fibroblastic activity. We evaluated

fibroblastic activity. We evaluated fibroblasticactivity in vivo by comparing the histopathologyusing collagen and elastin stains; however, thismethod may have been insufficient for comparingminute differences of collagen and elastin produc￾tion in fibroblasts. The results suggest that theimprovement of texture of the skin may haveresulted from increased collagen and elastin in thedermis. Further, thermal effects of infrared radia￾tion may have a role in activating fibroblasts, butadditional studies regarding the abundance ofcytokines in proliferating fibroblasts are needed.The side effects of treatment with the IR radia￾tion were minimal in this study. The severity andduration of erythema observed post-treatmentwas mild and resolved by 30 minutes post- treat￾ment. In addition, there was no histopathologicevidence of remarkable inflammation, IR radiationburns, or increased solar elastosis. This suggestedthat IR radiation treatment at an ambient tempera￾ture is safe and does not cause harmful thermalinjuries. Our results further suggest that IR radia￾tion may result in beneficial effects on skin textureand wrinkles by increasing collagen and elastin inthe dermis through stimulation of fibroblasts.Thus, treatment with IR radiation may be an effec￾tive and safe non-ablative remodeling method ofthe skin, and it may have some use as a suppor￾tive method in the treatment of photo-aged skin.Elucidation of the exact photophysical and photo￾chemical mechanisms triggered by IR radiation aswell as future studies of the practicality of IRradiation treatment may reveal novel therapeuticapplications of IR radiation in clinical derma￾tology.