Laser Skin Resurfacing

Three things decide it: how much change you need, how much recovery you can take, and what your skin type safely allows. Deep acne scarring generally does not respond well to the gentlest options, while someone wanting an overall freshening with a few days of flaking is well served by them. Deeper skin tones often do better with a gentler approach precisely because it carries less risk of pigment change.

The assessment is complimentary — there is no consultation fee for coming in and discussing what resurfacing would do for your skin. A booking fee is charged to hold the appointment slot, which reserves the clinical time and keeps missed appointments down. The details are explained when you book.

With lighter treatments, a few days of looking flushed and feeling rough. With fractional treatments, expect several days of redness and swelling followed by a bronzed, sandpapery appearance as the skin sheds. With ablative treatment, plan on one to two weeks or more of visible healing and then a longer stretch of pinkness that makeup can cover once the skin has closed. Book with your calendar in front of you.

The virus stays dormant in nerve tissue for life, and the stress of resurfacing is a classic trigger. On skin that has just been treated, an outbreak is not a single blister — it can spread widely across the treated area, is genuinely painful, and is one of the few ways a resurfacing treatment can end in scarring. Preventive medication is straightforward, cheap, and is the reason this is rarely a problem.

Softened, often substantially, but not erased. Different scar types respond differently — rolling and shallow scars generally improve more readily than narrow deep ones, which may need to be addressed with other techniques alongside resurfacing. Most people with significant scarring need more than one round, and the honest goal is scarring that no longer catches the light and draws attention, not skin that has never had acne.

Yes, and it is a practical point rather than a scheduling preference. Healing skin is highly vulnerable to sun-induced pigmentation, so the weeks after treatment need to be low-exposure ones. Booking before a beach holiday, a ski trip or a summer of outdoor work puts your result at risk. In Vancouver, the darker months are genuinely the easier time to heal well.

Not until the skin has fully closed, which your technician will confirm. Applying makeup over skin that is still crusting or weeping risks infection and disturbs healing. Once you are cleared, mineral makeup over sunscreen is generally the easiest thing to tolerate, and most people find lingering pinkness covers well.

Frequently, because they solve different problems — resurfacing changes skin quality and texture, while injectables address volume and expression lines. Sequencing and spacing matter, and treatments are usually staged rather than stacked on one day, so that healing is not complicated and any reaction can be attributed to the right treatment.

Numbing is applied beforehand and given time to work. During treatment most people describe heat and a prickling or stinging sensation, more intense with more intensive settings. Afterwards it feels like a strong sunburn: hot and tight rather than sharply painful, easing over the first day or two. Pain that increases rather than settles is not normal and should be reported.

The collagen change is durable, but your skin keeps ageing and keeps meeting ultraviolet light. Results are best held with daily sun protection, a sensible routine, and periodic lighter maintenance treatment. Someone who resurfaces once and then spends every summer unprotected will lose ground; someone who protects their skin will keep much of what they gained.