I had a profractional XC treatment at 600 microns, 22% - Is this considered a superficial, moderate or aggressive treatment?
Is my Profractional XC Treatment Considered Superficial, Moderate or Aggressive?
Doctor Answers 1
What determines how aggressive a fractional laser resurfacing is
The answer depends on what area is being treated and for what purpose. Different areas of the skin have different thickness of the epidermis and dermis and different conditions require different depths of treatment.
For example, if you are treating the eyelids where the dermis is the thinnest of all areas of the skin, 600 microns is much deeper than one needs to go and in fact would go beyond the thickness of the dermis. If you are treating the back, where the dermis is up to 3 mm (3000 microns) then 600 is moderate, not aggressive.
For shallow wrinkles, 600 microns is aggressive, for deep acne scars it may not be. So the answer is not very simple. Many factors need to be considered in the determination of the depth and percentage skin covered in fractional resurfacing.
The ranges are from 25 to 1500 microns depth and 5-30% coverage.
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.