Fractional CO2 · physician-performed
For deeper lines, scars and heavy sun damage, the treatment that does the most in one session, performed by the medical director, with a week or more of healing that we describe honestly.
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Results vary from person to person. Nothing on this page is a guarantee of outcome, and a treatment may be declined after the test patch if it is not right for your skin.
Why it works
A fractional CO2 laser removes microscopic columns of skin and tightens what remains, which is why it reaches deeper lines and scars that non-ablative treatment does not. It is also why the first week looks worse before it looks better: swelling, oozing, then a rough bronze layer that peels. We describe that week in detail at the consultation, with photographs of the stages, so nobody is surprised.
Dr. Vasquez performs every CO2 treatment herself and sees you at day three, day ten and week six. Sun protection after is not a suggestion; it is the plan.
Skin type, sun history and medications recorded by a nurse practitioner. One test patch fired.
A written plan: device, settings range, sessions, interval, price and a maintenance forecast.
The same nurse every session, with photographs at sessions one, four and final.
Candour
Results vary from person to person. Nothing on this page is a guarantee of outcome, and a treatment may be declined after the test patch if it is not right for your skin.
Who treats you
Medical Director
Helena is a physician with a dermatology background who founded Saltgrass in 2021. She writes every laser protocol the nurses work to, performs the CO2 resurfacing herself, and is in the building during laser hours.
Illustrative stories. Saltgrass is a fictional studio; these are written examples, not patient reviews.
The downtime calendar was printed and taped to my fridge. Day four was exactly as bad as she said and day twelve was exactly as good.
Dr. Vasquez talked me out of CO2 because of my skin tone and planned three fractional sessions. I trust her more for it.
Seven to fourteen days of visible healing, with pinkness for several weeks after. We give you the day-by-day calendar in writing before you decide.
Dr. Helena Vasquez, MD, our medical director, every time, with the nurses assisting.
Numbing cream and cooling make the treatment itself tolerable, with strong heat; the first days feel like a bad sunburn.
Usually one. Some people choose a second after six months for further change. Results vary.
The risk of pigment change is higher, so we usually plan non-ablative resurfacing for deeper skin tones instead and say so at the consultation.
October to March in San Diego, so that healing skin is not in summer sun.
Skin Read · 30 min · complimentary
Thirty minutes with a nurse practitioner, the test patch included, and a written plan to take home.