Just had UltraPulse Encore Fractional CO2

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