The quest for the perfect anti-wrinkle treatment has been long and challenging, with a multitude of wrinkle-smoothening solutions vying for the customer’s attention. Plasma may be the new kid on the block, joining the likes of Botox and other anti-wrinkle solutions.

Plasma can be a solution to erase wrinkles, according to experts. A series of low-energy treatments with a ‘plasma skin regeneration tool’ to banish wrinkles seems to be equally effective as a single, high-energy blast but with less healing time for patients.

\'The healing time in our study averaged approximately five days per treatment,\' a team led by Dr Melissa Bogle, now at the Laser and Cosmetic Surgery Centre of Houston, noted in the study, which was published in the February issue of Archives of Dermatology. Bogle conducted the study while at SkinCare Physicians in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

This non-surgical cosmetic procedure relies on plasma, which is a state of matter in which electrons are stripped from atoms to form an ionized gas. Energy from plasma is delivered to skin tissue in short, one millisecond pulses.

The device, called Portrait PSR, delivers the pulses and is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for both multiple low-energy treatments and for single, high-energy treatments, both to remove wrinkles and treat superficial skin lesions such as acne scarring.

This study aimed to see if similar results and less healing time could be achieved with multiple treatments delivered at a low energy. The researchers enlisted eight volunteers and administered three full-face, low-energy treatments every three weeks.

Three months after being treated, participants had 37 percent fewer wrinkles (as judged by the researchers) and a 68 percent improvement in overall facial appearance (as judged by the patient). Tissue had re-grown over the affected area after four days, and redness lasted six days. According to the researchers, healing time averaged five days per treatment, which included time it took for redness and peeling to completely subside.