Repair Summer-Damaged Skin

How to Repair Summer-Damaged Skin

Summer may be ending in a few short weeks, but your skin may be sporting the residual damage of all those days in the sun. Fortunately, you don’t have to greet the fall season with summer-weary skin. The right professional treatment can reverse the damage and restore your healthy glow in time for the holidays. Check out this innovative treatment at Carl N. Williams MD Plastic Surgery that will repair the damage and rejuvenate your complexion with minimal discomfort and downtime involved.*

The Sun’s Toll on Your Skin

Those long summer days may be great for your social life, but not so beneficial for your skin. Those powerful UV rays can do more than burn your skin; they can also break down the collagen and elastin in the underlying skin structure. Loss of these essential proteins leads to skin laxity and other early signs of aging. At the same time, sun exposure can affect the melanin in the skin, causing the formation of brown spots and unwanted freckles.

Damage from the sun can occur even if you have been vigilant about sun protection throughout the season. The effects do not go away on their own, even if you successfully manage to avoid the sun for an extended period. However, you can reverse the changes through laser procedures designed for this purpose.* One of the most popular methods of treating sun damage is a laser treatment known as Fraxel.

What is Fractional Therapy?

Fraxel laser technology features a fractionated laser, which is different from ablative laser procedures. Ablative lasers remove the outermost layers of skin to reveal softer smoother skin underneath.* The procedure offers dramatic results that can persist for many years, but the downside is significant discomfort and an extended recovery period, particularly when the procedure goes deep enough to address even the most severe damage.*

Fractional laser work in a very different way. Instead of removing outer layers of skin, these devices create micro-injuries that stimulate the skin’s renewal process.* By producing these narrow channels in a grid-like pattern across the treatment area, we promote collagen production in the underlying layers to smooth and firm the skin from the inside out.* Additional collagen effectively stops the signs of damage from sun exposure or the aging process, turning back the clock as it produces a more youthful complexion.* At the same time, cell renewal that is a natural part of the healing process produces an outer dermal layer that is smoother, clearer and more vibrant.*

Benefits of Fraxel

Fraxel is one of the top laser devices for fractional treatments, offering the ability to customize the depth of the procedure to the precise needs of each of our patients. This device addresses a variety of skin issues caused by regular sun exposure:

•    UNEVEN SKIN TEXTURE AND TONE*
•    BROWN SPOTS AND FRECKLES*
•    ACTINIC KERATOSIS (A PRE-CANCEROUS LESION)*
•    MILD SKIN LAXITY*
•    FINE LINES AND WRINKLES*

Fraxel is safe and effective on all skin tones, an advantage over some other laser treatments. The procedure is well-tolerated with topical or local anesthesia, and downtime after the procedure is minimal. Most of our patients are back to their regular schedule within a day or two. There are no incisions made during a Fraxel treatment, which means you won’t have any residual scarring from your procedure to try to hide under makeup.

Long-Lasting Results*

While you will see positive results shortly after your first Fraxel treatment, you may need a series of appointments to achieve your full outcome. Patients may need one to five sessions to meet their expectations, but once those results are seen, they can last for many months.* In addition to erasing the signs of sun damage, you will enjoy a complexion that is smoother, more youthful and radiantly beautiful.*

Keep in mind that you will not see changes to your skin right away after your Fraxel treatment. It takes time for the body to produce the necessary regeneration that leads to a healthier complexion. However, when the results do take effect, your new look will be natural and noticeable.*

The Importance of Experience

Although a laser treatment is not a surgical procedure, it is imperative that you select a plastic surgeon with ample experience with the device to ensure your treatment is both safe and successful. Dr. Williams has more than 30 years of experience working with laser devices and was one of the first surgeons to bring Fraxel technology to Las Vegas. He provides advanced techniques that ensure his patients experience minimal discomfort and downtime with their procedures without sacrificing superior results.

If summer has left you with a dull, damaged complexion, treatments are available to repair the damage and give you a refreshed, rejuvenated appearance.* Contact Carl N. Williams MD Plastic Surgery today to find out if Fraxel is the right choice for you.