What to Expect During and After Laser Skin Tightening

Considering laser skin tightening? Here's what to expect!

Not everyone with sagging skin has to immediately rush right into surgery and have a facelift. If you have some sagging or wrinkled skin, you might be able to correct it in a less invasive way, such as with a laser skin tightening treatment. However, it's important to know what to expect out of the process from start to finish.

How the Laser Devices Treat Sagging Skin

Laser devices usually treat sagging skin by heating it up. That causes collagen within the skin cells to get closer together. That, in turn, pulls the skin cells themselves closer together and makes the skin appear tighter. However, they can also help in other ways.

Some laser skincare tools are ablative, which means that they remove or otherwise treat the surface of the skin. By doing so, they allow healthier layers of skin underneath to take the place of the surface layer, which can make the skin seem tighter. There are also lasers that just heat up lower layers of skin, known as non-ablative lasers. Those can trick your body into making more collagen, which is also good for your skin's general health.

It's important to note that laser skin resurfacing (removing the top layer of skin) is not technically a skin tightening procedure. If your skin is really sagging in spots, it probably won't help you much. Instead, you'll need to have a laser treatment or other type of skin therapy that is actually meant to tighten up your skin.

There's No Surgery Involved with Laser Treatment

One reason why many people choose laser treatments for sagging skin is that there is no surgery involved. That means that you don't have to spend any time preparing ahead or recovering afterward. It also means that the risks are minimal, especially since you won't have to go anesthesia. Although, your technician may apply a local anesthetic in the form of a numbing cream or a shot.

There is a Lot of Time and Money Involved with Laser Treatment

Although laser treatment might seem easier and faster than surgery, you do have to look at the long-term implications. One laser treatment doesn't permanently fix sagging skin. You will need to have multiple treatments in fairly quick succession at first. Once that round of treatments is done, you might still need to go back for more in the future. So, the costs may not be as much as surgery up front, but they can become pretty high as you go.

The Results of Laser Treatment for Your Skin

Finally, you should be aware that some laser treatments offer faster and more obvious results than other treatments. Depending on the laser, you might see an improvement right away, but it could also take a few weeks before your skin starts to look better.

The variation in treatment results has to do with the differences in the individual lasers. Ablative lasers that have an impact on the surface of your skin will make the skin red right after treatment, but it might also remove blemishes and make your skin look better right away. Other lasers might just cause your body's own natural healing processes to kick in, but those processes can take a little while to actually accomplish the results that you want. So, don't expect what you see right after treatment to be the total result.

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