House of Bloom Medical Aesthetics |
Laser Skin Resurfacing and CoolPeel CO2 Laser Treatments in downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia.

CoolPeel is a specific setting on the DEKA Tetra CO2 laser that uses very short, high peak power pulses to create a fully ablative treatment with minimal heat spread in the surrounding tissue. That means it resurfaces the very top layers of skin while keeping collateral thermal injury low, so downtime and risk are reduced compared to classic, high energy CO2 resurfacing.

Traditional CO2 resurfacing with the DEKA platform can go deeper and more aggressively remodel collagen. That often makes it a stronger choice for etched in wrinkles, significant sun damage, and more severe acne scarring, but it comes with more downtime and stricter aftercare.

In simple terms. CoolPeel is the “socially acceptable on Monday” option for texture and fine lines, and deeper CO2 settings are the “big reset” for more advanced aging and scarring.

CoolPeel is typically a better fit if you:

• Have mild to moderate texture, pores, or early wrinkles

• Want to improve tone and fine lines without taking a long break from work and social events

• Are newer to laser resurfacing and want a more conservative starting point

• 
  

A deeper DEKA CO2 treatment is usually chosen for:

• Deeper, etched in wrinkles around the mouth and eyes

• Significant sun damage and leathery texture

• More pronounced acne scarring or laxity that needs aggressive collagen remodeling

Your provider at House of Bloom will look at skin type, lifestyle, and healing time before recommending either a softer CoolPeel series or a more intensive single CO2 session.

PICO lasers use picosecond pulses, which are thousandths of a nanosecond. Instead of relying mostly on heat, they deliver ultra fast pressure waves that shatter pigment particles and create microscopic zones of injury that trigger collagen production.

Compared with ablative lasers like CO2 or Erbium, PICO is particularly strong for:

• Brown spots, freckles, sun spots, and other pigmentation

• Tattoo and permanent makeup removal

• Melasma and complex pigment problems when used very carefully

• Subtle surface texture and pore refinement in patients who cannot take a week of healing

You can think of PICO as a pigment and clarity workhorse that also supports collagen, while CO2 and Erbium are more about physically resurfacing and tightening the skin.

Both Erbium YAG and CO2 lasers are ablative lasers meaning they remove layers of skin to stimulate new collagen and smoother texture. The differences are mostly about depth, heat, and recovery.

• CO2 penetrates deeper and creates more thermal injury, which can yield bigger changes in deeper wrinkles and scars but with more downtime and a higher risk of pigment change, especially in darker skin types.

• Erbium removes thinner layers with less residual heat, which often means more controlled precision and shorter healing. It is frequently used for mild to moderate photodamage and patients who want strong results with a gentler recovery compared with classic CO2.

In some cases a series of Erbium treatments is used instead of one very aggressive CO2 session to balance results and downtime.

In reality, the choice is less “CoolPeel or PICO or Erbium” and more “What combination of tools gets me the best result for my skin with a healing window I can live with.”

Your provider will look at:

• What bothers you most. texture, wrinkles, pigment, scars, pores, laxity

• Your natural skin tone and how you have healed from procedures in the past

• How many days you can realistically be red, peeling, or off makeup

• Whether you are open to a series of gentler treatments or you want one big reset

From there they may recommend one laser as a standalone treatment, or a phased plan where PICO handles pigment and tone, and a CO2 or Erbium session later focuses on deeper resurfacing.