What are the alternative treatments to the CO2 laser?
In considering the laser for skin resurfacing, there exist several other alternatives. When one has facial wrinkles, the traditional approach has been to conceal them by using cosmetics and creams to fill in the cracks and wrinkles, giving a smoother appearance to the skin. With the trend more toward a natural look, people are looking for a more permanent smoothing effect. Chemical peels (acid peels) and dermabrasions (scraping of the superficial skin) are two similar methods, in that they both remove the top layers of skin. However, they are not as precisely controllable as the laser. Also, they do not appear to tighten the skin as well as the CO2 laser. Probably the most common alternative to the CO2 laser for facial wrinkles is the traditional facelift, or rhytidectomy. This can offer the advantage of removing large amounts of excessive skin from the face, but has disadvantages as well. The incision from a facelift can often be noticeable around the ears and side of the face and it
