Scars are the result of an injury or trauma to your skin. The severity of this type of injury varies, with more serious injury resulting in bigger and deeper scars. 

When your skin is damaged, all of its available resources are transferred to the affected area with the goal of repairing the damage as quickly as possible. This is why scars don't have the same smooth, neat pattern as standard skin. Your body creates collagen (a type of protein) to fix the damage.

Laser treatment is also referred to as laser skin resurfacing or laser scar revision. This treatment can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles, dark spots, and skin lesions, as well as scars. It can be effective even several years after a scar has formed.

During the treatment, beams of light will be used to either remove scar tissue or poke holes in it, depending on the type of laser used. Both methods stimulate the production of collagen and allow your body to create new, smoother skin. After the treatment, your scar should appear lighter and less noticeable.

Laser treatment doesn't remove scars completely. In essence, you're replacing one scar for another that's smaller and not as noticeable. It may also take multiple treatments for you to see desired results.

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There are two types of laser treatment available, including CO2 laser therapy and fractional laser therapy.

CO2 laser therapy. This type of therapy uses short pulses of light or continuous light beams to remove thin layers of skin with minimal damage to the surrounding skin. A small amount of scar tissue is targeted during each treatment, so you may need multiple visits for larger scars. Recovery time for this type of therapy can be up to two weeks.

Fractional laser therapy. Fractional therapy uses many narrow columns of light, causing the collagen in the scar to tighten. Less of your skin is injured in the process, but — because the laser goes deeper — there's also the possibility for additional scarring and increased recovery time. The typical recovery time for this type of treatment is one week.