Rox Anderson, director of the Laser Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston says that Patients may experience certain complications with cosmetic surgeries. Some of the complications are lingering redness of skin, gentleness, easy reddening, and some pigmentary changes, like hyperpigmentation.

Some other serious risks are lightening of the skin. He declares that after one to two years of treatment it becomes clear that there is a permanent lightening of the skin color where the resurfacing was done and that scarring may occur in few of the cases. Sometimes, it also happens that during the operation a surgeon may go too deep creating an injury in the skin which becomes irreparable.

An example of such a case is that of Anne Jones (not her real name) in semi-rural Mississippi, a stay-at-home mom and a doctor's wife wanted to remove some mild spots, she went to a well-respected local plastic surgeon, but after a five-month recovery period, she realizes that something had gone very wrong. She says "He had just burned my face, it is red with scar tissue all over. Jones then went to an ophthalmologist who had extensive laser knowledge. He took one look at her and cried out, "Oh, I am so sorry that this has happened to you." He told her that the surgeon had not used the right settings, and that her skin had retained too much heat and had been severely burned.

FDA's Felten advises "The person planning to do laser surgery must understand the basic physics of how laser energy is absorbed by tissue and how tissue responds, then that person should go where the surgery is performed and watch a skilled surgeon use the equipment." So far, no national policy exists for documenting those planning to practice laser surgery. Felten says FDA is accountable for granting individual companies permission to promote their lasers for the specific indications requested. FDA also urges training needed to operate the lasers.

Deciding on a laser surgeon is just like picking a qualified doctor for any other medical treatment. The Internet is a good place to start the search. You will be able to find hundreds of websites, including those for specialists in the field of laser and plastic surgical procedure societies, and information pages. But you must be very cautious while deciding the accuracy of any information taken off the Internet because unqualified people can put up their own website just as easily as can the qualified.