LASER SKIN RESURFACING

There has always been interest in looking younger, but recently there seems to have been an explosion of public interest in facial rejuvenat ion. Physicians have been treating photodamaged skin for many years by removing the epidermis and a variable thickness of dermis with dermab rasion or chemical peels, with the expectation that reepithialization and collagen remodeling will result in a more youthful appearance. Wit h the recent development of short-pulsed high-peak power and rapidly s canned carbon dioxide (CO2) losers, the ability to remove photodamaged skin in a precise and reproducible manner while leaving behind a narr ow lone of thermal damage has been achieved, This development has gene rated tremendous interest in laser skin resurfacing as a technique to reverse photoaging. Copyright (C) 1996 by W.B. Saunders Company.