It’s easy to take firm, smooth skin for granted when you’re young. But as you age, your skin loses its firmness and elasticity, leaving you with lines, wrinkles, and lax skin, along with a decreased sense of self-confidence.
That decline in skin firmness is largely due to decreased production of two skin components: collagen and elastin.
At Metroderm DC: Medical, Laser, and Aesthetic Dermatology Center, of team of Edward Stolar, MD, Todd Perkins, MD, and Adrianna Gonzales, MD, FAAD, offers laser therapy to help stimulate collagen and elastin development, rejuvenating skin so it looks and feels firmer and more toned — all without surgery or downtime.
Collagen and elastin are two important proteins in your skin. Collagen provides the structural support for your skin, while elastin gives your skin an elastic quality that helps it conform and bounce back.
When you’re young, your skin produces plenty of both of these proteins, helping it feel and look firm and resilient. But as you age, the elastin and collagen production slows down. Elasticity and firmness decline, leaving you with wrinkles, lines, and sagging skin.
While age-related changes (including hormone changes) cause much of this decline, other factors contribute, too, including sun exposure. In fact, damage from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays is responsible for as much as 90% of the visible skin changes that occur as you age.
We can’t turn back time, but laser therapies have proven effective in undoing some of time’s negative effects that lead to wrinkles and sagging skin. During treatment, laser energy penetrates the skin’s surface, targeting deeper layers of tissue where collagen and elastin are produced.
Researchers believe laser treatments ramp up collagen and elastin development by causing controlled injuries deep inside your skin. These injuries trigger natural healing responses, including increased production of both elastin and collagen, fibers that play key roles in skin healing.
Most resurfacing lasers treat tiny columns of tissue, leaving the surrounding tissue untreated. This approach results in faster healing without diminishing the results of your treatment.
After treatment, your skin begins the healing process over the following weeks and months, leaving your skin looking and feeling firmer and more youthful. Laser therapy is also customizable depending on your skin’s needs. We can repeat the treatment to help you maintain your beautiful results.
Other laser treatments focus on the surface of skin, getting rid of the top layers of dead, dull skin and reducing the look of fine lines and age spots while improving skin texture.
Keeping your skin healthy and beautiful may take some effort, but the results are definitely worth it. With laser therapy, you can enjoy firmer, smoother skin without surgery and without prolonged recovery times.
To learn more about skin rejuvenation with laser energy, call us at 202-659-2223 or book an appointment online with our team at Metroderm DC in Washington, DC, today.
