Question:
Can laser hair removal be performed on all areas of the body?

Answer:
Laser hair removal can be performed on virtually any area of the body other than the eyelids.  Essentially anyplace that there is unwanted hair that has dark coloration to the hair can be treated successfully with laser hair removal.

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Question:
My father has some really awful looking hair sprouting from his ears. Will laser hair removal work on this type of hair?

Answer:
As long as the hairs on the ears are dark, laser hair removal can provide a very significant improvement in hair reduction.  If the hairs are gray, unfortunately there is not enough pigment in the hair to allow for the laser energy to be absorbed and injure the follicle and these, therefore, are very unsuccessfully treated.

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Question:
I have a lot of pitting on my face and I’d like to know if laser resurfacing can improve this and how.

Answer:
Yes, laser resurfacing can definitely improve textural irregularities of the skin, but it is really highly dependent on the exact depth and shape of pitting that you would have in your skin as to whether or not I would recommend laser resurfacing for it.  Frequently for mild pitting we will perform ProFractional Laser resurfacing, which creates tunnels of injury in the skin and these can be quite deep into the dermis.  This creates a very significant amount of new collagen production in the skin, which then in turn creates remodeling of the area improving the surface texture.  Over several treatments a very significant amount of textural improvement can occur in patients with acne scarring or other textural irregularities.  If someone has deep pitting, more than likely I would recommend excision of these deep pits with primary closure using sutures.

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Question:
Does laser resurfacing exfoliate the skin or does it do anything on a deeper level like promote collagen?

Answer:
It depends on what type of laser resurfacing you are looking at, but the majority of them will not only exfoliate the superficial layer of the skin but will also provide some heat to the dermis, which in turn will create new collagen deposition.  This is assuming that the laser that is being used does vaporize the superficial layer of the skin.  There are lasers that do not ablate or destroy tissue, but rather they heat the tissue and these will not exfoliate significantly, but they can place that heat deeper in the skin and create a significant amount of new collagen deposition, which in turn will create some skin tightening and texture and wrinkle improvement.

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Question:
What are the different types of laser resurfacing procedures available?

Answer:
There are many different types of laser resurfacing procedures available in America since there are many different companies that produce a variety of different lasers using different wavelengths, energy levels, and patterns of energy delivery.  Ultimately, I think it is important to seek out a very experienced provider and I personally would recommend a board-certified facial plastic surgeon if you are interested in getting laser resurfacing on your face.

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