Beckie Wilson wants her skin to look better.  At 44, she's already had several chemical peels in an attempt to get rid of acne scars from high school and accumulated damage from the Florida beach sun.

“The chemical peels helped, but it was taking a long time to do that procedure because it showed less results and I found the chemical peels to be very painful,” Wilson said.

So Wilson turned to the newest technology just approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June.  This will be her second treatment with the pearl laser.  The first time helped fade brown sunspots and diminish acne scars and fine lines, Wilson said.  It made her pores smaller and did so much faster, according to her, than the chemical peels.

“It just was a little bit of stinging but it really was not painful,” Wilson said.  “I mean, it wasn't anything it was much better than the chemical peel.”

Dr. Mary P. Lupo, Professor of Dermatology at Tulane Medical School, offers her patients the pearl laser.  She said it's a new laser wavelength that resurfaces the entire face with one pass over the skin.

Lupo said it only takes about 20 minutes and, when used with ointment to numb the skin, doesn’t really hurt.  Most people need only two treatments to see results and there’s not much down time.

“So if you can spare the five days of down time, you get to your destination a lot faster with (the pearl laser),” Lupo said.

Dr. Elizabeth McBurney, LSUHSC Dermatologist, and dermatologic surgeon William P. Coleman III agree that there is a benefit to using the pearl laser: some tightening, better texture and fading of brown sunspots and lines.  But the two said they were not convinced that it causes a big change or that it’s any better than other treatments already on the market.

“I can do this with chemical peels,” McBurney said.  “I can do this with erbium lag laser peels, I can do it with one pass CO2 lasers and I think this is where the expertise of the physician comes in.  That is so important.”

Coleman said he was so interested in the technology when it first arrived, he sought out a doctor who performed research on the pearl laser.

“He indicated that this laser, even though it used a new technology to achieve it, didn't do anything different than dozens of other lasers that we already have,” Coleman said.

But what about cost?  According to Coleman, the procedure costs around $100.

“That's where the conundrum comes in,” Coleman said.  “If you're going to get the best bang for your buck, you may be better off just simply doing a medium chemical peel for a lot less money.”

But Lupo defends the pearl laser treatment.

“Chemical peel is a little less money, but the chemical peel actually has longer down time,” she explained.  “The chemical peel that goes to the level of the pearl has a down time of a minimum of seven days.”

Lupo also believes the pearl laser is more accurate than a chemical peel, giving more even results by going the exact same depth in all parts of the skin.  And she agrees with the other doctors that the CO2 laser will provide better results, but remember that will cause a lot more down time than the pearl laser.

And compared to the fraxel laser, Lupo said the pearl was quicker and less painful.  So it may be a matter of you and your doctor picking which procedure best fits your needs.

“There are a lot of ways to get rid of wrinkles and this is another way, but I am not convinced that it is a big quantum step forward in any way,” McBurney said.

With this new anti-aging laser and all the other treatments on the market that also work, patients will ultimately have more anti-wrinkle choices.