Stoker Plastic Surgery: David Stoker, MD
4640 Admiralty Way #1000
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
Phone: (310) 300-1779
Monday–Friday: 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
At our Marina del Rey med spa, we see many women and men from Santa Monica and the greater Los Angeles area who want to correct sun damage and signs of aging on their skin such as brown spots, fine lines, deep creases, and uneven texture. We are pleased to offer superior skin resurfacing and tightening with our DEKA DOT (dermal optical thermolysis) fractional carbon dioxide (CO2) laser. Other options such as intense pulsed light (IPL) and laser vein therapy help us address a wide variety of patient concerns.
Keep in mind that each patient is unique and your results may vary.
Instead of treating (ablating) the entire surface of the skin like traditional CO2 lasers, the DOT fractional CO2 laser emits tiny columns of laser energy to produce thousands of microscopic injuries to the skin, leaving untreated skin between the treated dots. The laser energy starts the skin’s natural healing processes to make new, healthy tissue and collagen. Because untreated skin is intermixed with treated skin, discomfort and healing time are reduced compared to traditional CO2 lasers.
We use laser skin resurfacing to address a variety of concerns, including:
The Visionary Medical Director
Stoker Aesthetics
As the driving force behind the premier med spa in Los Angeles, Dr. David Stoker combines elite qualifications with a passion for innovation. He personally vets each of the treatments offered at Stoker Aesthetics, ensuring that our world-class team provides the safest, most effective procedures for turning your aesthetic dreams into reality.
The fractional CO2 laser is ideal for the face, where the skin heals quickly. We can perform deeper treatments on the face to achieve more dramatic results with a single treatment. Treatment strength may be reduced for skin on the neck, chest, and hands that is more delicate than the face. We typically treat these areas with multiple lower-strength treatments.
We can adjust the intensity of the laser to suit a variety of conditions, treatment areas, and desired amount of downtime as outlined in the table.
| Strength | Treatment Area | Concerns | Downtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | Face, neck, chest, hands | Sun spots, fine lines | 2 to 3 days |
| Medium | Face | Sun spots, moderate wrinkles | 5 to 8 days |
| Deep | Face | Sun spots, deep wrinkles, acne scars | 10 to 14 days |
The fractional CO2 laser and Fraxel® (erbium and diode) laser are both fractional lasers, which means both treat a fraction of the skin’s surface. Reasons we prefer the CO2 fractional laser include:
Laser treatments are relatively comfortable; however, topical anesthetic and oral analgesics may be used to enhance your comfort. We also use a PRO-NOX medical nitrous oxide (laughing gas) delivery system to minimize discomfort. After you are optimally anesthetized, the laser handpiece is passed over the skin as quick flashes of laser energy are emitted. Most treatments are complete in under an hour.
Laser skin resurfacing may be combined with surgical procedures such as a facelift or eyelid surgery to take advantage of anesthesia and recovery time.
For optimal results, we recommend most laser skin resurfacing patients pretreat their skin as follows:
The healing process typically takes 3 to 14 days to complete depending on depth of treatment and individual factors. Initially, the skin looks red for about 3 to 10 days much like if it was badly sunburned. Around day 3 or 4, the skin begins peeling to reveal fresh, new skin.
To enhance your body’s healing process after laser skin resurfacing, consider adding stem cells and exosomes to your treatment. Stem cells have the remarkable ability to transform into different types of cells within the body, playing a crucial role in tissue repair and regeneration. Exosomes, tiny vesicles secreted by cells, facilitate cell-to-cell communication and carry powerful ingredients to promote healing.
Patients typically achieve dramatic results with just a single treatment. Two or more treatments may be performed several months apart in order to achieve greater improvement with shorter recovery periods.
While nothing can stop the natural aging process, improvements from laser resurfacing treatments are long lasting with diligent use of sunscreen and a healthy lifestyle (e.g., avoiding smoking).
IPL PhotoFacial treatments used light energy to improve the appearance of sun-damaged skin, in addition to other complexion issues. It’s gentler than laser skin resurfacing, resulting in virtually no downtime, and is often used on exposed areas such as the neck, chest, and hands, in addition to the face.
Laser genesis is a non-invasive laser treatment that gently heats the deeper layers of skin to stimulate collagen production. This procedure diminishes fine lines, uneven texture, redness, and other signs of aging for a refreshed, youthful complexion. With no downtime required, laser genesis provides gradual, natural-looking skin renewal.
Laser treatments are one of the ways to minimize the appearance of unsightly spider veins on the face and legs. Laser vein therapy heats and destroys the cells lining the veins, causing them to shrink before being removed naturally by the body. We also offer an injectable treatment called sclerotherapy to treat varicose and spider veins on the legs.
Board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. David Stoker and his experienced team specialize in non-surgical and surgical rejuvenation of the skin. They will guide you through your options to create an individualized plan for your skin. To learn more about your options, request a consultation using our online form or call us at (310) 300-1779 to schedule an appointment.
To enhance and provide maximum comfort during all our aesthetic treatments, we offer topical and local anesthetics. We also offer PRO-NOX™ Nitrous Oxide (NO) for an additional cost. PRO-NOX is an anesthetic system that delivers 50% oxygen and 50% nitrous oxide to help relieve pain and anxiety during treatments.
Our expertise extends beyond plastic surgery. We offer an extensive range of non-surgical treatments administered by our talented, experienced team of aesthetic providers under the guidance of board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. David Stoker.
If you have a treatment in mind, review our complete offering of non-surgical services. If you need a little help deciding, narrow down your options with our interactive treatment planner.
