CHARLOTTE -- As the fall season kicks in to high gear, a little too much time outdoors during the summer may start to show its effects on your skin.

Dr. Donald Sudy with ReGenesis Medical Spa says it is possible to somewhat reverse the damage sun has done to your skin.

“You can treat it with some laser, some ablative laser resurfacing and get it to a much healthier state,” said Sudy. “But it's never going to go back to any undamaged state if you will.”

Specifically, Sudy combines two different types of lasers – Intense Pulsed Light Therapy to help with discoloration, and profractional to help with texture.

"Usually if you do the treatment Thursday, Friday, you are back in makeup and looking pretty normal by Monday,” he said.

Mischell Christmas is what you can call a reformed tanner.

"I am still experiencing things now that I did years and years ago to my skin that is just now coming to the surface,” she said.

Christmas says she sees the benefits of laser treatments to her skin.

“I have had laser treatments done to my skin to help bring up the brown spots and you can have that done anywhere on your skin -- even your hands or chest areas -- that tend to age even more than your face,” said Christmas.

But before going under the laser, the first line of defense is sunscreen.

"That is absolutely the most important that you need to do,” said Sudy.

In the long run, while the damage can be minimized, it can’t be corrected completely.