By Dr. Janna Bentley, Medical Director & Founder of Lakeshore Vein & Aesthetics Clinic
I was born and raised in Kelowna, spending hours every summer swimming in beautiful Lake Okanagan. Inevitably, with time passing and a love of the outdoors, many of us accumulate significant sun exposure over the years. This can begin to show on the skin as rough texture, spots, blemishes, and lax or wrinkled skin.
Many women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s share a similar goal: to look on the outside how they feel on the inside. For many, the top beauty priority is improving the overall appearance and health of their skin. What could be more natural than simply helping your skin turn back the clock by several years?
It’s common for patients to come in having seen a wide range of treatment options online. While this increased awareness is valuable, it can also make it difficult to know which approach is actually right for their skin. Different technologies are designed to treat very different concerns, and choosing the right one depends on a clear understanding of what is causing the changes in your skin.
For patients looking for serious skin rejuvenation with improved texture and reduction of sun damage, one of my most trusted recommendations remains fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing.
What Fractional CO₂ Laser Treats
Fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing is designed to improve both skin texture and visible signs of aging or sun damage.
This treatment can help improve fine lines and wrinkles, rough or crepey skin texture, acne scarring, enlarged pores, uneven skin tone, and other signs of sun-damaged skin. While many devices claim to rejuvenate the skin, few technologies match the results of fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing, which is widely considered the gold standard for improving skin texture and stimulating collagen production.
CO₂ Laser vs IPL: What’s the Difference?
Both fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing and IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) are used to improve overall skin quality, but they treat different types of concerns.
CO₂ laser resurfacing focuses primarily on improving skin texture and deeper signs of aging by stimulating collagen and renewing damaged skin layers.
IPL treatments are commonly used to improve concerns related to skin tone, including sun spots, redness, uneven pigmentation, and small broken capillaries.
Many patients benefit from a combination approach. IPL may help address pigmentation and redness, while CO₂ laser resurfacing improves skin texture and supports deeper skin renewal. During a consultation, our team will assess your skin and recommend whether CO₂ laser resurfacing, IPL treatments, or a combination of both is the best (and safest) option for your goals.
How CO₂ Laser Resurfacing Works
When people hear the word “laser,” they often think of advanced technology or powerful energy. In medicine, a laser simply produces a focused beam of light at a specific wavelength. Because our skin contains a high percentage of water, CO₂ laser energy can precisely target damaged skin layers.
The fractional technology distributes this energy in a dot-matrix pattern, creating microscopic treatment zones within the skin. In a way, it is similar to aerating the skin, stimulating the body’s natural healing response while leaving surrounding areas untouched.
Only a portion of the skin is treated at a time, allowing the untreated skin to help support faster healing. The treatment settings are carefully adjusted by the physician depending on skin type, treatment area, and the degree of sun damage.
Areas That Can Be Treated
Fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing can be used to treat several areas where sun exposure and aging are most visible, including the face, eyelids, neck, chest (décolletage), arms, and hands. These areas often show the earliest signs of sun damage and environmental aging, making them common treatment areas for patients looking to improve overall skin quality.
Recovery and Expected Results
Following treatment, patients typically notice gradual improvements in the weeks after their procedure. Early improvements may include tighter pores, softer fine lines, smoother skin texture, improvement in acne scarring, and fading of sun-damaged areas. As healing progresses, the skin often appears fresher and more rejuvenated.
After approximately 30 days, collagen remodeling begins, and the skin continues to tighten and improve over the next three to six months. Most patients are typically presentable within five to seven days, although some prefer allowing a few additional days for recovery.
Combining Laser Treatments With Other Procedures
Laser resurfacing improves skin texture and surface damage, but some patients also experience volume loss as part of the aging process, particularly around the eyes or mid-face.
In these cases, treatments such as dermal fillers may be recommended to restore volume and create balanced, natural-looking results. Your consultation allows our team to assess your skin and recommend the most appropriate treatment plan for your goals.
Why Experience Matters
Lasers are a remarkable advancement in modern medicine. They are powerful tools that can produce dramatic improvements in skin quality when used appropriately. Because treatments must be tailored carefully to each patient’s skin type and condition, experience and medical oversight are essential.
At Lakeshore Vein & Aesthetics Clinic, treatments are performed within a physician-led medical clinic where patient safety and long-term skin health remain the priority.
Book a Skin Consultation
If you are interested in improving sun damage, skin texture, or visible signs of aging, a consultation is the best place to start. Our team will assess your skin and discuss whether fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing, IPL treatments, or other skin rejuvenation options are the best fit for your goals.
Call 250-860-9919 to schedule a consultation, or if you’re an existing patient, book your consultation online, to learn more about the treatments available at Lakeshore Vein & Aesthetics Clinic in Kelowna.
