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I have an appt for fraxel next week and my doctor was telling me that they often use an IV and general anestesia for fraxel at 20mJ. This kind of freaks me out as I was under the impression that while it hurts like hell it is well enough tolerated when a zimmer machine is used.
I also don't like the idea of not being able to see what he's doing or be able to speak up if it feels excessively harsh. He also mentioned that there would be pinpoint bleeding and that I should have plenty of days so people dont think I am a "burn victim"
This sounds pretty far off from the sunburned, bronzed appearance and weekend downtime I was expecting.
It would be great to get as much out of each treatment but I would rather do twice the treatments with no risk than half the treatments with considerable risk.
Do you have a link fot this laser(PSR3).
HOw did CO2 laser ruin the skin?
kooky - my texture has drastically improved with the PSR3 treatment. I am doing two more. It is making a huge difference!
wow, sc4r3d,
Your acne and scarring do look bad and scary. 😀 I guess neither fraxel nor psr3 laser could help you out. :lol2:
YOu watch. GIve me about 2 years and I will post my improvements including my tooth!!
kooky - my texture has drastically improved with the PSR3 treatment. I am doing two more. It is making a huge difference!
I have an appt for fraxel next week and my doctor was telling me that they often use an IV and general anestesia for fraxel at 20mJ. This kind of freaks me out as I was under the impression that while it hurts like hell it is well enough tolerated when a zimmer machine is used.
I also don't like the idea of not being able to see what he's doing or be able to speak up if it feels excessively harsh. He also mentioned that there would be pinpoint bleeding and that I should have plenty of days so people dont think I am a "burn victim"
This sounds pretty far off from the sunburned, bronzed appearance and weekend downtime I was expecting.
It would be great to get as much out of each treatment but I would rather do twice the treatments with no risk than half the treatments with considerable risk.
Andrew, WOW, that sounds really scary! Who is your doctor?? I am going in a week to get a major treatment, hopefully around 20mJ and I will only have 5 days to recover and don't want to look like a burn victim..... Has anyone else experienced 'pinpoint bleeding' ????
- Eric
Do you think a combination of Fraxel and Sculptra could help my skin?
I have an appt for fraxel next week and my doctor was telling me that they often use an IV and general anestesia for fraxel at 20mJ. This kind of freaks me out as I was under the impression that while it hurts like hell it is well enough tolerated when a zimmer machine is used.
I also don't like the idea of not being able to see what he's doing or be able to speak up if it feels excessively harsh. He also mentioned that there would be pinpoint bleeding and that I should have plenty of days so people dont think I am a "burn victim"
This sounds pretty far off from the sunburned, bronzed appearance and weekend downtime I was expecting.
It would be great to get as much out of each treatment but I would rather do twice the treatments with no risk than half the treatments with considerable risk.
Andrew, WOW, that sounds really scary! Who is your doctor?? I am going in a week to get a major treatment, hopefully around 20mJ and I will only have 5 days to recover and don't want to look like a burn victim..... Has anyone else experienced 'pinpoint bleeding' ????
- Eric
Eric,
Your reaction was about the same as mine when they told me the details. I thought the procedure was advantagous because it was uninvasive and had little risk. I won't know until I go in next week just how bad it will be, but I am definately apprehensive about doing it at 20mJ if its going to be that intense. Also when he was saying "burn victim" I think he was exaggerating and only talking about the first day but the choice of words definitely freaked me out. I don't want to give out his name until I have had the procedure, but they seem to care a lot more than other places I have called. Other places didn't seem to be willing to work around my schedule to help me get it done.
Anyone who has gone to higher levels, what kind of things can I expect to experience at 20mJ?
Hi all,
Just went in for my first fraxel treatment today. And it hurt like hell! She does NOT have a Zimmer cooling machine and I believe that it is a necessity when doing treatments at the higher levels. As people have said before, the first couple of passes are not too bad, but after that, it gradually gets more painful. Just tried to mentally block out the pain as best I could. Big difference in spot treatments and full face in terms of pain.
Did everyone get their treatments done by a doctor? I went in, got all prepped for the procedure, and it turns out that a nurse (don't even think she was that) was going to perform the fraxel on me. I absolutely insisted the doctor do the treatment because I had never heard of a nurse performing it before. But apparently they can, just a matter if they can do it well.
Here are the vital stats, I plan on updating as I continue to have the treatments.
Energy: 20 mJ most of face, 16 mJ on forehead and nose
Density: 1250 MTZ/cm^2
Total Energy output: 9.2 KJ
Passes (overlaps): 9 (extra on scars)
Actual treatment time: 50 minutes
Interval between treatments: 4 weeks
I think that's about all I can think of for now. Hopefully, this doesn't ruin my weekend plans, but we'll see.
To the poster who wrote about general anaesthesia, I would say no to that even though it was painful, I think it's a bit excessive for Fraxel.
Hi all,
Just went in for my first fraxel treatment today. And it hurt like hell! She does NOT have a Zimmer cooling machine and I believe that it is a necessity when doing treatments at the higher levels. As people have said before, the first couple of passes are not too bad, but after that, it gradually gets more painful. Just tried to mentally block out the pain as best I could. Big difference in spot treatments and full face in terms of pain.
Did everyone get their treatments done by a doctor? I went in, got all prepped for the procedure, and it turns out that a nurse (don't even think she was that) was going to perform the fraxel on me. I absolutely insisted the doctor do the treatment because I had never heard of a nurse performing it before. But apparently they can, just a matter if they can do it well.
Here are the vital stats, I plan on updating as I continue to have the treatments.
Energy: 20 mJ most of face, 16 mJ on forehead and nose
Density: 1250 MTZ/cm^2
Total Energy output: 9.2 KJ
Passes (overlaps): 9 (extra on scars)
Actual treatment time: 50 minutes
Interval between treatments: 4 weeks
I think that's about all I can think of for now. Hopefully, this doesn't ruin my weekend plans, but we'll see.
To the poster who wrote about general anaesthesia, I would say no to that even though it was painful, I think it's a bit excessive for Fraxel.
That is alot of energy for your first fraxel, i think you will see great results. Did the doctor end up performing it or the nurse? I would be careful of having people less experienced doing the procedure because alot of the results depend on the skill of the one holding the device in terms of consistancy of coverage. Dr. Fitzpatrick said you can quickly and easily have little to no collagen rebuilding if the fraxel is not handled properly.
But at 20mJ you are going pretty deep and your density looks solid. Let us know how the redness gradually declines during the week. I am curious how long I will really have to stay home-bound.
- Eric
The doctor ended up performing it. My doctor says it's common that nurses do it. They all had their little certificates on the wall for Fraxel training but I'm still a little leary of having a nurse perform it. Microderm and jessners and even fillers I'd be okay with, but not fraxel which is a pretty powerful frickin "laser".
Don't you worry one bit. I had fraxel done on the highest setting you can go and it did wonders for me. COuple treatments with Sculptra and I am ready to go!!!!
The doctor ended up performing it. My doctor says it's common that nurses do it. They all had their little certificates on the wall for Fraxel training but I'm still a little leary of having a nurse perform it. Microderm and jessners and even fillers I'd be okay with, but not fraxel which is a pretty powerful frickin "laser".
Don't you worry one bit. I had fraxel done on the highest setting you can go and it did wonders for me. COuple treatments with Sculptra and I am ready to go!!!!
The doctor ended up performing it. My doctor says it's common that nurses do it. They all had their little certificates on the wall for Fraxel training but I'm still a little leary of having a nurse perform it. Microderm and jessners and even fillers I'd be okay with, but not fraxel which is a pretty powerful frickin "laser".
Did I say I was worried? :think:
Thanks for the reassurance though 🙂
Hey IDBNVS24-9er 😉
My skin doesn't look too red, more of a bronze color. It's hard to tell with traces of the blue ink still on my face. The stuff is really hard to get off! I think it says in my post-op instructions that the redness takes between 2-14 days to fade.
Regards,
kooky
SO you cannot go to work the next day? If the dye is still on your face you would think not?
As for myself I ahev never been able to get over my CO2 experience.
I think lasers are not the way to go but fillers like Sculptra.
By plumping or lifting the effect of scars are way less noticable.
I think lasers damage or do more harm than not.
Look what it did to me over time. 
Hey IDBNVS24-9er 😉
My skin doesn't look too red, more of a bronze color. It's hard to tell with traces of the blue ink still on my face. The stuff is really hard to get off! I think it says in my post-op instructions that the redness takes between 2-14 days to fade.
Regards,
kooky
I'm having Fraxel done this saturday by the same doctor Kooky went to. Her assistance will be doing the procedure, her assistance also did the doctor face w/ spot treatments at 20 and 30 mj. She told me I had a lot of icepick scars and will treat me aggressively at 20 mj hopefully I see some results. Although I am not expecting too much results,i'm hoping for 10~15% and i'll be satified. I'm sort of afraid of the pain now, since kooky said it was real painful at 20 mj......
Good luck with your fraxel treatments! I've gotten microderms done by the lady that's doing your fraxel. She's terrific, and very detailed. I should let you know that they offer lidocaine injections along with topical lidocaine but I declined the injections since the spot treatments weren't too painful.. You might want to get those lidocaine injections....I probably will next time.
My face looks really badly sunburnt today. Lots of red / brown shades over my face. Am going in tomorrow to have her take a look. Starting to shed a little skin already after showering tonight.
Good luck with your fraxel treatments! I've gotten microderms done by the lady that's doing your fraxel. She's terrific, and very detailed. I should let you know that they offer lidocaine injections along with topical lidocaine but I declined the injections since the spot treatments weren't too painful.. You might want to get those lidocaine injections....I probably will next time.
My face looks really badly sunburnt today. Lots of red / brown shades over my face. Am going in tomorrow to have her take a look. Starting to shed a little skin already after showering tonight.
wow you are still really red?? i am worried about my treatment next monday at high energy levels. my skin is pretty white and sensitive..... do you think using eucerin's 'redness relief' products post treatment would help speed up the healing since they have the soothing licorice root???
wow you are still really red?? i am worried about my treatment next monday at high energy levels. my skin is pretty white and sensitive..... do you think using eucerin's 'redness relief' products post treatment would help speed up the healing since they have the soothing licorice root???
Really really red. maybe I'll give that eucerin product a try. I'm curious what your doctor offers for post treatment options. My doctor gave me a bunch of ice packs, some petroleum based cream that is breaking me out right now, and some weird looking facial rejuvenation mask. I think I'll order some emu oil next time and use that instead of this cream she gave me.
Wow, Kooky, I can't believ you endured all that without a Zimmer machine. maybe you can request that your doctor get one. I don't know the price, but it would most definietley keep patients coming back - I feel absolutely nothing at 20mj with the zimmer blowing cold air.
I'm two weeks after my 5th fraxel. I get my treatments on fridays and by the next thursday all peeling is gone and there is just a little pinkness, but other than the first day, really no redness. I use a Vit-C cream and just started using Kinerase. I found emu oil and CP products make me break out after treatment.
I'm fairly pleased with Fraxel. I was hoping for more but didn't really expect it. I have seen improvement (difficult to gauge - it seems to fluctuate daily - maybe 20-40%) and hope to see more over the next few months as I rest my skin, but it hasn't done much for the deepest scars and the doctor has mentioned maybe trying to ecise one icepick to see how I heal. I haven't decided about that yet.
I think the real breakthorugh for scars will be if a treatment can reach as deep as 2-3mm without doing damage. Probably a ways off yet unfortunately.
Hopefully Fraxel prices will come down in the meantime.
Thanks for the update birch. I wonder where all the other people are who've had fraxel done? I did ask my doctor to get a Zimmer cooling machine for the sake of her patients who do not have as high of a pain tolerance as me. I am a little concerned that she consumed so much energy on my first treatment. I think this may result in prolonged redness, potential hyperpigmentation. It's too early to say, but it looks like my weekend is ruined and I will be couch-surfing watching football/movies all weekend. She used 9.2 KJ on my face and the general guidelines are:
Area of Rx Optimal 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
Anyways, I'm attaching a photo of my skin 2 days post Fraxel. If someone whose had it done at high levels (20) could reassure me that this is somewhat normal, I'd sure appreciate it.
All i can say is HOLLY S*&^! I started my first serious of Fraxels a year ago this week when it was a new fangled machine and I had my first done at the 9/10 MJ level. Even that hurt! I had my 5th Fraxel done three months ago at 12 Mjs Full denisity/6 passes and it was mUch better since the pain management is better but I do not think I could go as high as 20mjs (Maybe 15 if I have a squeeze ball) I had a nice improvement From my last Fraxel. I am sure 4-5 full face Fraxels at 20 Mj's will come pretty damn close to CO2 level of improvements. Please keep us posted
PS My next step will be a few Rounds of Sculptra to plump up my sunken chin and cheek areas this should also have a positive benefit in lifting up the acne scars. I had a Restylane Touch up 6 weeks ago and I will have to say it is doing pretty good. I had the small .4cc syringe and I think I am still over 60% improvement in my worst scars.
Hi all,
Just went in for my first fraxel treatment today. And it hurt like hell! She does NOT have a Zimmer cooling machine and I believe that it is a necessity when doing treatments at the higher levels. As people have said before, the first couple of passes are not too bad, but after that, it gradually gets more painful. Just tried to mentally block out the pain as best I could. Big difference in spot treatments and full face in terms of pain.
Did everyone get their treatments done by a doctor? I went in, got all prepped for the procedure, and it turns out that a nurse (don't even think she was that) was going to perform the fraxel on me. I absolutely insisted the doctor do the treatment because I had never heard of a nurse performing it before. But apparently they can, just a matter if they can do it well.
Here are the vital stats, I plan on updating as I continue to have the treatments.
Energy: 20 mJ most of face, 16 mJ on forehead and nose
Density: 1250 MTZ/cm^2
Total Energy output: 9.2 KJ
Passes (overlaps): 9 (extra on scars)
Actual treatment time: 50 minutes
Interval between treatments: 4 weeks
I think that's about all I can think of for now. Hopefully, this doesn't ruin my weekend plans, but we'll see.
To the poster who wrote about general anaesthesia, I would say no to that even though it was painful, I think it's a bit excessive for Fraxel.
Does anyone know if Fraxel qualifies as a medical expense for a healthcare reimbursement account?? I have the option to sign up for one right now at work, where they set money aside out of your paycheck (pre-tax), and then you can use that money to pay for medical expenses through the year.
I've read all the IRS documentation, and it states that cosmetic procedures are not covered, UNLESS it is to correct an abnormality caused by disease or an accident. I want to make sure fraxel qualifies before I have them set $4,000 aside as I can not get it back if I can't use it... I hope it qualifies, it will save me $1000 in taxes.
Sean..
Kooky, looks like you got your fraxel treatment before me after all.. I'm scheduled for December 8th, but I may be moving that back a few weeks if this healthcare reimbursement account will allow me to pay for fraxel pre-tax.