How Can I Know If I’m a Good Candidate for this Procedure?
This question is best answered by looking at the candidates that statistically are more likely to experience negative side effects. These include patients with olive, brown, and black skin – as these patients run a higher risk of experiencing changes in pigmentation post-operation.
Laser skin resurfacing also is a risk for individuals who have been taking the acne prescription Accutane – these candidates would be prone to abnormal scarring. Finally, this procedure would not be recommended for candidates still experiencing a current skin infection – the laser will react undesirably to these affected areas of the skin.
The procedure is used to reduce the signs of aging, but it will not prevent them from recurring. The natural lines that form around your mouth and eyes from everyday movements are inevitable. Only tips such as keeping out of the sun or using specified treatments can marginally prolong this inevitability. It’s important that your expectations are known and expressed before the procedure.
Risks Associated with Laser Skin Resurfacing
When performed by a qualified, experienced Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, complications are rare and usually very minutes. Yet, the human body varies quite dramatically, and some individuals can experience and unforeseen, negative reaction to the laser.
Some of these risks include:
- Burns
- Scarring
- Uneven changes in pigmentation
- Activated herpes infections or cold sores
Your risks are most reduced when working with an experienced and trusted surgeon, such as Dr. Aboolian in Beverly Hills. In that environment, the proper screenings and analysis will take place prior to the surgery, and so too will the procedure itself be done with the utmost care.
Planning Your Surgery
At your very early stages, become familiar with your motivations and expectations for your laser skin resurfacing surgery in Beverly Hills. Make notes of these as you begin your initial consultation with your surgeon. Be sure to vocalize these expectations in order to decide with your doctor whether or not the normal results of this surgery will be satisfactory.
Your doctor should also play a very honest and careful role in these initial stages. Your surgeon should consult your medical records, perform a routine physical examination, and explain the procedure in full detail – complete with your individual risk factors, how long it will take to recover, and what it will cost.
For the financial planning of this surgery, you should be aware that insurance does not cover most cosmetic surgeries. In rare cases where this surgery is used to extract potential cancer growths, it would fall under medical necessity, but that would need to be prearranged with your medical insurance provider long before the surgery is conducted.
How to Prepare for Your Beverly Hills Laser Skin Resurfacing Surgery
Your surgeon might start you on preparation plan that he or she would begin from the moment you have decided to undergo the procedure. If not, you should be equipped already with all of the necessary information. Remember to arrange for someone to pick you up and drive home from the place of the procedure, as you will still be under the influence of powerful sedatives.
What to Expect During the Procedure
Most of these surgeries are performed with local anesthesia, leaving you not under, but still quite relaxed and spared most of the discomfort from the surgery. If the surgery is going into deeper layers of the skin, you may be placed under general anesthesia, meaning you’d be asleep for the entire surgery.
These procedures themselves are fairly quick, compared to most other cosmetic procedures. You can expect a duration of about 60-90 minutes, unless your doctor has elected to perform the entire surgery over two separate sessions. For these 60-90 minutes, the laser will be applied to the desired layer of the skin that will reduce the visibility of your wrinkles or scars.
In the minutes following your procedure, your doctor may opt to apply a cream, ointment, or bandage on the affected area to protect it aid in its healing. This will likely be applied to the location for the first 5-10 days following the procedure.
What to Expect in Treatment Recovery
For the first week or so, your main obligation will be to timely replace the bandages or medicating substances on the area that was treated. It is not normal that your skin will be healed at this time – instead, it will be prone to redness, and in many cases, crusting from dried blood.
Red and pink appearance of your skin will remain for a few weeks after your surgery. In some cases, this can be concealed with makeup, but many patients do report that their healing skin reacts negatively to their makeup products.
Until your skin is healed, your most important instruction will be to keep it away from the sun. A difficult task in Beverly Hills, but it is crucial. Your skin has already been burned – in a sense – and increased sun exposure can further damage your skin. If the sun is unavoidable, be sure to apply SPF 15 or higher and do your best to shade your face.
What to Expect in Your Skin’s New Appearance
While it can take months for the final result to surface, most patients report smoother, more youthful appearing and feeling skin. These results will last a long time, but they will not be lifelong.*
This treatment does not possess the ability to stop the signs of aging, and eventually, your natural face movements from eating, speaking, and laughing will begin again to show.
The best way to prolong these natural effects is to avoid sun exposure and use as directed your skin-maintaining prescriptions given to your by your surgeon. These, like many other procedures, can be repeated if desired or if necessary.
