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Billy, Mz,
Revisiting the topic of fillers, keep an eye out for Sub-Q. It's showing a lot of promise as a semi permanent filler and would be an excellent filler in conjuction with Fraxel. I will have to check where it stands with FDA approval in the US. It's creating such a stir patients are traveling to other countries to receive treatment. Read the article for more info:
The big fill
SubQ makes its grand debut as a filler
for areas big and small.
In the past, fat transplants and silicone and chin implants were used to define cheekbones, chin or hollows of the face, which diminish with age. In January, SubQ, will launch as an alternative to silicone and fat transplants for the face and body.
Better than silicone
For cheek and chin implants, SubQ is less expensive, causes less downtime and risk, and has more predictability in terms of placement, says Dr. Michael Weinberg, who was one of the first doctors to test SubQ in Canada.
Better than fat
For filling out cheeks or post-liposuction defects in the stomach, hips and legs, SubQ is less expensive, 100 per cent predictable and is a quicker and easier procedure than a fat transplant. And it requires no donor site, which means theres no risk of donor-site deformity, which can occur during a fat transfer.
Details
A tiny incision is made, and SubQ is injected through a very fine cannula (as used in liposuction) into the deep layers of the subcutis (above the muscle). Only one injection is needed per area, under local anesthetic, and results last at least six to nine months. Side effects may include clumping of the product, but it can easily be treated with aspiration (suctioning out), says Dr. Weinberg. Chantel Simmons
WHO TO CALL & WHERE TO GO:
Dr. Michael Weinberg, 905-273-3045,
ontarioplasticsurgeon.com
Photo # 1: RF
I really don't want to get a filler. I might have to but I am expecting Fraxel to level it. I am really confused, I don't want that scar though. Thinking about fillers now gives me a huge headache. I feel like my whole face is a joke. This feels like a never ending process. How do you guys handle it all? I get so sad thinking about it.
mz
For expert advice, listen to Troubled.
That said, I think you are putting too many things on face, causing irritation. About 2 weeks after Fraxel, I would try Retin A. Otherwise, I simply used a mosturizer.
But my doc did not think Retain A would help with collagen filling, so I stopped it. His opinion was that Tarzac (sp?) might help (but he doubted it, perhaps because of my age) but that time was the most likely thing to help fill in scars.
Time has helped, but fraxel was far from being a miracle for me, yet good enough to try again.
Hey guys. I wore makeup today and saw myself in bright light. Skin looks aweful. The scars were so visible. Skin looks rough and uneven. I saw my surgical scar (still indented and looks aweful sideway) and small shallow scars. I was grossed out. I just came home and washed the makeup off. I think I look much better without any makeup. So far I'm not satisfied w/ Fraxel. I'm not positive today. Feel like 3rd treatment won't help much either.
Edited: I just took some pictures at different angle. Can anyone tell if there are any change to my skin so far? I'm posting pic. of post treatment 1 and post treatment 2. Are there any changes to the largest surgical scars (left cheek)?
Here are the orders:
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: RSide
TX2: RSide
TX1: LSide
Mz,
Your skin is looking pretty red and irritated for 14 days post Fraxel. Did you prep with hydroquinone? This is escpecially important for asian skin. If yes, what % and how long?
Yes I use Obagi. It has 4% of hydroquinone. My skin gets red everytime I use it. I'm applying copper peptide now to keep the redness down. I really don't know about my skin anymore. Sometime I see a difference and another time I see it being worse. I need 2nd opinion.
Mz,
Obagi is a good product. I assume this is rx is from you doctor. Did you apply it before your first Fraxel treatment? What were his/her instruction to you for its use after each Fraxel treatment? Also, how old is your incision scar?
Hey guys. I wore makeup today and saw myself in bright light. Skin looks aweful. The scars were so visible. Skin looks rough and uneven. I saw my surgical scar (still indented and looks aweful sideway) and small shallow scars. I was grossed out. I just came home and washed the makeup off. I think I look much better without any makeup. So far I'm not satisfied w/ Fraxel. I'm not positive today. Feel like 3rd treatment won't help much either.
Edited: I just took some pictures at different angle. Can anyone tell if there are any change to my skin so far? I'm posting pic. of post treatment 1 and post treatment 2. Are there any changes to the largest surgical scars (left cheek)?
Here are the orders:
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: RSide
TX2: RSide
TX1: LSide
Mz,
Your skin is looking pretty red and irritated for 14 days post Fraxel. Did you prep with hydroquinone? This is escpecially important for asian skin. If yes, what % and how long?
Yes I use Obagi. It has 4% of hydroquinone. My skin gets red everytime I use it. I'm applying copper peptide now to keep the redness down. I really don't know about my skin anymore. Sometime I see a difference and another time I see it being worse. I need 2nd opinion.
Mz,
Obagi is a good product. I assume this is rx is from you doctor. Did you apply it before your first Fraxel treatment? What were his/her instruction to you for its use after each Fraxel treatment? Also, how old is your incision scar?
you mean excision scar. Its been ~2 months. Y? I've posted Obagi instructions before on this posts. I'm suppose to use it and stop 2 week before Fraxel treatment.
This feels like a never ending process. How do you guys handle it all? I get so sad thinking about it.
I feel the exact same way, and wonder the exact same thing.
R you trying Fraxel as well? Yes, I'm really tired of this.
Hey guys. I wore makeup today and saw myself in bright light. Skin looks aweful. The scars were so visible. Skin looks rough and uneven. I saw my surgical scar (still indented and looks aweful sideway) and small shallow scars. I was grossed out. I just came home and washed the makeup off. I think I look much better without any makeup. So far I'm not satisfied w/ Fraxel. I'm not positive today. Feel like 3rd treatment won't help much either.
Edited: I just took some pictures at different angle. Can anyone tell if there are any change to my skin so far? I'm posting pic. of post treatment 1 and post treatment 2. Are there any changes to the largest surgical scars (left cheek)?
Here are the orders:
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: RSide
TX2: RSide
TX1: LSide
Mz,
Your skin is looking pretty red and irritated for 14 days post Fraxel. Did you prep with hydroquinone? This is escpecially important for asian skin. If yes, what % and how long?
Yes I use Obagi. It has 4% of hydroquinone. My skin gets red everytime I use it. I'm applying copper peptide now to keep the redness down. I really don't know about my skin anymore. Sometime I see a difference and another time I see it being worse. I need 2nd opinion.
Mz,
Obagi is a good product. I assume this is rx is from you doctor. Did you apply it before your first Fraxel treatment? What were his/her instruction to you for its use after each Fraxel treatment? Also, how old is your incision scar?
you mean excision scar. Its been ~2 months. Y? I've posted Obagi instructions before on this posts. I'm suppose to use it and stop 2 week before Fraxel treatment.
This feels like a never ending process. How do you guys handle it all? I get so sad thinking about it.
I feel the exact same way, and wonder the exact same thing.
R you trying Fraxel as well? Yes, I'm really tired of this.
Mz,
If the pictures you just posted are current, the amount of skin irritation/peeling appears excessive given that you are 14 days post treatment. Spreading on too much hydroquinone can have that effect. Incision/excision scars generally heal the same as long as there's not too much tension on the area so that's not really important.
More relevant is that your scars are recent which means they are probably more amenable to resurfacing so you have that going for you. You are young and seem to have a lot of positives on your side that would suggest a favorable outcome. Keep in mind other Fraxel patients like Widgie had great results but did not see see anything until treatment #5. Fraxel is a slow process that will NOT work without commitment and patience. I suggest planning for possibly six or more.
mz43026
i had tried a lot of treatments.
cool glide, smooth beam, v beam, self tca cross 100%, self tca peel 50%, self needling, saline injections, v beam again, self super cop 2x cross, fraxel low level once at 8mj, and recently subcision.
none of those treatments help, i got more worse scarring after tca cross due to not following the instruction exactly.
i went to see a doctor for microdroplet silicone injection but the doctor refused to do it, he said i might get some lumps, recommended fraxel and restylane instead.
now i'm just doing self dermaplaning.
your skin are still very red even after 14 days post fraxel.
do chinese people usually get that red after a high level fraxel?
i'm chinese and worry i will get extremely red like that too.
Hey guys. I wore makeup today and saw myself in bright light. Skin looks aweful. The scars were so visible. Skin looks rough and uneven. I saw my surgical scar (still indented and looks aweful sideway) and small shallow scars. I was grossed out. I just came home and washed the makeup off. I think I look much better without any makeup. So far I'm not satisfied w/ Fraxel. I'm not positive today. Feel like 3rd treatment won't help much either.
Edited: I just took some pictures at different angle. Can anyone tell if there are any change to my skin so far? I'm posting pic. of post treatment 1 and post treatment 2. Are there any changes to the largest surgical scars (left cheek)?
Here are the orders:
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: RSide
TX2: RSide
TX1: LSide
Mz,
Your skin is looking pretty red and irritated for 14 days post Fraxel. Did you prep with hydroquinone? This is escpecially important for asian skin. If yes, what % and how long?
Yes I use Obagi. It has 4% of hydroquinone. My skin gets red everytime I use it. I'm applying copper peptide now to keep the redness down. I really don't know about my skin anymore. Sometime I see a difference and another time I see it being worse. I need 2nd opinion.
Mz,
Obagi is a good product. I assume this is rx is from you doctor. Did you apply it before your first Fraxel treatment? What were his/her instruction to you for its use after each Fraxel treatment? Also, how old is your incision scar?
you mean excision scar. Its been ~2 months. Y? I've posted Obagi instructions before on this posts. I'm suppose to use it and stop 2 week before Fraxel treatment.
This feels like a never ending process. How do you guys handle it all? I get so sad thinking about it.
I feel the exact same way, and wonder the exact same thing.
R you trying Fraxel as well? Yes, I'm really tired of this.
Mz,
If the pictures you just posted are current, the amount of skin irritation/peeling appears excessive given that you are 14 days post treatment. Spreading on too much hydroquinone can have that effect. Incision/excision scars generally heal the same as long as there's not too much tension on the area so that's not really important.
More relevant is that your scars are recent which means they are probably more amenable to resurfacing so you have that going for you. You are young and seem to have a lot of positives on your side that would suggest a favorable outcome. Keep in mind other Fraxel patients like Widgie had great results but did not see see anything until treatment #5. Fraxel is a slow process that will NOT work without commitment and patience. I suggest planning for possibly six or more.
Will I see results after 3rd treament? And I will see better results after 6 treaments? I am very unsure of it all because this techology is fairly new. Plus I haven't heard many success stories on here. I would like to view other ppls pics. so that I can relate my progress with theirs. I really don't know what to expect after each treatments. I imagine great improvements before I started the treatment.
My skin is more pink, somehow it looks more red on here. It might of been the camera setting. But it gets that way so I'm not worried about it. It usually takes 1 month for the redness to go away for me.
I can't imagine going for more unless I see big improvements during 5 treatments. If there is a change, I would definately continue. I won't probably stop until I achieve my expectation. But my surgical scar definately has to heal.
I thought there is a diminishing of return after 5-6 treatments?? I also heard that we must wait at least 6 months for next set of treatment.
My major concern are my surgical scars. How should I comfront my doc. about it? I was told that it would be eliminated by Fraxel and I don't see that happening yet. How should I address my concern w/ her on my next appt. ? Should I wait and hear her options (ie. fillers) first then bring up alternatives like fillers?
edited: I do see some changes but not on the scars (if that makes sense).
Hey guys. I wore makeup today and saw myself in bright light. Skin looks aweful. The scars were so visible. Skin looks rough and uneven. I saw my surgical scar (still indented and looks aweful sideway) and small shallow scars. I was grossed out. I just came home and washed the makeup off. I think I look much better without any makeup. So far I'm not satisfied w/ Fraxel. I'm not positive today. Feel like 3rd treatment won't help much either.
Edited: I just took some pictures at different angle. Can anyone tell if there are any change to my skin so far? I'm posting pic. of post treatment 1 and post treatment 2. Are there any changes to the largest surgical scars (left cheek)?
Here are the orders:
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: RSide
TX2: RSide
TX1: LSide
Mz,
Your skin is looking pretty red and irritated for 14 days post Fraxel. Did you prep with hydroquinone? This is escpecially important for asian skin. If yes, what % and how long?
Yes I use Obagi. It has 4% of hydroquinone. My skin gets red everytime I use it. I'm applying copper peptide now to keep the redness down. I really don't know about my skin anymore. Sometime I see a difference and another time I see it being worse. I need 2nd opinion.
Mz,
Obagi is a good product. I assume this is rx is from you doctor. Did you apply it before your first Fraxel treatment? What were his/her instruction to you for its use after each Fraxel treatment? Also, how old is your incision scar?
you mean excision scar. Its been ~2 months. Y? I've posted Obagi instructions before on this posts. I'm suppose to use it and stop 2 week before Fraxel treatment.
This feels like a never ending process. How do you guys handle it all? I get so sad thinking about it.
I feel the exact same way, and wonder the exact same thing.
R you trying Fraxel as well? Yes, I'm really tired of this.
Mz,
If the pictures you just posted are current, the amount of skin irritation/peeling appears excessive given that you are 14 days post treatment. Spreading on too much hydroquinone can have that effect. Incision/excision scars generally heal the same as long as there's not too much tension on the area so that's not really important.
More relevant is that your scars are recent which means they are probably more amenable to resurfacing so you have that going for you. You are young and seem to have a lot of positives on your side that would suggest a favorable outcome. Keep in mind other Fraxel patients like Widgie had great results but did not see see anything until treatment #5. Fraxel is a slow process that will NOT work without commitment and patience. I suggest planning for possibly six or more.
Will I see results after 3rd treament? And I will see better results after 6 treaments? I am very unsure of it all because this techology is fairly new. Plus I haven't heard many success stories on here. I would like to view other ppls pics. so that I can relate my progress with theirs. I really don't know what to expect after each treatments. I imagine great improvements before I started the treatment.
My skin is more pink, somehow it looks more red on here. It might of been the camera setting. But it gets that way so I'm not worried about it. It usually takes 1 month for the redness to go away for me.
I can't imagine going for more unless I see big improvements during 5 treatments. If there is a change, I would definately continue. I won't probably stop until I achieve my expectation. But my surgical scar definately has to heal.
I thought there is a diminishing of return after 5-6 treatments?? I also heard that we must wait at least 6 months for next set of treatment.
My major concern are my surgical scars. How should I comfront my doc. about it? I was told that it would be eliminated by Fraxel and I don't see that happening yet. How should I address my concern w/ her on my next appt. ? Should I wait and hear her options (ie. fillers) first then bring up alternatives like fillers?
edited: I do see some changes but not on the scars (if that makes sense).
As troubled said and a few others have said, Fraxel is a slow process that will NOT work without commitment and patience.
You are expecting way to much way to soon. As someone else suggested, calm down, be gentle to your skin (it seems like you are using to many harsh products on your face) and don't stress so much. Time, Fraxel takes time to see results and I think your expectations might be unreasonable. I have a friend who is doing the Fraxel 2 as well and her skin isn't bad at all (I don't know why she's doing it other then a bit of dicoloration she has but she's an actress so she wants the best skin possible). She didn't see any kind of results until after the 3rd one.
My skin is so much worse then yours. I have seen only a few of your pics as you don't leave them up long enough but from what I have seen your skin doesn't look that bad.
I'm not saying I don't get depressed due to my skin but I know that with Fraxel I have to wait until at least 4 to 5 months after my 6th treatment to see the full results. I go in for my 3rd one on Wed and I can't wait! I might start going every 3 weeks if the doctor thinks it's ok. My skin is looking a little worse since I can't use any topicals as much.......only a week a month.
Tazorac, its a retinoid virtually the same as retin-A. I think there is a small chemical difference but mostly I think it is branding. Also called Tazoretene (drug name).
Some girl named hunter had a thread about over-using Taz until her face was raw and bleeding. Supposedly she said it healed all her scars. She posted glamor/photoshopped/make-up pics in her thread and got torn apart.
mz
For expert advice, listen to Troubled.
That said, I think you are putting too many things on face, causing irritation. About 2 weeks after Fraxel, I would try Retin A. Otherwise, I simply used a mosturizer.
But my doc did not think Retain A would help with collagen filling, so I stopped it. His opinion was that Tarzac (sp?) might help (but he doubted it, perhaps because of my age) but that time was the most likely thing to help fill in scars.
Time has helped, but fraxel was far from being a miracle for me, yet good enough to try again.
Hey guys. I wore makeup today and saw myself in bright light. Skin looks aweful. The scars were so visible. Skin looks rough and uneven. I saw my surgical scar (still indented and looks aweful sideway) and small shallow scars. I was grossed out. I just came home and washed the makeup off. I think I look much better without any makeup. So far I'm not satisfied w/ Fraxel. I'm not positive today. Feel like 3rd treatment won't help much either.
Edited: I just took some pictures at different angle. Can anyone tell if there are any change to my skin so far? I'm posting pic. of post treatment 1 and post treatment 2. Are there any changes to the largest surgical scars (left cheek)?
Here are the orders:
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: LSide
TX2: LSide
TX1: RSide
TX2: RSide
TX1: LSide
Mz,
Your skin is looking pretty red and irritated for 14 days post Fraxel. Did you prep with hydroquinone? This is escpecially important for asian skin. If yes, what % and how long?
Yes I use Obagi. It has 4% of hydroquinone. My skin gets red everytime I use it. I'm applying copper peptide now to keep the redness down. I really don't know about my skin anymore. Sometime I see a difference and another time I see it being worse. I need 2nd opinion.
Mz,
Obagi is a good product. I assume this is rx is from you doctor. Did you apply it before your first Fraxel treatment? What were his/her instruction to you for its use after each Fraxel treatment? Also, how old is your incision scar?
you mean excision scar. Its been ~2 months. Y? I've posted Obagi instructions before on this posts. I'm suppose to use it and stop 2 week before Fraxel treatment.
This feels like a never ending process. How do you guys handle it all? I get so sad thinking about it.
I feel the exact same way, and wonder the exact same thing.
R you trying Fraxel as well? Yes, I'm really tired of this.
Mz,
If the pictures you just posted are current, the amount of skin irritation/peeling appears excessive given that you are 14 days post treatment. Spreading on too much hydroquinone can have that effect. Incision/excision scars generally heal the same as long as there's not too much tension on the area so that's not really important.
More relevant is that your scars are recent which means they are probably more amenable to resurfacing so you have that going for you. You are young and seem to have a lot of positives on your side that would suggest a favorable outcome. Keep in mind other Fraxel patients like Widgie had great results but did not see see anything until treatment #5. Fraxel is a slow process that will NOT work without commitment and patience. I suggest planning for possibly six or more.
Will I see results after 3rd treament? And I will see better results after 6 treaments? I am very unsure of it all because this techology is fairly new. Plus I haven't heard many success stories on here. I would like to view other ppls pics. so that I can relate my progress with theirs. I really don't know what to expect after each treatments. I imagine great improvements before I started the treatment.
My skin is more pink, somehow it looks more red on here. It might of been the camera setting. But it gets that way so I'm not worried about it. It usually takes 1 month for the redness to go away for me.
I can't imagine going for more unless I see big improvements during 5 treatments. If there is a change, I would definately continue. I won't probably stop until I achieve my expectation. But my surgical scar definately has to heal.
I thought there is a diminishing of return after 5-6 treatments?? I also heard that we must wait at least 6 months for next set of treatment.
My major concern are my surgical scars. How should I comfront my doc. about it? I was told that it would be eliminated by Fraxel and I don't see that happening yet. How should I address my concern w/ her on my next appt. ? Should I wait and hear her options (ie. fillers) first then bring up alternatives like fillers?
edited: I do see some changes but not on the scars (if that makes sense).
As troubled said and a few others have said, Fraxel is a slow process that will NOT work without commitment and patience.
You are expecting way to much way to soon. As someone else suggested, calm down, be gentle to your skin (it seems like you are using to many harsh products on your face) and don't stress so much. Time, Fraxel takes time to see results and I think your expectations might be unreasonable. I have a friend who is doing the Fraxel 2 as well and her skin isn't bad at all (I don't know why she's doing it other then a bit of dicoloration she has but she's an actress so she wants the best skin possible). She didn't see any kind of results until after the 3rd one.
My skin is so much worse then yours. I have seen only a few of your pics as you don't leave them up long enough but from what I have seen your skin doesn't look that bad.
I'm not saying I don't get depressed due to my skin but I know that with Fraxel I have to wait until at least 4 to 5 months after my 6th treatment to see the full results. I go in for my 3rd one on Wed and I can't wait! I might start going every 3 weeks if the doctor thinks it's ok. My skin is looking a little worse since I can't use any topicals as much.......only a week a month.
I'm mostly stressed about the surgical scars. I know that in time Fraxel would help acne scars but surgical scars is questionable right now. There aren't many in here that had both excision and Fraxel done except Billyboy and he hasn't had success. After hearing that It scared me. I don't think I'll ever be okay as long as those scars are on my face. That is why I am so stressed out because I don't know the answer to that. My doc. told me during consultation that it would be eradicated by Fraxel and I based my expectation on her words. I never thought it might stay on my face forever. That's what got me so impatient and out of balance.
I haven't seen your photos though. You might be more tough on your own skin.
Its just that there was a poster named Mmite, she had seen great improvements after 2nd treatment. Our age and ethnic background is similar. So I also thought that I would heal the same way.
I don't hear enough update posts from more ppl. in here. I just hear lot of other comments made.
I get confused, I hear people say 5 treatment is max. then you stop for awhile, and now I'm hearing 6 treatments. I'm going in this Thursday. I take it that you have not had much improvements either? Our schedule is very similar.
Yes same for me about topicals, I use it or a week in a month.
The reason I took my pic. down so soon is cause Its hard for me to look at. I think its same way for everyone else.
Tazorac, its a retinoid virtually the same as retin-A. I think there is a small chemical difference but mostly I think it is branding. Also called Tazoretene (drug name).
Some girl named hunter had a thread about over-using Taz until her face was raw and bleeding. Supposedly she said it healed all her scars. She posted glamor/photoshopped/make-up pics in her thread and got torn apart.
mz
For expert advice, listen to Troubled.
That said, I think you are putting too many things on face, causing irritation. About 2 weeks after Fraxel, I would try Retin A. Otherwise, I simply used a mosturizer.
But my doc did not think Retain A would help with collagen filling, so I stopped it. His opinion was that Tarzac (sp?) might help (but he doubted it, perhaps because of my age) but that time was the most likely thing to help fill in scars.
Time has helped, but fraxel was far from being a miracle for me, yet good enough to try again.
My doc. believe that Tazorac will help. I don't think over using is a good idea. I read hunters thread before and have tried her method and it only made my skin worse. If I use it (w/ Obagi), it would only be once or twice a week then I stop and I would peel w/in 3-4 days.
yeah, thats what sucks. There are no success stories regarding Fraxel. I guess everyone is on the same position as me.
Mz,
I stand by my original opinion that you are still too early in your treatment to see any significant results with aprox. 30% skin coverage. That said, I read your signature and it appears you received 2.64 kJ in your second treatment. As I mentioned before Asian skin is generally treated conservatively HOWEVER your kJ is still pretty low per Reliant guidelines.
I just had an interesting exchange with Dr. Ramsey from Baylor. He observed that the single most important difference between non-responders/responders from patients that he has studied are that the kJ level was too low in the non responders despite similar Fraxel settings. kJ is a very important measurement as it is the TOTAL energy used on the face. As said asian skin is generally treated lower due to hyperpigmentation issues but your treatments are less then half the kJ per Reliant guidelines which are based on facial size and are as follow:
Small 5-6 kJ
Medium 6-7kJ
Large 7-8 kJ
Hope this helps
Mz,
I stand by my original opinion that you are still too early in your treatment to see any significant results with aprox. 30% skin coverage. That said, I read your signature and it appears you received 2.64 kJ in your second treatment. As I mentioned before Asian skin is generally treated conservatively HOWEVER your kJ is still pretty low per Reliant guidelines.
I just had an interesting exchange with Dr. Ramsey from Baylor. He observed that the single most important difference between non-responders/responders from patients that he has studied are that the kJ level was too low in the non responders despite similar Fraxel settings. kJ is a very important measurement as it is the TOTAL energy used on the face. As said asian skin is generally treated lower due to hyperpigmentation issues but your treatments are less then half the kJ per Reliant guidelines which are based on facial size and are as follow:
Small 5-6 kJ
Medium 6-7kJ
Large 7-8 kJ
Hope this helps
I was told that my KJ was high on my second treatment. I'm only treating my cheeks by the way. I'm confused..
Small 5-6 kJ
Medium 6-7kJ
Large 7-8 kJ
Troubled skin. I'm a white, 29 year old male. I've gotten two treatments done at 40 with the SR1500. I'm not sure of my kJ though. I'm only getting my temples and forehead done. What are you referring to when you say small, medium, or large? The surface area? What do you think my amount should be?
To all receiving Fraxel treatments,
It doesnat appear that many posters on this forum are stating treatment levels in their signatures. From the few that I have had the opportunity to exchange e-mail with, I am beginning to get the impression that kJ levels are for some unexplained reason are lower with Fraxel 2 (SR1500) despite similarly high mj and density between both machines. Perhaps this variation can be attributed to the variable spot sizes or tweaked energy levels with Fraxel 2 or maybe it's just reader error. There were a lot of complaints about pain with the original Fraxel perhaps among other reasons Reliant tweaked the SR1500 to achieve lower overall k/J levels for less pain and thus better patient compliance? I doubt this is the case but if this were true I would have concerns about efficacy.
For everyone that is receiving Fraxel treatments, I canat recommend enough talking with your Dr. and finding out what your kJ, mj, and density is. (If you havenat done this already). Donat forget to post your numbers in your signature panel and indicate which Fraxel you are being treated with Fraxel 1 (SR750) or Fraxel 2 (SR 1500). Doing this will not only help yourself with getting the correct feedback but others on the forum as well.
I am pasting a clip from the Reliant Insider News Letter . This should have been given to every Dr. that purchased a Fraxel laser. The recommended kJ levels per Reliant guidelines. This is based on the size of your face or other area being treated. With the few exceptions of ethnicity, make sure you are getting the correct levels. If you are in ANY doubt about where your treatment is progressing, print this out and take it with you to discuss with your Dr. Especially if you are receiving treatments for Fraxel 2 as there appears to be another learning curve with the upgrade.
If you find that your kJ level is too low, ask your Dr. to explain his/her treatment plan is for you. No question, Fraxel treatments are far from inexpensive and you owe it to yourselves to be an informed, confident, patient that demands the most aggressive treatment plan for your scars possible.
(kJ Guideline from Reliant Insider Newsletter)
As a general rule of thumb, use the grid
below to determine what the kJ counter
should read at the end of each treatment,
suggests Dr. Zakia Rahman, Reliant consulting
dermatologist.
Optimal
Area of Rx Energy Output
Small Face 5-6 kJ
Medium Face 6-7 kJ
Large Face 7-8 kJ
Hands 1.5-2 kJ
Neck 3.5-4 kJ
Please refer to pages 16 & 17 in the Reliant
QuickStart Guide for a more detailed
explanation of how to determine average
fluence.
The treatment level was not given (or displayed on the screen) on my first treatment. The machine was SR1500. On the second treatment, the SR1500 was upgraded (different screen display) and the screen showed more info. No I definately had my KJ correct. From now on I will copy it down after my treatments.
I just think Fraxel is either slow or ineffective. Its just how I feel at this moment. Also on my doc.'s website it said Fraxel is for mild scarring and not for something severe.
Edited: Hey guys check this site. (Nothing to do w/ Acne Scars)
MZ if your doctor told you that any scar would be totally eradicated with Fraxel then they don't know what they are talking about....no scar can ever really be 100% repaired. The old saying goes, Once a scar always a scar. All we can do is to try to make them less noticeable.
The reason you aren't hearing many success stories around here is because this technology is so very new. The Fraxel 2 only came out a few months ago.........to say it came out in August....then someone who started in August and is having 6 treatments won't be done with the treatments until Feb of 07 and then they should wait at least 3 or 4 months to see full collagen production....so June of 07 would be the earliest to tell fully what kind of improvement Fraxel 2 done properly can offer (of course these are just rough estimates).
I have dealt with acne and scarring my whole life and you too will get by if you don't 100% eliminate of your surgical scar. As you get older you realize there is more to life then how you look and you let it bother you less and less.
I still don't think you fully understand how long this treatment is to see results and I think you are expecting to much (which sounds like it might be partly your doctors fault). My doctor never gave me any kind of guarantee about getting rid of my scars. He just says they will be improved.
If you don't get realistic about things you will be very disappointed.
Go out, get a hobby and just get the best possible Fraxel treatments you can and let your body heal. I'm done trying to talk you into it 
even if me telling you these things helps me and my mindset too
Troubled
Perhaps you could post link to the hypo/fraxel pictures via photobucket.
Also, my non excision scars are almost 40 years old. What is the probability of fixing them with fraxel? Also, any comment on my proposed settings for Dec 13 fraxel?
Thanks
Billy,
I wish I could give you a more definitive answer about your scars but I am not aware of any solid data for the treatment of scars that old. Even if there was we must consider that all scar remodeling is completely based on individual body chemistry.
I'm from the school of thought that ANY improvement, regardless how small is an indication that your body is capable of scar remodeling. Of course it takes longer with age not to mention we are all battling the laws of diminishing returns but, assuming your scars showed 15% improvement already. I see no reason why you couldn't expect at least another 15%, possibly much more as collagen production tends to boost with each successive treatment. With an end result possibly in 50-80% improvement range. To acheive that much of a response though you must be willing to make the commitment to do Fraxel long term as I do not believe you will achieve nearly the results with 8 treatments as a younger person with favorable healing response. After completion of your treatments any residual scarring should be taken care of quite nicely with fillers so the end result should be the same, it is just going to take you a little longer to get there. 😉
There are a few other options such as re-excision from a qualified P/S followed by Fraxel 6 weeks post excision, Active FX, permanent/semi permanent fillers, Portrait PSR3 ect. If melanocyte migration fails, there is also the excimer laser or micro pigmentation. I have seen beautiful results with micro pigmentation by the way.
About your Fraxel settings. It appears that you have a good strategy but I would add that Dr. Ramsey from Baylor mentioned to me in a recent exchange that he uses a technique which alternates high and low settings to obtain optimal results. Below is an exert from his e-mail to me. Hope this helps.
From Dr. Ramsey:
(I do not have the chart handy) but I believe that I used a blend for her with both relatively low fluence and high density as well as high fluence and low density. For what it is worth, in my opinion (which is more or less all we have), I would probably treat her at this point with 15-16 mj and a density of 1500-1750 mtz/cm2. A key ingredient is technique and small variations in how closely the passes are spaced and overlapped can make 2 practitioners using the same setting have different results. When I have discussed parameters with less experienced Fraxel users who were not getting good results I found that despite similar settings, the total energy used was much lower probably reflecting differences in technique. Unfortunately every face is different and it is not possible for a patient to figure out whether they were given an aggressive or mild treatment (i.e. people should probably pick based on experience of the user as most will gradually become more aggressive over time).
I just got back from my first Fraxel session (Fraxel 2):
Treatment Level 16
5 SL (I forget what this means?)
8 Passes with additional on cheeks
They used numbing cream and 2 Motrin/2 Tylenol and I hardly felt anything. Just some pinpricks near the edges. I'm hardly even red- I assume that will get worse as the day progresses.
Nevermind today I'm much worse. Looks like very bad sunburn and there's a largish patch on my upper cheekbone with some yellowish stuff that leaked out- I guess dried up interstitial fluid.