Two different ways to decrease wrinkles and scars leaving you with smooth, rejuvenated skin...

Rhytec Portrait® Skin Regeneration

and

Carbon Dioxide Laser Resurfacing.

In the opinion of many facial plastic surgeons, the "gold standard" for facial resurfacing is still carbon dioxide laser resurfacing. Dr. Bentkover has been using the Coherent Ultra Pulse® Carbon Dioxide Laser for facial resurfacing since 1995. His results achieved for wrinkle removal and acne scars are very predicable, with very high patient satisfaction.

However...

Carbon Dioxide laser resurfacing involves considerable down time, with redness that slowly goes away over 3 - 4 months. Also, while small regions such as the lower eyelids-crow's feet and the area around the mouth can be done under local anesthesia in the office, a full face treatment generally requires intravenous sedation or general anesthesia in the operating room.

Enter RHYTEC PORTRAIT®...

You may not need or want the deeper skin treatment of a laser resurfacing.  Dr. Bentkover is one of the first surgeons in New England to offer a new, viable alternative to laser resurfacing, Rhytec Portrait® Skin Regeneration. 

This exciting new technology enables Dr. Bentkover to treat your wrinkles, acne scars, and facial discoloration with a quick office treatment that requires only topical or local anesthesia. Down time is also considerably less than with the laser.  By 10 days after the procedure the pinkness is generally mostly gone!

A comparison of the two treatments...

The Coherent Ultra Pulse® Carbon Dioxide Laser

• The standard to which all other resurfacing techniques are compared
• Removes or improves deeper wrinkles of the face
• Removes layers of old skin and promotes growth of new, smoother, healthier skin
• Requires skin preparation to prevent excess pigmentation after the procedure
• Deeply treated areas can heal with a bit lighter skin color
• The most significant stimulator of new collagen growth of all cosmetic lasers
• Improves the appearance of acne scars
• Removes brown spots from the face
• Skin continues to tighten for about 3 months after surgery
• Small areas can be treated with just local anesthesia; full face requires intravenous sedation or general anesthesia.

It is used for deep wrinkles of the face, including crow's feet, lower eyelids, upper lip (lipstick spill lines), lower lip, chin and other lines around the mouth. It is also used for whole face treatment of facial wrinkles and for acne and other scars. Dr. Bentkover uses this laser most commonly for the lower eyelids and crow's feet in conjunction with other eyelid rejuvenation surgery and for the upper lip, lower lip and chin area.

This a laser peel of the epidermis and a tightening of the next layer of the skin, the dermis. Your body is stimulated to produce new, tighter collagen in the dermis.

All procedures require, at least, local anesthesia; and some require general anesthesia or intravenous sedation. Procedures under local anesthesia can be performed in our office operating suite. Growth of new skin generally requires 7-14 days, and we see the patients frequently during this period, providing ongoing skin care. You body will continue to produce new collagen in the lasered skin for about 3 months, continuing to tighten the skin. A pink to red discoloration of the lasered skin can also persist for 3-4 months. Some lightening of the skin is possible, and your skin will need to be prepared for 4-6 weeks before surgery to prevent darkening (hyperpigmentation) of the skin. People with darker skin types are not good candidates for this procedure.

Rhytec Portrait® Skin Regeneration

• Removes or improves wrinkles of the face almost as well as the carbon dioxide laser with significantly less down time.
• Removes layers of old skin and promotes growth of new, smoother, healthier skin
• Improves the appearance of acne scars
• Removes brown spots and some benign skin lesions
• Requires no significant skin preparation
• Less risk of increased skin pigment or over lightening of the skin than with laser resurfacing
• Skin continues to tighten for up to 1 year after surgery  - longer than the carbon dioxide laser
• Parts of your face or your entire face can be safely treated with just local or topical anesthesia.

Portrait® Skin Regeneration from Rhytec is a new technology that utilizes a nitrogen plasma spray instead of a laser (Plasma is an electrified gas that is the fourth state of matter - solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.).  The major advantages of Portrait® Skin Regeneration is minimal down time compared to the carbon dioxide laser and the ability to do the procedure with only topical or some injected local anesthesia. Some patients are treated in three short, low energy treatments; some patients are treated with one high energy treatment. The choice of type of treatment depends on the depth of your wrinkles and how much down time is reasonable for you.

The Portrait® does not remove skin. It works by heating the deeper layer of the skin, the dermis. This heat stimulates new collagen growth, which, over time, leads to tightening of the skin. Your skin peels on its own a few days after the treatment. You can continue to make new collagen for up to a year.

With Rhytec Portrait®, we are now able to offer a skin resurfacing technique that requires no skin preparation, has much less down time that the carbon dioxide laser, and requires little anesthesia. You skin will be red after the procedure, peel in few days and be largely free of redness in 10 days (as opposed to 3-4 months with the laser). Also, there is much less risk of skin lightening or darkening.

Dr. Bentkover will be able to recommend whether Rhytec Portrait® or Carbon Dioxide Laser Resurfacing is the right treatment for you.