Lasers: the hot, new anti-aging technique (stress the ‘hot’)

When 35-year-old Francesca Zielinski stepped out of her dermatologist’s office after her first Erbium laser treatment, her face felt “really hot – like a bad sunburn.” The Toronto-based receptionist raced home and spent the next several hours applying washcloths soaked in ice water to bring down the heat. But the next day was even worse.

Your skin looks pretty gnarly,” she recalls. “There’s no blistering, but you’re really, really red and it feels very rough. Then it starts peeling.”

And even though the entire healing process took seven days, she can’t wait to do it all over again. Erbium is one of several new “fractionated laser” treatments, a group of anti-aging skin resurfacers that dermatologists such as Jaggi Rao, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Alberta, believe are the best way to treat brown spots, scarring, sun damage, fine lines and uneven skin texture on women of any age.

While the typical patient seeking improved tone and texture is in her 40s or 50s, women targeting acne scars or uneven pigmentation tend to be in their teens, 20s and 30s.

Read the full article at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-beauty/beauty/lasers-the-hot-new-anti-aging-technique-stress-the-hot/article4495743/

Source:  by Michelle Villett, Special to The Globe and Mail on Saturday, Aug. 25 2012 at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-beauty/beauty/lasers-the-hot-new-anti-aging-technique-stress-the-hot/article4495743/