The Texas sun is unrelenting. Hot, hot, hot. Try to avoid it – impossible. Sun blocks wear off, the sun reflects off the sidewalk and through car windows, beating down on and punishing the facial skin. The wrinkles first appear around the eyes and lips, and over the years, brown sun spots appear and the skin becomes leathery.

Wrinkles may tell a story of your life experiences, but most people want a smooth face reflecting youth and beauty. Sun spots and brown spots may tell others you’ve enjoyed tanning, but most people prefer a clear model’s skin. Face lifts suspend and tighten the sagging skin, but do not address the fine lines around the eyes and mouth and the pigmentary splotches. Microdermabrasion and light glycolic peels can refresh skin, but wrinkles remain. Full strength TCA peels help, but have significant recovery times. Some lasers and Intense Pulsed Light’s (IPL’s) purport to do a lot, but have little effect.

Everyone’s talking about laser skin resurfacing because this one of the most dramatic and effective options ever available for eradicating wrinkles and pigmentation.

So what’s a girl to do?

For those who have time for a recovery of several weeks and want absolutely stunning results, there’s the Lumenis Encore CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) laser, which totally vaporizes the wrinkles in one treatment. It does vaporize sun damaged spots and some pre-cancerous cells, reducing your risk of late-developing basal cell skin cancers. When someone has recurring skin cancers, dermatologists have to repeatedly freeze areas which can cause white scars or a plastic surgeon has to create an incision in order to excise the spot. The CO2 laser can cut down the number of recurrences dramatically and can also significantly improve facial and acne scarring. You need to plan two to three weeks of time off and be willing to be red for a while, but the results are worth the trouble.

But, now, new on the technology front, is the Fraxel laser which can achieve results that come close to the CO2 laser, without the long down time! The new Fraxel laser requires only one day of recovery and is scheduled in a series of five treatments. (The Fraxel is a special erbium laser that treats the skin.) Because it only treats 20% of the skin area at any one time, the untouched skin around the microscopically treated areas protects and heals the skin without visual evidence of the healing process. The Fraxel is the resurfacing laser for those individuals who want a dramatic result, but have busy lives that demand little recovery time. This new Fraxel technology now allows thousands of professionals and very social individuals to have impressive and significant resurfacing results without the fear of a long recovery.

The Fraxel laser treatment is performed under a local anesthetic in the office, whereas the CO2 requires IV sedation or general anesthetic. Both lasers help do away with sun damage, wrinkles, brown spots, acne scars and traumatic scars. The Fraxel laser treatment only requires a day or two for recovery, and makeup can be applied shortly afterwards making it ideal for a Friday treatment plan. After having some procedures done to their faces, some patients mention that their neck and hands show signs of aging while their faces look years younger. The Fraxel (unlike the CO2 laser) is also used to treat necks to reduce crepe-like skin and lines; it’s great on brown spots and wrinkles on hands, and the décolleté can also be lightened.
For those who have to be at work the next day, the Thermage radio-frequency device might be helpful. It’s less effective than the Fraxel or CO2, but can effect a tightening of the deeper tissues in younger patients. It does not do away with brown spots or sun damage, but can stimulate deeper collagen to tighten the face and neck.

Other lasers and devices available at Dr. Kridel’s office include: the Diolite for facial and nose veins and red spots; the Q-switched Ruby laser for tattoos and individual brown spots; and the Alexandrite for hair removal. Our office will take a special UV photo of your face and neck to assess your sun damage and pigmentation. After analyzing your skin as well as your desired results, our staff will determine the best option for the site that is to be treated.

Most people don’t realize it, but lasers are not smart; they don’t know how to treat the skin and there is no one setting for every person. In a way, a laser is no different from a scalpel; it’s the skill and experience of the doctor using the laser that matters. Dr. Kridel is a recognized laser expert and teaches at courses on lasers all over the world. He has mastered his techniques and is truly an artist when performing laser procedures.

Fraxel Laser Treatment - A New Treatment for Aging and Sun Damaged Skin. You’ve heard about it and now it’s here. Dr. Kridel is proud to offer FraxelTM Laser Treatment, the latest beauty breakthrough to restore aging and sun-damaged skin -- pixel by pixel, spot by spot… continue

Lumenis Encore CO2 Laser - Vaporize Wrinkles! Newest and most effective of peels on the horizon today is the laser peel, which removes deep wrinkles and creases. Dr. Kridel, who introduced laser skin resurfacing in Houston, says, "The laser peel for facial rejuvenation can reverse damage done to the skin by age, sun, and acne. The skin can be restored, making you... continue

Alexandrite Laser Treatment - Today, most people want clean, sleek bodies and faces. That’s why lots of Houstonians decide to have a treatment that will get rid of excess hair longterm. At the offices of Facial Plastic Surgery Associates, new technology makes reducing facial and body hair easy and comfortable. Lasers such as Cynosure’s Apogee are major innovations... continue

Diolite - Red Spots, Brown Spots, and Telangictasias Diolite Laser treatments can help to eliminate everything from pesky prominent tiny red veins on the face and nose, to extensive vascular birthmarks, such as port-wine stains, to brown "age spots" on the face... continue

Q-Switched Ruby - Brown Spots and Tattoo Removal - The Q Switched Ruby Laser is an effective way to remove brown spots, liver spots, birthmarks, and tattoos. (Almost all decorative, medical, and traumatic tattoos can be removed without scarring.)... continue

Apogee Cynosure - Hair Removal - The Apogee hair removal laser is the closest advance to permanent hair reduction known to science. The laser uses energized light to remove hair, so it does not cause irritation that other non-laser hair removal methods may create. This powerful laser can be used effectively on almost all areas of the face and body... continue

Thermage - Try the Thermage Route to Skin-Tightening! Dr. Russell Kridel can perform a Thermage™ non-surgical lift to give you a younger look. Thermage is often the treatment of choice for someone who’s too young to want a face lift but does want to get rid of mild sagging and wrinkles... continue