Non-ablative Fractional Lasers

Non-ablative lasers shine a focused beam of light at the skin causing a controlled injury in the dermis (the deep layer of the skin), which degrades excess collagen in a raised scar. 

Non-ablative lasers do not remove (ablate) the skin and thus, are less invasive but also less effective than ablative lasers, which do remove (ablate) the skin. 

Non-ablative lasers can be non-fractional and fractional. Fractional lasers deliver many small pinpoints of laser light in a grid-like pattern (imagine tiny polka dots) so that areas of skin in-between the pinpoints are left untouched. Because a smaller portion of the skin is damaged, the healing time after non-ablative fractional laser treatment is shorter than with non-ablative non-fractional lasers.

This treatment is normally repeated multiple times (most commonly 3 to 5 times or more) in 2 to 8-week intervals. You should see gradual results with each session. After your last session, your scar(s) should continue to improve over time. However, in some cases, scars may grow back after treatment.