Tokyo, I am an advocate ot Fraxel Re:pair which is very similiar to DeepFX Re:pair is the only thing that has worked for me. Anybody that can do fractionalized ablative CO2 should bypass the "natural" remedies.

I had good results with fully ablative CO2 resurfacing, though it took several attempts to make the worst scars (a pair of ice-picks) virtually unnoticeable. I had three sessions on one cheek and five on the other. I did have temporary hypopigmentation, but no serious hyperpigmentation issues. I am pale and blond, so it worked well for me. I do believe the number of treatments I had made my skin more fragile. A very aggressive microdermabrasion session I had about two years later aggravated some of my scarring, but it is not as deep or jagged as before.

I have also heard of people having bad experiences with laser and I think quite a bit of that is dependent on the person's skin, the character of the scarring, and the quality of the doctor.

Thanks for sharing your exprience. If I can figure out how to post pictures at this forum (is there a guide?), I would love to show my results so far. Like I said above, I've had one Deep FX treatment. It was done Feb 16th, so almost 3.5 months ago. I see a *major* improvement and am truly amazed. I didn't take pictures of my scars for a month, so I am just realizing now how much they've improved. If you check realself reviews for just Deep FX, you will note that this laser also has raving reviews there. I realize it won't work for everyone but I wanted to share my experience because it has been absolutely positive so far. I believe it is safe, while there may be more risk when adding Active FX to the treatment. Although, I am hoping to take that additional risk as well in 2.5 more months to even out what remains of my shallow scars. Even in my current state, this was the best decision I've made for treating my scars.

ADDED PICTURES HERE:

http://www.acne.org/...x-before-after/

Please let me know what you think so far.

Also, my derm was NOT aggressive. I wish I had gone with someone who was willing to be aggressive, as I think my results would have been better.

Thanks for sharing your exprience. If I can figure out how to post pictures at this forum (is there a guide?), I would love to show my results so far. Like I said above, I've had one Deep FX treatment. It was done Feb 16th, so almost 3.5 months ago. I see a *major* improvement and am truly amazed. I didn't take pictures of my scars for a month, so I am just realizing now how much they've improved. If you check realself reviews for just Deep FX, you will note that this laser also has raving reviews there. I realize it won't work for everyone but I wanted to share my experience because it has been absolutely positive so far. I believe it is safe, while there may be more risk when adding Active FX to the treatment. Although, I am hoping to take that additional risk as well in 2.5 more months to even out what remains of my shallow scars. Even in my current state, this was the best decision I've made for treating my scars.

ADDED PICTURES HERE:

http://www.acne.org/...x-before-after/

Please let me know what you think so far.

Also, my derm was NOT aggressive. I wish I had gone with someone who was willing to be aggressive, as I think my results would have been better.

 

Wow nice Improvement, would you attribute most of your improvement to the DEEP FX laser?

because i have similar scars to you and I did the active fx, which did nothing =/.

Also how much less are you being charged for gettign the DEEP FX for the 2nd time vs the 1st time.

Wow nice Improvement, would you attribute most of your improvement to the DEEP FX laser?

because i have similar scars to you and I did the active fx, which did nothing =/.

Also how much less are you being charged for gettign the DEEP FX for the 2nd time vs the 1st time.

 

I definitely believe the DEEP FX improved my scars. I don't really have age on my side, and have not invested in any expensive topicals or cleanser. I have been taking Vitamin C, Zinc & Fish Oil but I'm not sure if that had any impact.

I just posted another picture with different lighting, so that I'm not misleading anyone. I still have scars but I am ecstatic with the improvement so far. I realize I will always have scars, so I am only hoping to minimize them.

Also, what's missing from this is I had TCA CROSS done in October 2011, right after I took the before picture. CROSS was a bad decision on my part. It actually made my scars worse. Unfortunately, I did not keep pictures of that phase of my scar treatment. I was just horrified by what I had done to my face in trying to treat/improve my scars. I'm just so happy the laser reversed much of that additional damage.

My right cheek is actually worse than my left. I'm trying to find my before pictures of that cheek. When I do, I will post some more pics. The improvement is not as impressive because the scars are deeper and wider on that cheek, plus I had a really bad response to TCA CROSS on that cheek. However, I am sure there has been improvement there too.

To answer your question, I paid $1000 to have DEEP FX done on my cheeks and one temple. My dermatologist is offering to treat the same areas with TOTAL FX for $1000. However, I am planning to switch to a plastic surgeon who specializes in faces for one more treatment because my derm is less experienced with laser. As a result, he is unwilling to be more aggressive with my deeper scars. Next time, I am going with someone with a proven track record, who can produce results faster.

It's my understanding that Active FX is not for acne scars. It helps smooth the top layer but does not go deep enough to smooth the underlying scarred tissue. With Deep FX, you don't peel like Active FX. It targets deep under your skin where the damage exists.

I tried telling her that I dont think the Active FX would help acne scars, but she insisted. And I have not much choice because she is the only person in my city that offers Fractional Co2. Sometimes I feel like she is all about the money because she tries pushing her products on me.

But hopefully she will do the DEEP FX this time, and the only thing the ACTIVE FX was help even out my pigmentation

I tried telling her that I dont think the Active FX would help acne scars, but she insisted. And I have not much choice because she is the only person in my city that offers Fractional Co2. Sometimes I feel like she is all about the money because she tries pushing her products on me.

But hopefully she will do the DEEP FX this time, and the only thing the ACTIVE FX was help even out my pigmentation

 

I wouldn't return to her. Save your money and keep looking. You might have to travel a little to find the right doctor.

If a doctor ever tried to push a product on me, I would not return. She does sound motivated by money, and that should be a sign to stay clear. I did have the problem with an esthetician. She was always trying to sell me something when I hadn't even completed the treatment that I just paid for... I ended up spending $1000s on microdermabrasion, facials, peels, some kind of electric treatment therapy, etc. believing that she knew what she was doing. She kept telling me that I needed more treatments because my scars were deep when I later discovered that none of her treatments could help my skin. In fact, she still owes me 5 microdermabrasion treatments because I naively prepaid. It's been more than a year since I stopped visiting her, and of course, I haven't heard from her either.

You can actually buy these high end lasers on eBay. Try searching it. That's all it takes for someone to get one. No training required to start treating someone with one either. It's pretty scary.

Hello TokyoGirl, I was browsing through your gallery in your profile and was amazed with your results with DeepFX. Anyhow, i was hoping if you can send me a private msg with your dermatoligist info. I be more than willing to spend a grand on DeepFX after seeing your results, they're really good.

Honestly, I am not comfortable recommending my dermatologist for a variety of reasons, such as:

- there was no follow-up on his end

- he's less experienced with laser

- he's conservative (of course, this could also be a plus because there are less risks of complications & long-term pigmentation issues)

- he also did my TCA Cross which was a disaster. At the time, I didn't blame him, but looking back, I'm not sure what to think now.

- he missed a few of my shallow scars on the side of one cheek.

I'm currently still trying to decide on a new doctor for my second treatment. I think you would be better off finding someone who has done 100s of Deep FX treatments, and is specialized in laser treatment of acne scars.

Tokyogirl thank you got sharing your experiences with us. You as well as a few others on these boards have made me feel more confident about pursuing laser treatment. There are so many negative postings about lasers, and it has been really great to hear positive feedback. My fraxel repair is scheduled mid October so wish me luck and thank you again

I wish there were more positive reponses to this! Kind of worries me as the negative reviews are so plentiful and so terrifying... Anyone else?

There are plenty of positive experiences out there. They just have no reason to ever post on an acne scarring website. The only time you go to a forum like this, really, is to get help or to bitch about why help didn't work. Pretty much nobody comes on here to say if something worked or not because they just don't care about it anymore.

That being said, there are many people on these forums, including me, who approached lasers as an option and got good results out of it.

I hope you're right DragZ. But what about all the negativity on realself? And the other forums. It's just scary because it's obvously unpredictable.

It's the exact same thing.

This is not to say that there AREN'T incompetent quacks out there, far from it. And it's legitimately difficult to find a good doctor who'll treat your scars with great efficiency. But it's more than possible.