In the hussle and bustle of today's busy world, who has time to spend two to three weeks at home recovering from a cosmetic procedure? Traditional skin resurfacing procedures require lots of downtime but a new treatment has been proven to shorten recovery time.

It's called portrait skin regeneration. It's a non-laser technology approved by the Food and Drug Administration for skin resurfacing.

"What this instrument does is it rejuvenates the skin of the face. It improves tone, wrinkles and pigment discoloration of the skin," said Dr. Peter Schmid, with the Institute of Aesthetic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Schmid, of Longmont, is one of only a few doctors in the country using the device.

"The instrument utilizes nitrogen gas and a heating device radio frequency and creates what is called a plasma," said Schmid. "This produces heat that is directly applied to the skin in multiple little pulses ... The heat transmits down to the deeper layers of skin where you get stimulation of collagen."

Tara Snow decided to try it.

"I'm looking forward to having my skin be a little more even-toned and a little more tighter and less wrinkles," said Snow.

Schmid applied a topical numbing cream and gave Snow a medication to help her relax.

"When this is over it will feel like a fairly intense sunburn," Schmid said.

Twenty minutes later, he was done.

"The skin is a little bit charred," Schmid said.

Portrait skin regeneration can be used for a variety of skin conditions. It can even out skin discoloration and treat sun-damaged skin. It can reduce wrinkes of all sizes and overall improve skin tone and texture, Schmid said.

Patients will get results similar to more aggressive treatments such as chemical peels, dermaabrasion and laser resurfacing, but studies show portrait skin regeneration is safer.

"The deeper techniques that we've traditionally used, such as laser resurfacing, actually would peel the skin off and create an open wound, whereas this technology creates a closed wound," said Schmid.

And the recovery time is much less.

"This is primarily a technique that requires seven days, and you can be wearing makeup," said Schmid.

Traditional laser resurfacing will take usually two to three weeks to completely recover.

"It does offer a promise for very little downtime in a very busy world," Schmid said.

But this is not for everyone, and there are some risks.

"Some of the side effects that have been described is you can get a little depression to the skin," said Schmid.

As for Snow, her results are not drastic.

"It is so subtle but yet it makes me feel good," she said.

It was the healing that surprised her.

"The healing was a lot faster than I anticipated," said Snow. "I am very pleased with the results."

So pleased in fact that she is having the treatment done again.

"I know with as light as he went and the results that I got, that if I go a little bit deeper, I will be so impressed," said Snow.

One of the unique characteristics of portrait skin regeneration is that the skin will show continual improvement over time, Schmid said. Depending on what results a person desires, she may need more than one treatment, Schmid said.

The cost for those treatments ranges from $950 to around $3,700.

For more information on the clinical studies involving this technology, go to www.portraitpsr.com. To contact Dr. Peter Schmid call (303) 651-6846 or visit http://www.theaestheticsurgeon.com.