Janet Graham, 52, feels good about her skin despite all the abuse she's put it through.
All her time outdoors should have taken a toll on Graham's skin, but she says through the years, one cosmetic procedure has kept her looking and feeling much younger.
Dermatologist Dr. Patrick Bitter developed the FotoFacial.
"At this point, the FotoFacial procedure is the closest that we've come to the fountain of youth," said Bitter.
The FotoFacial uses broadband light to stimulate collagen. Lasers burn and destroy the skin cells, but this type of light is different.
"It doesn't kill skin cells. What it does is it changes the skin, and it changes skin cells," said Bitter.
In a study he conducted Bitter found annual FotoFacials resulted in skin that appeared to age only one year over an eight-year span. In another study, done at Stanford, doctors treated women in their 70s and found the gene expression in their skin cells looked like that of women in their 20s.
"This is the first study that has shown that we can have, that there's anything available that can reverse or change gene expression," said Bitter.
The cost is about $500 per procedure, and on average a series of four are done.
It's also painful, and burning the skin is one risk.
Mary Shelton, 48, has seen immediate results.
"I think this is the first time I've seen something that actually reverses aging," said Shelton.
Dr. Bitter says yearly treatments result in fewer spots, lines, sagging and visible sun damage. Shelton is a believer.
"I really do feel better at this age than I ever have in my life," said Shelton.
The procedure takes about 10 minutes. Bitter says for the best results, patients should get their first series of facials three to four weeks apart, then yearly maintenance treatments after that. He has trained more than 5,000 doctors around the world to perform the FotoFacial.
