Hi everyone. This forum has been a wonderful source of information for me and I wanted to pay it back by relaying my laser resurfacing experience.

I just had the newest laser treatment that is a cross between Fraxel and traditional CO2.
Background: In addition to cystic acne scars, I have terrible scars from 3 seperate facial traumas and uneven skin tone. I was desperate for improvement and consulted with many plastic surgeons and a few dermatologists.

Treatment so far: 1.Face lift (recommended by 2 diff drs) to tighten skin - done 9 mo ago. Great looking but not sure it did much for scars.
2. Continued use of Tanzorak (Retin A) and hydroquinine 10% (also great but must use every single day)
Drs. recommended REAL dermabrasion (too scary for me) and CO2 (big downtime, higher risks) and Fraxel (5 treatments for $5k - you've got to be kidding - less than impressive before and afters) and this new laser - Fractionalized CO2 (my choice)
I had some sculptra injections in one very depressed area and was not impressed.

I plan to finish out with other dermal fillers in a few months - still deciding on which one.

Anyway - thought I would share my experience so far. Lumenis makes this laser. See http://www.aesthetic.lumenis.com/wt/page/ultrapulse for info and video.

TIME - It took about 45 minutes but I had to get there an hour early to get topical anesthetic and a ativan (which i insisted on). This is a one time laser treatment. I was unconvinced about the 4-8 fraxel treatments that I would have needed.

PAIN - I won't lie to you - it hurt like hell. They did 2 passes. The first pass was "DEEP FX" on the scars. It stung like being slapped in the face but was tolerable. I could actually smell burning skin - not awful, just weird smell.
The second pass was "ACTIVE FX" all over - which treated skin discoloration and wrinkles (I didn't have any after face lift)It is not as deep as DEEP FX and should not have hurt much but, evidently, the first pass made my skin VERY sensitive so the second pass felt like red hot needles being poked deeply into my face. They would do 4 pulses in a row then stop to let me breathe. No kidding. The morale of the story is don't do this without some kind of heavier sedative and a ride home (halcion?)- if you have a 2 pass treatment. However, the nurse told me that another patient had 2 pass treatment and didn't have the pain that I seemed to have. I never really thought I was a pain wimp, but perhaps I am. I had halcion for major tooth surgery and it was GREAT - don't remember a thing.

DOWNTIME - I was hidden from the public for about 4 or 5 days. On the 4th or 5th day I went to gro. store for a short time. Can't stay out too long because face continued to peel and makeup would peel right off with it.

Right after the procedure my face was beet red with tiny red dots all over. The red dots are where the laser actualy penetrated skin. I had to wear gooey gel to keep it moist for the first 4 days. Unpleasant to sleep in, but worth it. Each day I would wash my face and dead skin would slough off - not like a peeling sunburn though. Each day the redness would lessen, as would the sloughing until about the 4th or 5th day. Amazing how this didn't hurt.
However, 12 days later my skin still sloughs off - which is a good thing. Doesn't look bad with makeup, though.
--- note -- I had a deep chemical peel about 10 years ago and it DID hurt post-procedure and my face peeled off like a bad sunburn for about a week. I don't think it did that great of a job improving much of anything.

RESULTS: I will upload pictures later. I am very happy with the results so far. The Dr. says I can expect to see continued improvement (healing) for up to a year as collagen is built down deep. Specifically, depressed scars are MUCH softer already and continue to look better each day. One surprise was the reduction in pore size, which I didn't really expect. My pores look like they did at 20. I am 47 now. Skin discoloration improvement is not as great as I thought it would be, but I hope it will also improve over time. I had white spots interspursed with brown sun damage discoloration. Skin bleach was my only hope there.

COST: Here in Tampa, expect to pay at least 2500. I don't think this is bad because fraxel is about $500 each time, not including the pain-in-the-butt-factor.

OVERALL PERCEPTION:
Fast (45 min), one time - as opposed to fraxel 4+ visits
No risk of worse scarring (chem peel or co2 can scar)
High procedure pain factor (co2 is no pain because you are out)
Fair cost (CO2 would be 5k - anesthesia required -deep chem peel too)
Low post proceure pain (chem peel DID hurt afterwards)
Expect 4-6 days downtime (co2 or chem peel realistically at LEAST 10 days fraxel no downtime)

Actual improvement - I will know in about 4 months. So far I am really happy. I am glad to answer questions but admit I don't log on every single day ...
- tampagirl

Wow, this is such a great post. Much appreciated. My derm just said he was getting Active FX next month!

I am going to have the 5 Fraxels and if Im still not happy I am going to do the Active FX for sure!!!

The reddness & dots sound just like a Fraxel treatment though.

It sounds like you are fair skinned though if derms are recommending the CO2 laser, I will have to research the effects of hyperpigmentation on dark skin, so far Fraxel hasnt caused any.

This sounds very similar to Sciton's profractional. I'm under the impression that some Drs who had full CO2 lasers, have converted/upgraded these to fractional versions. The downtime is supposed to be less, so I suppose this makes it viable for more people.

My PS's description sounds similar: microlaser peel plus pro-fractional in the same treatment. Numbing cream, plus some sort of oral sedation. Expect 4-5 days downtime. No discussion about multiple treatments.

Glad to hear that you are pleased, as I'm scheduled in a few weeks. I'm a bit nervous about it, especially the thought of oral sedation. Wondering if this is similar sedation of colonoscopy (haven't had that, either).

You are welcome. Yes, this laser is actually quite similar to Fraxel - fractional CO2. Go look at the website. It is really good. Look at the stuff for doctors - it gives more information and is less 'salesy' than the consumer links. Yes, I am blond, blue eyed - very fair. I thought fraxel was not recommended for darker skinned individuals but i could be wrong. you need to check it out. -tampagirl

G

to Bucksfan - Don't be too worried about sedation for this procedure. I didn't think i was such a pain wimp. Ask your ps if he plans to make one pass or 2. the second pass is what hurt, although the first pass was on the "deepfx" setting which is actually deeper than the "activefx". I had major tooth surgery and got Halcion (a single pill) and was very happy with it. (tampagirl)

I looked at the website, and information was helpful. It does look very similar to what my PS described with the Sciton. Did you Dr. advise how long to stay out of the sun, or give some guidance as to how much sun exposure you can have?

I see where the Ultrapulse website does not specifically discuss acne scars as an application. Did you Dr provide any insight in that regard?

Bucksfan is that Milwaukee or OSU? Anyway let's see some pics OP--worth a thousand words at least!

Here are before and after pics at about 4 weeks out. I was actually horrified to see how bad my skin looked before the laser AND I am surprised how GOOD it looks side-by-side with the old. Anyway, needless to say. I am very happy so far. I continue to use retin A everyday.

Hi tampagirl,

Thank you for all the wonderful info. When do you think you will post pictures?

So any updates on improvement? Im having this laser done next week!

Just had my consultation I'm having 2 passes as well on thursday whoop!? Do you think it'll help fade a few red marks I have as well?? Is it worth tha money for someone with lots of cystic scars? I had 4 fraxels and it was bullshit so im steppin it up to this.

I had Active FX done a little over a year ago and it didn't make any noticable difference in my scars.It did help with some fine lines around my eyes though.

Retardiest - See for yourself. I had cystic acne really bad AND VERY blotchy skin.

K in the process. Just had it done a couple hours ago on the deepest highest power setting. Wow you weren't joking about the pain part. Definitely not pleasant at all and fraxel hurt much less and for shorter period of time but I hope it was worth it. Definitely bringing a driver next time if I do it again in 6 months so they can drug me up. My face definitely lookin messed right now and burning sensation all over but its tolerable. Looks like raw spots all over my face.

And to the person above who did active fx tampagirl and I did the total fx which has the deep fx which just from the pain factor between the two passes I could tell the deep fx must work much better than active fx alone and 3 times as deep. But we'll see about that I'll post pics once I recover and thanks to tampagirl for the info inspiring me to do this

Also my first pass of deep fx stung like a bitch and my body was shaking halfway through it but my second pass of active fx felt like nothing compared to it.

Not to mention the stinging like a bitch part took 45 minutes while the second pass of active fx which was barely unpleasant only took 15 minutes and was done.

Oh wow you should see what my face looks like today, lol... pretty crazy

can you post larger pictures? maybe on photobucket or flickr? its impossible to tell improvement.

lol ive looked like either freddy krueger or creatures out of hellraiser the last few days. got drunk and forgot about my condition and went to the gas station other night feelin like normal and didnt realize lots of people i know where there askin me what happened to my face...told em i got in crotch rocket accident

This sounds promising and I like the cost - much more realistic than regualr fraxel.

I don't know if I believe the part about no side effects, though - if you have redness etc., there are always side effects, but you got through it without.

By the way, your skin looks great!

I'll be watching this, so please update.

retardiest - you are too funny. it DID hurt like hell, didnt it? tears rolled down my eyes involuntarily. Im about 6 weeks out and not exfoliating anymore so I am hopeful the improvement will continue.
Yeah, the first few days are SCARY looking, but they don't hurt. Let us know how you are doing. I will try to enlarge the pics and reupload them or load them somewhere else.
- tampagirl