Plasma skin resurfacing

Abstract

Traditional ablative techniques, including CO2 laser resurfacing, medium-to-deep chemical peeling, and mechanical dermabrasion, have provided excellent and durable skin rejuvenation results. However, each treatment modality carries with it a potential morbidity profile and/or aesthetic limitations. Lighter treatment therapies like 35% trichloroacetic acid (TCA) peeling can rejuvenate mildly sun-damaged skin including dyschromias and fine rhytids, but may fail to correct deeper rhytids and more profound skin textural problems. Deeper treatments like CO2 laser resurfacing and phenol can correct deeper rhytids but are associated with a more significantly protracted recovery period and risk of hypopigmentation. Mechanical dermabrasion works well to correct discrete contour problems like acne scarring and perioral rhytids but is technically more difficult to achieve consistency across the entire face when used as a standalone treatment modality. Obviously, a combination approach toward skin rejuvenation using various modalities can optimize aesthetic improvement while minimizing the side-effect profile. © Springer-Verlag 2008.