WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Laser treatment can remove wrinkles
better than some newer procedures, dermatologists reported on
Monday.

Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing was very effective and
while there were some side-effects, such as lightening or
darkening of the skin, they almost always cleared up, Dr.
Daniel Ward and Dr. Shan Baker of the University of Michigan
reported.

“Use of the laser allows precise treatment, giving the
surgeon more control over the resurfacing procedure than is
possible with other techniques such as chemical peels and
dermabrasion,” they wrote in the journal Archives of Facial
Plastic Surgery.

Carbon dioxide lasers vaporize water molecules inside and
outside of cells, damaging the surrounding tissue. Skin cells
respond by producing collagen, which in turn fills in wrinkles.

Dermatologists had been looking for alternatives, because
the process can either bleach the color out of the skin or
cause uneven darkened patches. It can also cause outbreaks of
herpes simplex virus, which causes cold sores and skin
blistering.

Ward and Baker studied 42 women and five men with an
average age of 52 who had laser resurfacing of the entire face
between 1996 and 2004.

Most had complications but 45 percent had none. Most of the
complications were acne or milia — the appearance of small,
white bumps, most of which disappeared when treated.

Only one had a herpes outbreak and one developed sagging
eyelids, they reported.

“The efficacy of treating facial rhytids (wrinkles) with
the carbon dioxide laser is well established, and the short-
and long-term utility of the carbon dioxide laser in treating
solar facial aging has previously been documented,” they wrote.

“In terms of results, carbon dioxide laser resurfacing
remains the gold standard,” dermatologist Dr. Paul Carnoil, of
Summit, New Jersey, wrote in a commentary.

He said other types of lasers did not reduce wrinkles as
well as carbon dioxide lasers.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Julie Steenhuysen)