For deeper or more serious acne scars, the Erbium Yag is best. The Sciton Erbium:Yag laser is used in the operating room under anesthesia as it treats the deepest layers of skin, and can achieve extraordinary results in appropriate patients.

This laser can be used in darker skinned patients and produces outstanding results for acne scarring, fine or deeper skin wrinkles, enlarged pores, and irregular skin pigmentation. The Erbium Yag does not produce as much heat and penetrates only about 20 percent as deeply as CO2 lasers. They are used to treat wrinkles and scars that are less severe; treatments are less painful and produce fewer side effects. You’ll need about a week of recovery time.

Absolute contraindications to Er:YAG laser skin resurfacing include active bacterial or viral infections, an inflammatory condition in the area to be treated, the presence of ectropion (in the case of infraorbital resurfacing), unrealistic patient expectations, and patient unwillingness or inability to care for the wound. Isotretinoin use within the preceding 12-24 months, which diminishes the sebaceous unit source of keratinocytes for reepithelialization, is also a contraindication.

Many other skin lesions have been successfully treated with the Er:YAG laser, including compound nevi, sebaceous hyperplasia, trichoepitheliomas, miliary osteomas, syringoma, telangiectasia, rhinophyma, adenoma sebaceum, hidradenoma, xanthelasma, and the cutaneous manifestations of Hailey-Hailey disease and Darier disease.