Doctors say it is a major advancement in skin care, and it answers the demand for less down time while delivering a dramatic result, so Wrinkle Free Friday decided to take a look at how the new technology works.
At 69, Linda takes good care of herself. She danced for years, works out three times a week and gets nutritional advice.  But she's tired of the damage the sun did to her skin.

"First thing somebody sees when they meet you is your face. Why not take care of it?" says dermatology patient Linda, who did not want to giver her last name. 
So she's trying something new this year.  A quick office procedure that doctors say is the closest non-surgical treatment to rival a facelift.

"This is a true homerun in cosmetic surgery. There are very few procedures that really give us home runs, but this is one of them," says Metairie dermatologic surgeon Dr. Bill Coleman. 

Dr. Coleman has been using the CO2 laser for years.  Doctors were trained on it in the mid-90s. Unlike newer lasers that don't burn away the skin, back then the CO2 laser did. And although it gave amazing results, people complained about crusty, red, oozing skin that kept them hidden for weeks.

But now the new CO2 laser is fractionated, meaning it doesn't burn away all the skin, just in tiny checker board squares, leaving some skin in tact so you get the big results but heal in only about 5 days.

"The whole idea of CO2 laser resurfacing is it not only smoothes surface wrinkles but also tightens tissue from below.  We get that same advantage now by fractionating that CO2 laser, but with a quicker recovery," says Dr. Coleman.

“I do think you can get the most significant improvement, again in the canvas, using something like CO2 resurfacing because of the fact that you are delivering that energy so deeply in the skin.  You're getting that tightening. You're getting that shrinking of the collagen that exists and you're generating new collagen, and then, of course, you're getting all the surface discolorations, brown spots et cetera," says Metairie dermatologist Dr. Patricia Farris. 
This new CO2 fractionated laser has been studied and is safe and what makes it even better is a doctor can customize it exactly for what you need. 
"The more damage you have and the more wrinkles that you have and the more sun damage that you have, you're going to, of course, need more energy  to remove that damage skin to get better results. I think it's very exciting," says LSU Health Sciences Center dermatologist Dr. Elizabeth McBurney.
From people in their 30s to 80s, doctors can control how much power is used, how deep it goes and how much skin they remove, of course, the more power the more down time. Doctors can even individualize each area of your face, more power for the deep lines around the lips and maybe less on your cheek. The neck can be done as well as the hands and using metal eye shields, doctors can even do the upper and lower lids all the way to the lash line. If you don't want your entire face done you can just do the eyes alone or the lip lines, or brown spots from the sun.

"Because you are not ablating the entire surface you get much more rapid recovery, but you're also preserving pigment cells," says New Orleans dermatologist Dr. Mary P. Lupo. 
So gone is that lighter, waxy look some people got from the old CO2. 
"For lines and for crapeness and tightening you will get results that rival surgery.  Now the surgery is still needed if there's a bag or bulge involved, but if it's just crapeness I think you get better results with this than surgery," adds Lupo.
Doctors can also use it on scars from injuries and acne, or for aging and sun damage, combine it with other office procedures, or a facelift.
"One of the things that I've found that's worked out well is on thinner people who look more gaunt, but are still wrinkled under their eyes, we're doing now is filling those areas first, giving them three weeks or so  for the filler to settle down to make those areas more flush  and then going over it with the CO2 laser afterwards," says Metairie dermatologist Dr. Patrick Coleman. 
"The reason you want to do this prior to a facelift is you will get some tissue tightening.  The more tightening effect you get from the laser, the less the plastic surgeon has to pull so you will end up by getting a more natural result," adds Dr. Lupo. 
There are several companies now making CO2 lasers. Plastic surgeon Dr. Kamran Khoobehi recently tested one.

"We had the machine in the office and we tried it. We did three patients and the results are very promising," says Dr. Khoobehi, a Metairie Plastic Surgeon who is on staff with LSU Health Sciences Center. 
Linda knew by looking at pictures of a man with an extremely red face after the procedure, that she was going to have to stay home for around 5 days due to being red and crusty while she healed. But because of the dramatic results she felt it was worth it.  The man in the pictures had the power setting turned up high but Linda only had her power set at a moderate setting. She did not have her eye area done but says still people are noticing a big difference. 
"You're refinishing your skin.  As you get older I had two brown spots on my cheek that are gone. I was starting to get the little lines in my lips, they are gone and the face is just a lot smoother and clearer," says Linda weeks after the procedure. 

The CO2 laser should only be done by board certified doctors who are trained in this specialty, never by a technician.
It should not be done on people with dark pigmented skin, people who grow excessive scar tissue known as keloids and people with lupus and Scleroderma. Also, smokers don't heal as well. 
A skin numbing cream is used before the procedure and some doctors hope that it will prevent some skin cancers from forming.
The cost can range from $750 to a few thousand dollars, depending on the machine settings and how much of the face, hands or neck you have done.

Next week, Wrinkle Free Friday looks into a new type of breast augmentation without implants.