed, enhancing the rejuvenating effect.

At the same time, this carbon-dioxide laser skin treatment had several unpleasant side-effects as well. After the treatment, the patient had a wounded skin recovering for several weeks, which required treatment, protection and bandage. This meant that the patient was unable to work for a long time. Sometimes the scars deepened, noticeable ones were formed due to inadequate treatment, in some cases even pigmentation problems occurred. 

Later Erbium lasers were also used for skin peeling. Due to their lower heat transmission, the healing process became shorter with less risk but the long-term results of wrinkles treatment are far behind those of the carbon-dioxide lasers.

The next step of laser technology development was the launch of non-ablative skin rejuvenating equipment, which, leaving the skin surface intact, had an effect on lower skin layers, mainly due to the quantity of transmitted heat and the restructuring of the collagen.

The non-ablative technology provided a safer method but the results could only be noticed after several treatments and it had a short-term effect. After 4-5 treatments performed in the first months, the procedure had to be repeated at least yearly to maintain the results.

The development of the fractional treatment brought new possibilities. During this intervention, the laser energy makes one-quarter millimetre thin holes in the skin perpendicularly to the surface. The distance between the holes is adjustable, we can define the ratio of the intact and punched areas of the treated skin surface. The tiny holes heal within 2-3 days without scars. The recovery mechanism restructures the collagen fibre network of the skin, leaving a tighter texture. 

The fractional technology has been developed for carbon-dioxide and Erbium lasers, as well as for non-ablative lasers.

Using carbon-dioxide and Erbium equipments, one treatment is enough for achieving long-term effect, while the procedure shall be repeated continuously with non-ablative lasers in order to reach noticeable results.


What are the main features of SCITON^® ProFractional XC™? 

In brief, this equipment owns the best features of the previous equipments and several more as well.
The equipment launched in 2008 is called a dual laser, meaning two laser equipments operating simultaneously within the same treatment head, performing their tasks through a special mirror system.
This technology allows of unique adjustment of the equipment, tailored for the patients, regarding all parameters.

The depth of the fractional treatment can be adjusted between 25 µm and 1500µm, the ratio of the area covered with holes and the intact skin surface may vary between 1.5% and 60%, we can define the size of the heat transmission zone around the holes between 0 and 250 µm. The equipment is also suitable for superficial peeling in adjustable depths in MicroLaserPeel mode and in Contour Peel mode as well, when the superficial peeling is accompanied by heat transmission.

SCITON^® developed a unique adjustable skin rejuvenating laser, combining the advantages of all known technologies. Currently this is the only equipment in the world which can be adjusted to all characteristics of the patient – depth of the wrinkles, looseness of the skin, impurities – and we can also consider the requirements of the patient regarding available healing time after treatment.
The special software includes a special treatment head as well. The so-called “telecentric scanner” means that during the treatment, the light of the laser covers the same area size and the adjusted treatment depth also remains the same irrespectively of the distance between the treatment head and the skin.

The treatment with this equipment is exceptionally quick. The treatment of a whole face with the fractional and peeling procedures together lasts no longer than 30 minutes.

Depending on the settings of the equipment, the treatments are done either without any anaesthesia, with local or general anaesthesia. The intensity of the pain depends on the depth of the holes and the quantity of the transmitted heat. Deeper treatments with higher heat effect are recommended to be performed with general anaesthesia.


What to expect after the treatment?

After the deeper treatments, the treated area will secrete some serum for two days but unlike the carbon-dioxide laser peeling, no bandages are needed, the treated skin is not covered by thick scars. It is enough to wash the skin with tepid water or chamomile tea and to treat it with Bepanthen cream 2-3 times daily. Fresh skin is developed 4-5 days after the treatment, and for some weeks, the treated area might look slightly red.   


What is the difference between the laser skin rejuvenating treatments and wrinkle-removing plastic surgeries?

The basic difference between laser treatments and plastic surgeries is the healing process. Some weeks or months after the operation, the result – the tightness of the skin - will continuously decrease, while after the laser treatment enhancing the regeneration process, the tightness and hydrating ability of the skin, as well as the smoothness of the skin surface improve each week, and reach their maximum 2-3 months after the treatment.

  
Surgery or laser treatment?

Both of them, sometimes even together! Laser technology provides new tools, new possibilities to us, completing our existing methods. We can achieve results we have never reached by surgeries or other procedures (e.g. wrinkle filling) before. The “smoking” wrinkles around the lips are treated most effectively with the new laser method, but this is also the only way to transform skin structure and to rejuvenate it. At the same time, surgeries have also maintained their importance, as loose and sagged skin can only be removed by operations. Face and eyelid plasties will also be used in the future, as in some cases we can achieve better and longer-lasting results by combining the two methods.

The SCITON^® ProFractional XC™ equipment provides exceptional possibilities for effective skin rejuvenating treatments specifically and individually tailored to each patient.