7 Healthcast: New CO-2 laser

Two weeks ago, Jeanie Diamond, 57, said her face looked much different.

"I had a lot of sun damage and photo aging that was starting to wrinkle pretty badly and I just wanted to do something to improve my skin," Diamond said.

But she didn't want plastic surgery.

The solution was a new and improved CO-2 laser.

"You get wrinkle reduction, reduction in pigment and skin tightening that you wouldn't get with other fraxel type lasers," said cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Greg Nikolaidis.

It's called the Fraxel repair.

Here's how it works- first doctors numb your face.

Next it's the laser treatment. It penetrates deeper into the skin than traditional CO-2 lasers so your skin contracts.

"It seemed really quick," Diamond said. "I think it took less than 30 minutes and I didn't feel a thing. I expected something afterwards. there was a little redness and swelling but no pain at all."

In two days she was healed and ready to go back to work.

Healing time with traditional lasers is usually over a week.

"You have continued improvement over the next 4 or 5 months," Dr. Nikolaidis said.

It's a one-time treatment, and costs a little more than $3000. Doctors say people who have sun damage or acne scars are good candidates for this laser treatment.

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