Are there steps you can take to get the most out of your procedure? Absolutely, but they aren’t any different from what you should already be doing to keep your skin vital, nourished, healthy, repaired, and stable. However, these daily essentials become even more important if you’re going to undergo a cosmetic corrective procedure. Don’t smoke, stay out of the sun, use a sunscreen daily, use gentle cleansers (irritation and dryness hurt the skin’s ability to heal), consider using a retinoid such as Renova or Tazorac, exfoliate (to remove any unhealthy build-up of dead skin cells), and use a product (such as a gel, liquid, or cream) loaded with antioxidants and skin-identical ingredients. All of these will help your skin be at its best and help support the results you are going after.
Some women have been told that before they have a chemical peel, laser resurfacing, or any cosmetic corrective procedure they need to purchase and use special products, especially the expensive ones sold by their dermatologist or plastic surgeon, starting two to four weeks ahead of the treatment. First, of all the skin-care products sold by dermatologists or plastic surgeons, none are in any way preferred to other well-formulated skin-care products that are usually readily available elsewhere for a lot less money. If a doctor tells you otherwise they are not telling the truth. Second, reputable doctors can sell their own products, but ethically they should recommend products other than their own and that cost less. Plenty of products being sold by physicians are not only overpriced but also poorly formulated. Don’t let your doctor dupe you with this deceptive scam that claims products being sold in doctors’ offices are somehow better, because they absolutely are not.
Theoretically, pretreatment seems to make sense, but there is no research showing a specialized skin-care routine is necessary. As an article published in Cosmetic Dermatology (March 2000, “Pre-Treatment of Skin for Laser Resurfacing: Is It Necessary?”) states: “Retinoic acid derivatives [tretinoin such as Retin-A or Renova] have been studied most thoroughly and have been shown to accelerate wound healing. On the other hand, the preoperative use of AHAs, hydroquinone, and ascorbic acid [vitamin C] has proven to be of no apparent clinical benefit. Since these compounds appear to affect only superficial epidermal melanocytes [skin cells] (which are vaporized upon… laser irradiation)… they have no effect on the lower layers of skin.” That means you can save your money by avoiding expensive pretreatment products being sold by the physician.
In terms of topical tretinoin cream, daily use does help repair some amount of sun damage and does offer an advantage in wound healing, but that is very different from the cosmetic products many doctors are selling these days (Source: Journal of Cellular Physiology, May 2008, pages 506-516).
Although cosmetic skin-care products are not helpful for use as a pretreatment, what does make sense, at least in terms of helping your skin handle the procedures better, is the ongoing use of well-formulated products every day. They will go a long way toward helping you keep the results you achieved and also will ensure that your skin is as healthy as it can be all the time.