CO2 Laser Resurfacing in Penarth & Cardiff

Our clinic is in Penarth, just minutes from Cardiff city centre and a short train ride from Cardiff Central. We provide CO2 laser resurfacing to clients from across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan from our Penarth clinic.

CO2 laser resurfacing is an intensive treatment, best suited to people with moderate to severe signs of ageing. If your skin is only mildly aged, a gentler option such as ResurfX laser or radiofrequency microneedling (Morpheus8) may suit you better, something we’ll talk through at your consultation.

It isn’t suitable for smokers or anyone taking immune-suppressing medication. It also involves around five days of downtime with open skin, so if that isn’t workable for you, an alternative skin-rejuvenation device may be the better choice.

Your skin needs to be in the best possible condition beforehand, and Mr Ghattaura may give you a skincare programme to follow carefully in the run-up. Male patients should shave on the day of treatment, then avoid shaving the treated area for five days afterwards. You can’t be treated if you’ve been sunburnt or used a sunbed in the previous week.

We’ll ask you to arrive at our Penarth clinic about an hour beforehand to complete your consent forms and photographs. We then apply local anaesthetic creams, along with local anaesthetic injections, to the face for pain relief — this makes the treatment much more comfortable, though not completely pain-free; most patients tolerate it well. If you’re not driving, we can offer a diazepam tablet to help you relax. For eyelid treatment, the front of the eye is numbed with drops and a corneal protector (similar to a contact lens) is fitted. The CO2 laser then carefully removes the outer layers of skin; you may notice warmth and a burning smell as the surface tissue evaporates, which we ease with an active cooling system. With Max-FX resurfacing, Mr Ghattaura passes over the face three times and the neck once, taking around 60 minutes.

Straight after treatment your face will feel hot and weepy, and you may have small areas of bleeding or light bruising. We apply stem cells and place you under our LED-Dermalux light system to ease discomfort and speed up healing. Before you head home, we dress the area with 50:50 ointment or antibiotic cream. Most people feel a little uncomfortable rather than in real pain, much like a bad sunburn.

You’ll likely have some temporary redness (erythema), similar to sunburn, which can take up to nine months to fade fully, sometimes longer. It’s noticeable once the skin has healed but can be covered with make-up, and we may suggest a low-dose steroid cream to reduce it. Some people also see temporary darkening (hyperpigmentation) that can last up to four months and occasionally needs skin-lightening preparations. Once healed, you’ll see improvement in scars and wrinkles, though early on much of that is from minor swelling. Your new collagen only starts building after around three weeks and doesn’t reach its full effect for up to nine months, so by six months most people notice a significant, lasting improvement. The skin can look very pale after the first six months as it thickens in response to the laser. The final result can take up to 12 months, when you should see a marked improvement in skin quality, with a fresher, smoother appearance.

The results are long-lasting but not permanent, your rejuvenated skin still ages naturally, and over the following months and years normal facial movement will gradually bring some expression lines back. Protecting your skin from the sun and following the skincare regimen Mr Ghattaura recommends will help you hold onto the rejuvenated look for longer.

With Active-FX you’ll always need two sessions, six months apart. Very deep wrinkles may not fully correct even then, so additional sessions can sometimes be needed. And if your skin changes over the years ahead, a further round of CO2 laser resurfacing is also possible.