You should go get a few consultations and see what they say. I had the erbium-yag laser done on my face in June and had no issues but I am very light skinned. Erbium is an ablative laser and the skin is red for a few days after you get it done but then it turns brown and peels and about 5-6 days later you are totally healed. My skin looked exactly the same color where I was lasered so it shouldnt be any lighter or anything. They feather it so it all matches.

You should go get a few consultations and see what they say. I had the erbium-yag laser done on my face in June and had no issues but I am very light skinned. Erbium is an ablative laser and the skin is red for a few days after you get it done but then it turns brown and peels and about 5-6 days later you are totally healed. My skin looked exactly the same color where I was lasered so it shouldnt be any lighter or anything. They feather it so it all matches.

How would you say your results were? How bad was your scarring/how much did it improve? After how many treatments? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to figure out what might work for me.

Don`t waste your time with non-ablative lasers.

I've heard that so many times but I feel as if I have little choice. My skin is dark and I'm afraid of a more invasive laser leaving me worse off than before and my scarring is luckily not that deep.

i would say i got decent results but i only had one of them. my scarring wasnt really deep and i was going to go back and do another one but i have been doing co2 on my chin now for some raised acne scarring. they went 20 microns deep on me with 2 passes. i think this laser can go up to 100 microns deep or so since it is ablative but i think it worked pretty well for me. i also had an ipl done before the lady did the laser too.

for the procedure they numb you up for an hour beforehand and then they go over your face a few times with the laser and during this time they have cold air blowing on you and then they have a vacuum to collect the skin as it falls off. its gross because you can smell the burnt skin which is crazy -ha! once they are done they cool you down with cold washcloths for about an hour and then they put a thick layer of aquaphor on your face and send you on your way. you dont wash your face till the next day which sucks because that aquaphor feels so freaking nasty. then you put another layer on and the next day you can wash it all off and apply a reconstructive cream. where i go they had me use hylunia reconstructive cream because its made for burns. your face feels dry and tight and then turns brown and will start to peel. its crazy though because after you get it done you are super red and you look burnt and you will have some pin point bleeding but then in a few days you look so much better!! one more thing they tell you not to take any aleve/ibuprofen for 10 days before your treatment and they prescribe you an anti-viral and a strong antibiotic to take as well for at least 5 days.

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i would say i got decent results but i only had one of them. my scarring wasnt really deep and i was going to go back and do another one but i have been doing co2 on my chin now for some raised acne scarring. they went 20 microns deep on me with 2 passes. i think this laser can go up to 100 microns deep or so since it is ablative but i think it worked pretty well for me. i also had an ipl done before the lady did the laser too.

for the procedure they numb you up for an hour beforehand and then they go over your face a few times with the laser and during this time they have cold air blowing on you and then they have a vacuum to collect the skin as it falls off. its gross because you can smell the burnt skin which is crazy -ha! once they are done they cool you down with cold washcloths for about an hour and then they put a thick layer of aquaphor on your face and send you on your way. you dont wash your face till the next day which sucks because that aquaphor feels so freaking nasty. then you put another layer on and the next day you can wash it all off and apply a reconstructive cream. where i go they had me use hylunia reconstructive cream because its made for burns. your face feels dry and tight and then turns brown and will start to peel. its crazy though because after you get it done you are super red and you look burnt and you will have some pin point bleeding but then in a few days you look so much better!! one more thing they tell you not to take any aleve/ibuprofen for 10 days before your treatment and they prescribe you an anti-viral and a strong antibiotic to take as well for at least 5 days.

Thanks a bunch for your descriptive reply! I'll look more into this, maybe it'll help.

Don`t waste your time with non-ablative lasers.

I've heard that so many times but I feel as if I have little choice. My skin is dark and I'm afraid of a more invasive laser leaving me worse off than before and my scarring is luckily not that deep.

you will likely end up choosing something much softer than 70mj fraxel dual/restore, and seeing nothing changed. How can you actually believe that a soft laser could do anything when even with deep needling treatments, people still struggle to get full improvement? You shouldn't bother with lasers just do needling.

Do you know if needling improves boxcars and icepick scars on the nose? I considered needling and other things until I came to acne.org and heard a bunch of people saying how hard nose scars are to treat/heal properly. That's really why I decided I might as well try laser. But I admit I'm still not sure. Hence me asking so many questions on this site.

sure and you are very welcome! i have pics of myself during the healing process if you want to see them let me know. i can send them to you. good luck with whatever you decide to do!