What is involved in laser skin tightening?

Heating collagen: True noninvasive skin tightening involved using an energy device to heat the dermis near 43 degrees c. This causes collagen denaturation and contraction. My favorite device uses infrared light but more important then the device is the doctor administering it.

Collagen production: Lasers, radio frequency, infrared light, and now ultrasound devices are being used to create controlled heat injury to the dermal layers of the skin. This causes new collagen formation which in turn can tighten the skin. Of the devices mentioned, i think ultherapy which uses focused ultrasound works very well. Applying energy under the skin using a tiny internal probe yields even better results.

It's a misnomer!: Lasers, rf, infrared, and ultrasonic or combined devices only treat the surface, and improvements are truly minimal in most cases. Unless this is less important than no downtime and minimal risk, lasers remove surface wrinkles but do not really tighten skin much at all. Wrinkle removal and smoothing is dramatic, but lasering wrinkled jowls, for example, only yields smooth (still-present) jowls!