WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | New procedure in Columbia 'zaps' away wrinkles

New procedure in Columbia 'zaps' away wrinkles

By Dawndy Mercer Plank - bio | email

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - No one can avoid it. It's going to happen to each of us: aging. And for years, doctors have been trying to make it possible for people to hang onto their younger looks.
    
But a new procedure now being offered in Columbia will have people buzzing -- literally.

We all know it's impossible to turn back the hands of time, but a new medical procedure is making a valiant effort. It's fractional laser treatment: active FX and deep FX.
   
It caught Cathy Joye's attention when looking in the mirror.

"I see a face that is getting older. I just feel all the little wrinkles and all the fine lines I don't feel as old as I probably look," says Joye.

Cathy is having the FX treatment done at the first place in South Carolina to offer it, the facial plastic surgery office of Dr. Smythe Rich.

"I wanted to have it done mainly because of the sun damage that I brought upon myself by lying out in the sun with no sunscreen, growing up in South Carolina, hitting the beach. And as a consequence, I now have a lot of sun damage to my face, neck and chest," says Joye.
    
Dr. Rich numbs Cathy's face with creams and shots.

"We just do everything possible to make it as comfortable as we can," Rich says.     
    
Protective contact wear is placed in each eye to shield the cornea.

"Putting this little protective lens in your eye. It shouldn't hurt," Rich says. 

The laser targets wrinkles, fine lines, uneven skin tone, age spots and even scars. The downtime and pain are very minimal, and the results are expected to last many years.  

The laser company's brochure shows before and after pictures for wrinkles, pigmentation and sun damage. The most common areas to treat are the face, neck, chest and hands.

A high-energy beam of laser light zaps deep into the skin's surface. The upper layer is vaporized and a layer of new, fresh and healthy skin grows.  

"Instead of doing all the skin, you do small holes. You might be treating twenty, thirty percent of the skin. The rest is left alone. Drilling little holes, say in a postage stamp, there may be 200 holes. So much of the skin is left in tact that it heals very quickly," says Rich. 
   
The laser also stimulates collagen growth.

"It creates a thermal injury that initiates the healing that causes the skin to make collagen," says Rich.

The technique of leaving tiny areas of untouched skin makes the healing process go faster. The patient's skin will "weep" for two to three days, instead of the usual several weeks. Within five to six days, Cathy can wear makeup again.

If you'd like to learn more about the fractional laser treatments click here.

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