Oh wow that video was interesting! It made me cringe thought and I felt a little anxious watching as I know what the Fraxel 2 feels like and that looks like it would hurt a lot more. I really wonder what kind of pain treatment they did for that girl as she didn't even flinch when they did the area by her eye!! Wow I to would like to see how she looked a day after having that done and her after. Hmmmmmm very interesting.

Here is another video from the same place... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOOMCn8JC7I

I went to their website and I guess that laser is the Active FX.

Are you serious??? I don't know about you but my face was BLEEDING considerably after fraxel and this girl doesn't even look like she had much done (other than the fact that they piled cream on her face). After fraxel, they piled cream on my face and it bleed through the creams and my face was so red for that first day that I always put on a hat and didn't look at anyone on my way out of the hospital. I don't know if I had more intense treatments than the norm or not but...that girl didn't even flench during the procedure. Maybe it's just a less painful procedure than fraxel though, which would be great I'd like to see her post 6 months pictures too. I had really good results with fraxel so I'd like to compare.

BTW Guys that video is showing an ActiveFX procedure. These two people have undergone what I believe to be called TotalFX, which is a combination of the ActiveFX &, the newer, DeepFX (goes deeper & w/ smaller dots), which is the fractional laser that really produces results. DeepFX is more for scars, while ActiveFX seems more for pigmentation, but together they are a great 1-2 punch apparently. It is cutting-edge stuff I think...

Retardiest & Tampa, where did u guys get this done at? OR does anybody else know where to get this procedure done, hopefully near so cal?

The combination fx offers something over fraxel. You're getting much more resurfacing and for a cheaper price.

Deep scar resurfacing plus superficial pigment resurfacing in one treatment.

So over a course of 5-6 you'd theoretically have a much better result than with the same number of fraxels.

I'm not sure though that FX goes as deep as Fraxel for scarring. C02 is also ablative so I'm not sure more than one treatment is wise. You lose about 10 percent of your skin with each C02 resurfacing. (That's vaporized tissue that's gone forever.)

I'm still new at figuring out all the laser stuff but I'm guessing what this girl had done is the CO2 fractional laser...a combination of Fraxel but with better results. Also, the CO2 Fractional laser is NON-ABLATIVE. I made sure before I decided to do it. I haven't done yet...I'll do it this next Tuesday but I made sure that it was non-ablative and there is no ozzing or crusting involved. A big plus since you definitely don't want to run the risk of more scarring!

hope this helps a little! Good luck to everyone!

HI ,I think the CO2 fractional laser is ablative but the side effects are reduced compared to the old CO2.

http://www.aesthetic.lumenis.com/pdf/PB-10...UPEnc_A2090.pdf

Go to that brochure and that site in general & look up bridge therapy to find out more info. The technology seems amazing. I'm looking to do in it about 3 weeks

http://www.aesthetic.lumenis.com/pdf/PB-10...UPEnc_A2090.pdf

Go to that brochure and that site in general & look up bridge therapy to find out more info. The technology seems amazing. I'm looking to do in it about 3 weeks

hmmm...that's interesting because my doctor told me that the CO2 fractional laser was non-ablative. Now I'm curious....

I found a website where you can search for a doctor that uses the new activefx etc. machines. I found a guy in mobile that uses the totalfx which is the best one from what I understand. It's going to be a 4 hour trip but I can't find anyone else closer...

http://www.skinandhealth.com/details/practitioner

hi guys...I am having the Fractional CO2 laser done next Tuesday and when I asked the doctor which laser is was...ie: deepfx, totalfx, ect...She said it was the brand new one - MIX20. Anyone else heard of this one? She said the results are incredible and it's non-ablative.

http://www.laseringusa.com/default.aspx?language=en

Is this the machine ur doc is talking about?Again,fractional CO2 laser like this one is ABLATIVE.IF ur doc says it's non-ablative,then u need to consider if r seeing the right person.

healthynclear- I haven't logged on in a while so I hope I didn't miss you. You need to ask the dr. what that name of the laser is, specifically so you can look it up on the website.

Depending on how deep your scars are, will be how "strong" the setting is on the laser. There are several different settings on the Luminus laser that was used on me. "DEEPFX" is the deepest and is the setting I had for the worst parts of the scars.
- tampagirl

SouthpoleSP67
I got mine done at The Vein Center by Dr. Hunt. I got it free cause I volunteered to be a guinea pig because he had just gotten the laser and needed some test cases. I wasn't worried cause the Luminus Dr. was right there the whole time. It is supposed to cost about $2500 in tampa. - Tampagirl

jjp007 -I didn't watch the video but went through Total fx in real life. I can tell you IT HURT LIKE HELL. Don't do it without some serious drugs. - Tampagirl

fraxel 1 and 2 are both a combination of ablative and non-ablative, so i am assuming the same for these lasers (the fraxel re:pair and the deepFX/activeFX/maxFX). ablative because it's wounding the skin in tiny tiny dots, and non-ablative because it's sending heat below the skin. that's how i understand it -- and even though the tiny dot wounds are ablative, because they are so small and leave untouched skin between them, they do not cause crusting/oozing in the way that a full-face C02 does.

HI THERE EVERYONE!

Here is my experience on the CO2 Fractional laser (LUMENIS ULTRA PULSE)
I had the CO2 fractional laser by lumenis done on my cheeks, temples and chin 4 days ago. I'm not sure if I got one or 2 passes but I'm pretty positive i had 2 on my cheeks (where the major scarring was) and one on chin and temples.

Re. pain. I didn't find the treatment extremley painful. I had a numbing cream applied to my whole face for 30-35 minutes before undergoing treatment and it left my skin feeling quite numb but yet sensitive to touch. The treatment took about 20 minutes and although I must say it wasn't a pleasant experience, i'd say that having the inner part of your bikini line done with laser (Candela) -which i had last week- was much worse! But as some of you have pointed out before, we all have a different pain threshold.

After the treatment, the dr applied a thin layer of what seemed to be a glycerin based cream. He warned me that i would feel intense burning and itching and advised me to use a fan to cool down this feeling. 15 minutes after the treatment and with the effects of the numbing cream still going my skin was burning like hell and I was starting to worry on how it would feel later on, when the effects of the numbing cream were gone. Surprisingly enough, by late afternoon the burning feeling had subsided considerably but my skin had created a crust and was oozing considerably. It felt moist to the touch but I'm not sure if it was because of the cream or from the skin itself.

4 days later i have a reddish-brownish (chocolate brown) thin crust covering the areas where the laser was used. If you look closely, you see that the crust is made of tiny dots of burnt out skin. However, in the areas where the scarring was worse, you don't see any dots, just crust.

Regarding downtime, it's been 4 days now and i wouldn't step out of my place unless the whole place was on fire! I look like I'd had a bike accident and my whole face had been scratched against the ground. I'm sure that if step out of my place people will stare at me (maybe they wouldn't in LA, where everyone seems to be used to this, but they'd certainly do here in Barcelona, Spain, where I live!)

My question to those of you who have undergone treatment before is how long did it take for the crust to start falling off? I've read that some of you were exfoliating and using mosturizer but my doctor has told me not to touch the area and to avoid wetting it. I'll be seeing him again in 10 days but I need to get back to work in a week and I'd like to know if I'll still have the crust, as I'm a teacher and I won't dare to enter the class looking like Freddy Kruegger!!!

Thanks all and I'll keep on posting my experience as days go by!

FROMBCN'
I don't know what other's experience was, but I never really crusted over. I don't think my treatment was as intense as yours. - tampagirl

Hi all,
I just wanted to share my little story with different lasers since I'm new to this site, and trying to find a better solution. I never had any acne when I was a teenager, it all started to develop around the age of 21, when I came to Florida; I guess the humidity didn't work wonders for my face. About 2 years later I developed something called a bacterial folicculates, which I don't really know what that is, but it definitely looks like acne scars afterwards. I come originally from Europe, so I have very fair skin, and scars mostly on my nose and forehead, since I have the T-zone or combination skin as they call it.
I did a series of 6 microdermabrasions, which did nothing - $600. About a year later I started with smoothbeam, about 2 treatments, and recommendation that I should switch to a laser peal, which is of course more expensive. I wasted another $1,500. Than the doctor wanted me to start on Fraxel laser - which I would've need couple of treatments and I said stop. I'm not wasting my money again.
I'm doing my research online and went for couple of consultations with different doctors. Of course, everybody is offering what they have in the office currently. I had 4 consultations so far, and still not sure which treatment to go with. The options are classic CO2 on the whole face - 2-3 weeks downtime and possible scaring and hyper pigmentation - $3800. Acnefx laser combination with 3 fraxel - total of 4 treatments - $3300. CO2 only on my nose and forehead - $1600, but I'm afraid that the color of my nose will be different from the rest of my face. And today I went to another one and got recommended the erbium laser - 4 treatments - I have a discount through my friend from $3000 to $1800 for the whole 4 treatments.
I still don't know which option to go with, but would definitely like some feedback. I wanted to do the totalfx, but there is non in South Florida, the closest is in Tampa, so I would have to travel.

By the way tampagirls, I saw your pictures, and they look very nice, is your skin still improving, I heard that the collagen is building up to 6 month after the treatments.

Ilona

Hi Ilona!

I had the lumenis ultrapulse done (2 passes). That is a C02 with fractional technology as Tampagirl previously explained.

5 days later my face's still a crust. Funny that you didn't crust at all Tampagirl! I'd say we had the same treatment, but I'll be more than happy if my results are as good as yours

Anyway, no results to be seen for the moment -just crust, but by the look of things, downtime is going to be at least 10 days (and that is not leaving the house!) I feel perfect, no pain whatsovever, but look terrible!!!!!

I'll keep you up with progress!!!!

Ilona
Been there, done that. Understand your issues with dr's selling what they have. I had cystic acne scars as well as 3 trauma scars on my face. I had a face lift to start although I was only 47. I would not recommend this as a solution to scarring, but I sure liked the effects nonetheless. I had a "real" chem peel years and years ago, and it was very traumatic for my face - in terms of downtime. I wouldn't recommend it. I was seriously debating traditional CO2 laser (ablative) when everyone began to recommend Fraxel. I considered Fraxel (5-8 treatments) but was not really that sold on the process for improving scars. Remember, they show you the best of the best before and after pics and it was doubtful I would get the same benefits. I also looked at some of the other processes that you mention when this Deepfx laser came to Tampa. They offered to use me as a training subject so I went for it. I am happy with the results, I still have some indentions but scars have been significantly softened. It costs about $2000 at the Vein Center with no additional costs. Good news is that you can do this in about an hour, but you must have a driver with you if you get any valium or anything like that. I would INSIST on more that stupid Tylenol, that is for sure. You might have to drive back up in a week or so for a follow up, but even that is questionable. Might be worth the trip if you can't find anything similar there. Look up Luminus laser on the web and check other postings on this thread. I think there are other companies that have the same thing. Basically, it is a CO2 laser that zaps you in tiny dots. Each dot is the laser penetrating and "burning" the skin. The trauma causes collagen to be produced, and skin to be tightened. The closer the dots are together, the "stronger" the treatment. Also, the laser settings can go deeper or more shallow. Deep, close together dots is called "Deep FX" which is best for scars. Then there are "totalfx" and "activefx" settings.

I was afraid of real co2 because it really takes off the top layer of your skin all over and could cause more trauma if you scar easily, or if infection, or God knows what else - besides the TOTAL downtime for 10 days (don't let them lie to you about only a few days down). Note - Fractionalized CO2 STILL traps you in the house (pretty much pain free, but VERY ugly) for a week. Don't listen to any sales crap about only a few days downtime.

Anyway, that is my take on what is out there for scars. However, everyone is different and you might have a much better experience with one over the other. Make sure you read this thread because several others have had fractionalized co2 since I did.

Last, consider getting an rx for a retin-a product and use it every day. I haven't had an outbreak since. My insurance covers it since it is a legitimate medical use (not just wrinkle prevention) - tampagirl