By: Dr. Craig Crippen

I’m not going to lie. I was shocked the first time I pulled up a YouTube video about Fractional CO2 Laser. “Look what they did to his face!”, I think I actually exclaimed out loud. It reminded me of that scene from the movie The Heartbreak Kid when Ben Stiller’s new wife, played by Malin Akerman, insists on putting on some kind of cooking oil instead of sunscreen to bake in the Mexican sun.

Her resulting red-faced mess – an obvious punchline – was quite the hilarious sight to behold. The guy in the YouTube video, on the other hand, presented no laughing matter. “Why would anyone want to do this to themselves?” I couldn’t get that question out of my head. So I knew that I had no choice. It had to be answered.

Even in the year 2011, it’s still very worth it to go to the library. Just a tip. Not everything in the world can be fully explained on the internet…although it is a great place to start. My trip to the library brought me in touch with a bunch of fairly recent newspaper articles that I was able to locate in microfiche form. Yes, they actually still exist!

Now, mind you the YouTube video did clearly demonstrate that the “scary” effects of Fractional CO2 Laser only last a couple of days. And the end result of this treatment, time and time again is gloriously smoother, younger looking skin. But what was the video leaving out? I mean having your face burnt has to hurt, right?

My research helped me to discover that Fractional CO2 Laser is actually quite the anti-aging breakthrough. And it’s practically painless! In fact, quite the opposite of “burning”, the procedure incorporates a laser that functions as a water vaporizer. By doing so, it gently removes skin cells to expose the fresher layer of skin underneath.

“Tender” may have been the most nerve wracking adjective used by any of the patients who had experienced the treatment in order to combat the aging process. And in under a week, the tenderness had practically dissipated. What I also found pretty fascinating was the fact that Fractional CO2 Laser actually does a lot more than just remove wrinkles.

A couple of the articles pointed towards patients who utilized the treatment for moles, acne and the strangely-titled when you think about it, “beauty marks”. Even more intriguing was the fact that the procedure is also effective in repairing sun damage. If only Ben Stiller’s wife from The Heartbreak Kid had known about Fractional CO2 Laser, their relationship may have made it! Okay, not likely.

I started today’s blog by saying that “I’m not going to lie”, and I’m going to stick to that. Of course, I hope I’ll never need Fractional CO2 Laser treatment. I wear sunscreen regularly and do drink a lot of water. I heard that helps your skin, as well. But I know that if my smooth facial features don’t last a lifetime, I won’t think twice about getting Fractional CO2 Laser treatment.