Plenty of over-the-counter lotions and remedies promise to “reverse the visible signs of ageing”.
How do these cosmetic clichés ever gain traction?
The truth is, for last 50 years the only non-surgical way to remove fine lines, wrinkles, discolouration, redness and skin laxity was by enduring painfully expensive and often dangerous chemical peels.
These procedures risked stripping the skin of its pigment, leaving many people with an unearthly pallor. If the chemicals penetrated too deeply, they could leave permanent scars. Worst of all: phenol, the most widely used and dangerous of the deep peeling agents, could induce fatal heart arrhythmias.
When CO2 lasers appeared in the early 1990s, it was hoped they would bring an end to the hit-and-miss era of deep chemical peels. But within a couple of years those hopes were dashed when it was discovered the risks (loss of skin pigment, prolonged recovery times) outweighed the benefits. Most CO2 lasers sat gathering dust in the corners of clinic storerooms.
If there was one positive thing to come out of the laser resurfacing experience, it was our enhanced understanding of what happens to the skin after it is lasered. Cosmetic physicians now realise that the laser injury itself produces new collagen.
Despite the claims of most major cosmetic houses, skin ageing is due primarily to collagen loss, not skin dryness. Produce more collagen and your skin actually looks more youthful.
At this point, the hunt was on to find a way to harness the positive benefits of CO2 laser without the complications.
Enter Fractional Laser Resurfacing. The US company Reliant was the first to come up with the idea of creating hundreds of smaller (“fractional”)
In theory, this would prevent most of the side effects associated with the original CO2 lasers.
In 2004, the first fractional resurfacing laser, Fraxel, was released with little fanfare. With so many abandoned CO2 lasers still in their boxes, most doctors were sceptical. Fraxel lasers were expensive. The treatments were too painful for many patients to endure, even with the application of powerful local anaesthetics. Preliminary studies were promising, but the technology failed to take off.
This year, Fractional CO2 skin resurfacing has re-emerged and the results so far have been unparalleled.
Sydney cosmetic physician Dr Philippa McCaffery uses a fractional CO2 laser to treat acne scars as well as skin ageing. “Just about everyone over the age of 40 in Australia has sun damage,” Dr McCaffery says. “Fractional laser is the most exciting breakthrough since I started treating acne and sun damage 10 years ago.”
Dr McCaffery predicts that fractional lasers could also replace dermal fillers and other cosmetic procedures. “It’s a treatment that can be repeated ad infinitum,” she says.
“It’s fantastic for saggy, crepey skin, so we can treat necks and around the mouth and eyes, all those difficult to treat areas where surgery is not an option.
“This is the biggest thing since Botox and nobody predicted how huge that was going to be.”
• For more information on Fractional CO2 Skin Resurfacing (FRX), contact Dr Philippa McCaffery at Clearskincare Edgecliff on + 61 2 9328 7111 or visit www.clearskincareclinics.com.au
