A Kinder, Gentler Laser Skin Treatment

Jan. 9, 2006 — -- As Gwen Polk began to age, she didn't like what she was seeing on her face.

"The skin was starting to sag," Polk said. "My problem wasn't so much wrinkles, but I had a lot of sun damage with the brown spots."

Polk thought about a face-lift, but that wouldn't reduce any skin discolorations. So she decided to try Fraxel, a new skin laser treatment that resurfaces a fraction of the skin at a timet.

It's just one of the latest nonsurgical cosmetic options now available, which continue to grow in popularity. Last year similar noninvasive procedures increased by more than 50 percent.

Fraxel's edge is that it's gentler to the skin and able to home in on the layers of skin damaged by the sun, rather than all layers.

"What [Fraxel] means is that if you look at a TV screen and it has a bunch of pixels, you treat one out of every five pixels and make that pixel look better, and you do that for the entire area of the TV screen," said Baylor University dermatologist Dr. Ramsey Markus. "We're doing that same thing for the face with the Fraxel resurfacing."

After a numbing agent is applied, a blue dye is spread over the skin to help the laser read how quickly it is tracking over the skin. It is mildly painful.

"With the heat, it feels like someone is pricking your skin with something that is hot, and you just feel these little pricks, like if someone was coming along with a pin and pricking your skin," Polk said.

Markus said that the typical Fraxel patient has wrinkles, brown spots and redness. Unlike aggressive laser resurfacing which can be used only on the face, Fraxel can be used anywhere on the body -- back, neck, upper chest and hands. Fraxel costs about $1,000 for each treatment.

Polk likes the results. Her brown spots are virutally gone and she's going back for at least two more treatments.

What is she hoping for?

"Just a more refreshed and youthful look, instead of a tired, saggy look," she said.

ABC affiliate KTRK-TV in Houston prepared this report.