Laser Skin Firming Basics

There are a lot of good things to be said about getting older - it brings with it (hopefully) wisdom, experience, and confidence. Unfortunately, it also brings with it wrinkles and saggy skin. Oh, well, you can't have it all. Or can you? Some people believe that laser skin tightening is like having access to a time machine that can take you back to the days of old (or better put, days of young) when our skin was still dewy and youthful and radiant. So, yes, you can have it all.

As we age, your skin gets thinner, and loses its elasticity, resulting in wrinkles, crow's feet, laugh lines, and saggy jowls; fortunately, laser skin tightening is available to fix all of those little foibles.

The process itself is non-surgical, and ambulatory, meaning you walk in, have the procedure and walk out. There's usually no down-time, and no post-treatment pain. The procedure is fairly straightforward, the laser heats up the existing collagen under the surface of the skin, which causes the uppermost layer of the skin to contract or tighten. There are very few people who are not good candidates for this procedure; men and women of all ages and with any skin type or color can benefit by this procedure.

Costs for the procedure will vary among laser clinics, and depend on the individual patient's needs, including the size and location of the skin to be tightened, the condition of the skin to be tightened, as well as the type of laser employed. It's important that the clinic you choose have available several different lasers, because one size definitely does not fit all. Each laser works best on a specific skin type or skin condition, and your dermatologist will know which one is best suited for you. On the whole, though, laser skin firming is much less expensive than traditional (and invasive) plastic surgery.

It would be remiss not to mention the risk factors involved with laser rejuvenation, the good news is that there are very few - there is the possibility of reddening of the skin (temporary and it looks like sunburn), a slight chance of scarring (which can be reduced by ensuring you've an experienced physician giving you treatment - this is not the time for an intern), and the possibility of skin lightening (if you're dark skinned) or darkening (if you're light skinned) at the treated site (it's just temporary).

What does laser skin tightening not do? Well, it doesn't remove any skin, that's something you'd need to see a plastic surgeon about. But what laser skin tightening will do, is give you a firmer, healthier and younger-looking complexion. And isn't that what you really wanted?