Laser Battle: Fight Aging At Home

The FDA Approved A Device To Smoothen Wrinkles Without An Office Visit; Experts Weigh In On "The Early Show"

(CBS)  The Food and Drug Administration has just approved a laser device that you can use to minimize wrinkles -- at home.

Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen reported on The Early Show Tuesday that the laser hasn't been released, but the buzz is already starting for a product that will join lotions, treatments like Botox and lasers in the $30 billion industry.

But what do the experts say about this new treatment?

"I think at most this will be a step above the lotions and potions that have shown to have some anti-aging properties," Dr. Paul Frank, a dermatologist, told CBS News.

Frank also questions the effectiveness of the product, which uses a lower power to minimize risk of user error, in comparison to the office visit results.

He said, "You're looking at devices that can only produce a single digit fraction of results as compared to what you can get in a dermatologist's office."

But the possibility for consumers to get out of hand is also a possibility, according to Frank.

"I think when the consumer gets overexcited about something, there's a tendency to overabuse and overuse."

CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton told Chen she agrees with Frank's assessment of the product on The Early Show.

"...You're not going to get the same impact and results as you can by doing a (treatment) in a physician's office," she said, "but it will be a fraction of the cost and for people who want the convenience and the privacy of doing something at home, and find that empowering, it might be very nice."

The handheld product is shaped like a rod, according to Ashton, and columns of laser light are delivered with a treatment window at the end of the tip.

The laser is the first of its kind that has been approved for wrinkle removal around the eyes.

Ashton said price between a office procedures and the new device are very different. While physician visits can cost thousands of dollars for repeat visits, she said, the at-home treatment will likely cost hundreds.