Laser Skin Resurfacing in Aliso Viejo
AT DERMACARE MEDICAL AESTHETICS
Fine lines, lingering acne scars, and uneven texture can change how your skin looks and feels. Laser skin resurfacing can help soften those concerns and improve the appearance of sun-damaged skin.
Dermacare Medical Aesthetics welcomes Aliso Viejo patients at our nearby San Juan Capistrano office. Your consultation starts with what you want to improve, followed by an assessment of your skin and a discussion of the results, recovery, and cost you can expect.
Dermacare San Juan Capistrano
Med Spa · 12 minutes from Aliso Viejo
31371 Rancho Viejo Rd. Suite 201
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
Hours
| Monday | 8:00am – 4:00pm |
| Tuesday | 8:00am – 4:00pm |
| Wednesday | 10:00am – 6:00pm |
| Thursday | 8:00am – 4:00pm |
| Friday | 8:00am – 4:00pm |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
What Can Laser Skin Resurfacing Improve?
Laser resurfacing can address several concerns that often appear together:
Fine lines and wrinkles: Soften lines that make skin look creased.
Acne scars: Reduce the appearance of certain scars and uneven areas left after breakouts.
Rough texture: Help skin look and feel smoother.
Sun damage and uneven tone: Improve selected discoloration and signs of accumulated sun exposure.
The improvement you can expect depends on the concern, the laser used, and how your skin responds. Resurfacing can make scars and wrinkles less noticeable, but it does not erase them completely.
Understanding Your Treatment Options
Laser skin resurfacing includes several approaches.
Ablative lasers, including CO₂ lasers, remove treated surface skin and heat the tissue beneath it. They can provide more substantial correction, with more recovery involved.
Non-ablative lasers stimulate collagen without removing the outer skin layer. Improvement is more gradual, and treatment often involves a series of appointments.
You may also see the word “fractional.” This means the laser treats small sections of skin while leaving surrounding tissue untreated. Both ablative and non-ablative lasers can be fractional. Read about the different approaches.
At our San Juan Capistrano office, we offer the LUX 1540 fractional laser, a non-ablative option for concerns such as fine lines, acne scars, and uneven texture. Treatment availability varies across Dermacare locations.
| Treatment type | How it works | What it can improve | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| CO₂ laser resurfacing Ablative: removes treated surface skin | Removes treated surface skin and heats the tissue underneath to encourage new collagen. | More noticeable wrinkles, acne scars, sun damage, and uneven texture. | Often involves up to two weeks of initial healing. Redness can last longer. |
| Erbium laser resurfacing Ablative Er:YAG: removes treated surface skin | Removes thin layers of skin with less heat spreading into surrounding tissue than with CO₂ treatment. | Fine lines, wrinkles, sun damage, and rough texture. Treatment depth affects the amount of improvement. | Often around one week of initial healing. Deeper treatment can require longer. |
| Non-ablative laser resurfacing Works beneath the skin’s surface | Heats tissue beneath the surface to encourage collagen growth without removing the outer skin layer. | Fine lines, uneven texture, and certain acne scars. Results build gradually, often over several sessions. | Usually less downtime than ablative treatment, though redness and swelling can still occur. |
Choosing the Right Laser for Your Skin
At Dermacare, we’ve been helping patients care for their skin since 2006. Our team brings together medical providers and licensed skincare professionals, with experience across laser treatments and other nonsurgical aesthetic services. Medical director Dr. Jeff Birchall remains involved in patient care and has been recognized as a Black Diamond provider for Fraxel laser skin rejuvenation.
You don’t need to know which laser to ask for before you visit. At your consultation, we’ll look closely at your skin, listen to what you’d like to change, and review your treatment history. Acne scars, fine lines, and discoloration can call for different approaches, even when they appear on the same face. Your skin tone, sensitivity, and available recovery time also help shape our recommendation.
We’ll explain why we recommend a particular treatment, how much improvement is realistic, and what to expect in terms of appointments, healing, and cost. Our goal is to give you enough information to feel comfortable with the plan and understand how it addresses your concerns.
| Treatment | What it can improve | Type of laser |
|---|---|---|
| SmartSkin CO₂ | Fine lines, deeper wrinkles, sun spots, acne scars, and uneven skin texture. | Fractional ablative CO₂ Removes tiny columns of treated skin, leaving surrounding tissue untouched to help with healing. |
| Fraxel II re:store | Fine lines, wrinkles around the eyes, sun spots, acne scars, and uneven tone and texture. | Fractional non-ablative Creates tiny treatment zones beneath the surface to encourage skin renewal without removing the outer skin layer. |
| LUX 1540 | Fine lines, wrinkles, acne scars, surgical scars, stretch marks, and uneven texture. | Fractional non-ablative Delivers heat beneath the surface in tiny treatment zones to stimulate collagen while keeping the outer skin layer intact. |
What to Expect During Treatment
The appointment has three steps:
Your skin gets cleaned, then a topical numbing cream goes on and sits while it takes effect. The laser passes over the treatment area next, and the handpiece cools your skin at the surface while it works, which is the part that keeps it tolerable. Afterward your face is cleaned again and you go home. Patients generally describe the treatment itself as very tolerable and only slightly uncomfortable, though that depends on where your own threshold sits.
You drive yourself home. There is no sedation involved and nothing to arrange in advance beyond staying out of the sun in the days before you come in, since a fresh tan makes the treatment less comfortable and less safe.
Picking the Week to Book It
Our San Juan Capistrano hours are 8 to 4 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and 10 to 6 on Wednesday. We are closed weekends. If you work in an office and would rather the visible part happen on your own time, a Friday morning appointment puts days one and two on a Saturday and Sunday and has you back at a desk on day three, when the pink has begun fading and is easier to live with. Wednesday’s later close is the other useful slot, because a 5pm appointment costs you no work hours at all.
Sessions sit two to four weeks apart, so a course of four runs six to twelve weeks from first appointment to last. Sketch that on a calendar before you start. People who book a first session without looking at the next two months are the ones who end up pausing halfway through, and a half-finished course gets you a half result.
Working backward from something photographed, give yourself at least two weeks between your final session and the event. That is five to seven days of pink plus a real buffer, and it is the difference between arriving settled and arriving hopeful.
One more scheduling note that matters more here than it would in most of the country. You are healing skin that has to stay out of the sun for the length of the course, not just the week. A four-session run booked across a summer of weekends outdoors is a harder plan to keep than the same four sessions booked between October and March.
How Much Does Laser Skin Resurfacing Cost in Aliso Viejo?
Cost depends on the treatment selected and the recommended number of sessions.
At Dermacare, LUX 1540 treatment is $600–$800 per session, with an individual quote provided at consultation. This range applies to that treatment, rather than every resurfacing option. View treatment pricing.
When reviewing your plan, ask for the estimated total across the recommended appointments and what the quote includes. That gives you a clearer basis for deciding whether to proceed.
Who Runs the Laser
Every laser treatment at Dermacare is performed by a trained medical professional under the medical direction of Jeff Birchall, M.D. Dr. Birchall is board certified with more than twenty-five years in aesthetic medicine, and he belongs to the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery and the American Association of Aesthetic Medicine.
Device settings are where the skill lives in laser work. The same machine set two ways gives two different weeks of recovery and two different results, and the judgment about where to set it comes from having run the device on a lot of different faces. Our team carries more than sixty years of combined experience across five Southern California clinics.
Ask who will be running your laser when you book, at our clinic or anywhere else. It is a reasonable question and you should get a straight answer to it.
Getting Here From Aliso Viejo
We’re at 31371 Rancho Viejo Rd, Suite 201, southeast of Aliso Viejo. The building sits on Rancho Viejo Road just off the freeway, so there’s no hunting around for it, and patients coming from Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills and Laguna Woods take the same route in.
Appointments run 8 to 4 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday shifts later, 10 to 6, for anyone who can’t get away mid-morning — and a first Botox visit fits comfortably inside a long lunch.
Dermacare San Juan Capistrano
Med Spa · 12 minutes from Aliso Viejo
31371 Rancho Viejo Rd. Suite 201
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
Hours
| Monday | 8:00am – 4:00pm |
| Tuesday | 8:00am – 4:00pm |
| Wednesday | 10:00am – 6:00pm |
| Thursday | 8:00am – 4:00pm |
| Friday | 8:00am – 4:00pm |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
How many sessions will I need?
For our San Juan Capistrano fractional treatment, we typically recommend three to five sessions, spaced two to four weeks apart. Your plan may vary.
When will I see results?
Non-ablative resurfacing produces gradual improvement as your skin responds to treatment. Changes in texture and tone develop over time. Your provider can explain when to assess progress and whether further sessions may help.
Is the office in Aliso Viejo?
Our office serving Aliso Viejo patients is in San Juan Capistrano:
Dermacare Medical Aesthetics
31371 Rancho Viejo Road, Suite 201
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
How long does the redness last?
About five to seven days of pink, similar to a mild sunburn, with the swelling settling sooner than the color does.
How many treatments will I need?
Three to five for most people, spaced two to four weeks apart. That puts a full course somewhere between six weeks and five months depending on your spacing.
Can I go back to work the next day?
Yes. You will be visibly pink, so the question is whether you mind being seen that way rather than whether you are able to work. Booking on a Friday morning puts the most visible two days on a weekend.
Is laser resurfacing safe for darker skin tones?
It requires more care, because darker skin absorbs laser light more readily and generates more heat at the surface. That makes an in-person assessment necessary rather than optional, and it is a conversation to have before you book anything.