nsxlr8,

Are you doing spot or full face treatments? I am doing full face treatments and it consumes approximately 40% of the tip life of the 15mm tip. She also switches to the 7mm tip around the eyes and on the nose but I'm assuming consumption of tip life for this is minimal. As long as your doctor exchanges the tip with a new one when it's fully used you should be allright. if you're doing spot treatments, it may only consume 10-20%.

Kiethr: The derm doing fraxel told me one month post-accutane should be okay!!!!!!!!!! I am so confused! some have told me wait for 6 months, some say 1 year!@@$#@$#@$#@@!!@

NSXL8: Keep us posted on your progress and treatment. MAke sure you take down the numbers.

this question is for people who've had the fraxel done already. kooky brought up a good point in mentioning the micro-swelling that occurs after the procedure. how long did it last for the rest of you who've had it done?also, would anyone like to share their results with different drs such as fitzpatrick and rokhsar? how much improvement did you see and how effective were these doctors in diminishing your acne scars and improving skin texture?

this question is for people who've had the fraxel done already. kooky brought up a good point in mentioning the micro-swelling that occurs after the procedure. how long did it last for the rest of you who've had it done?also, would anyone like to share their results with different drs such as fitzpatrick and rokhsar? how much improvement did you see and how effective were these doctors in diminishing your acne scars and improving skin texture?

 

Hope this helps. I had my fraxel the swelling last about 3 days which is alittle obvious to me but hardly noticed by others. But the face is still alittle plump (if you see carefully) for a week after the procedure. I done CO2 before trust me this is wonderful as swell and bronzing are hardly noticeable (couple be that I had dark tanned skin) The rough skin and bronzing in fact look more obvious than the swelling. After a week you look more normal. And the improvement are better a week or 2 after the treatment. I say I had about... 20% on my left cheek and 15% on my right after the first fraxel. My right is worse from the start. The smaller ice pick scar can be notice to be quite reduced in size. The bigger ones may take some more treatment. Now many ice pick scar look like a small scar. Not too sure about the bigger box scar as I actually had subcision before the fraxel. Some of the very shallow scar looks more like a shadow marks. Overall improvement is noticeable maybe around 15-20%. I guess expecting improvement of like 70-80% in 3-4 more treatments is very likely, perhaps because I had very serious scarring which makes the improvement very noticeable.

Kooky, just my cheek area.

Redness is all but gone today. Rest of the skin has pretty well sluffed away. Things look pretty much back to normal now.

this question is for people who've had the fraxel done already. kooky brought up a good point in mentioning the micro-swelling that occurs after the procedure. how long did it last for the rest of you who've had it done?also, would anyone like to share their results with different drs such as fitzpatrick and rokhsar? how much improvement did you see and how effective were these doctors in diminishing your acne scars and improving skin texture?

 

The microswelling (or Micro Improvement as I call it) only lasts about a week. WIsh it were longer.

Ihad my 5th and last Fraxel in august (11 KJ) and am please with the results but damn it I STILL have Acne scars. I am going in for some sculptra early 2006 to plump up some of the bigger sunken in areas of my face and will have anothe round of Fraxel (at even more aggresive levels) probaly spring 2006.

I get a great deal since I am on my doctors web site (full face fraxel at $500) and its a no brainer at the price. I might go with 3 more and give it a rest till the end of 2006. I had a little resylane touch up done in october (the small $300) syringe and it is pretty much all gone. Though for only $300 I did get a nice boost to my fraxel improvments in my worst scars for about 9-10 weeks. Has anyone else here tried sculptra?

If those people with very deep scars just kept on getting these treatments would the scars not disappear completely eventually?

 

Hello - thank you for everyone for sharing.

After reading all these posts I decided to give it a shot.

Could anyone please recommend (or not) a good doctor with the pricing breakdown in NYC

Thanks,

Artur

Here is a quick update:

I had my 2nd fraxel on the 15h -- today is day 5 post procedure -- I am still red, of course, and this morning I woke up to find major peeling -- despite using Zia gel cleanser, emu oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera, oil of olay senstive moisterizer, eucerine redness relief cream, preparation-H with bio-dyne from canada, tns recovery complex and a green tea serum with a bunch of goodies in there. Most of the skin came off in the shower and now I have new / fresh skin on top -- I just want the redness to fade as quickly as possible now --

Otherwise, i am taking glycine, proline, lysine, methionine, asorbic acid, green tea extract, grape seed extract, selenium, MSN, and zinc to promote healing and collagen rebuilding.

Any suggestions for speeding up the healing process???

- Eric

floridaguy, can you describe your improvements with the fraxel laser? how much improvmenent would you say you had afterwards? and did the laser help with the acne scars at all, esp. with the mild scars? thanks for your response.

floridaguy, can you describe your improvements with the fraxel laser? how much improvmenent would you say you had afterwards? and did the laser help with the acne scars at all, esp. with the mild scars? thanks for your response.

 

I got a solid 30% improvement to my deeper scars and more improvement to my shallow scars

It took 5 treatments and several months to get to where I am at. I will do more next year and hope to have 60% by summer 2006. I think that is possible since the laser levels are even more aggresive now and Improvements are cumulitive. I started Fraxel over a year ago and the improvements have not dimminished. It takes time Money and lots of patients but it does produce results. Just keep in mind you will STILL have acne scars after your fraxel treatments but they will be softer to look at and blend in more with your healthy skin (Your over all skin complexion will dramaticly improve you will have baby soft skin after a few fraxels)

Floridaguy: If you do 5 fraxels over a 2 year period would the results be similar as doing 5 fraxels with 2 week intervals? On many websites it mentions doing it every 2 weeks.

Here is a quick update:

I had my 2nd fraxel on the 15h -- today is day 5 post procedure -- I am still red, of course, and this morning I woke up to find major peeling -- despite using Zia gel cleanser, emu oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera, oil of olay senstive moisterizer, eucerine redness relief cream, preparation-H with bio-dyne from canada, tns recovery complex and a green tea serum with a bunch of goodies in there. Most of the skin came off in the shower and now I have new / fresh skin on top -- I just want the redness to fade as quickly as possible now --

Otherwise, i am taking glycine, proline, lysine, methionine, asorbic acid, green tea extract, grape seed extract, selenium, MSN, and zinc to promote healing and collagen rebuilding.

Any suggestions for speeding up the healing process???

- Eric

 

Hi Eric,

I have been reading your posts, thank you mate! for such a very imformative updates on your progress. I am planning to do my 1st treatment by the end of Dec but what really concerns is that I am working ..I feel shy away to be stared at and meet customers.. You said that your skin is still peeling off even on the 5th day.. it is impossible for me to have the skin flaking at work..redness is still ok ... I have only Sat and Sun for downtime... Any suggesstion?

Pacific Rim

Here is a quick update:

I had my 2nd fraxel on the 15h -- today is day 5 post procedure -- I am still red, of course, and this morning I woke up to find major peeling -- despite using Zia gel cleanser, emu oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera, oil of olay senstive moisterizer, eucerine redness relief cream, preparation-H with bio-dyne from canada, tns recovery complex and a green tea serum with a bunch of goodies in there. Most of the skin came off in the shower and now I have new / fresh skin on top -- I just want the redness to fade as quickly as possible now --

Otherwise, i am taking glycine, proline, lysine, methionine, asorbic acid, green tea extract, grape seed extract, selenium, MSN, and zinc to promote healing and collagen rebuilding.

Any suggestions for speeding up the healing process???

- Eric

 

I think you're doing about all you can to speed up the healing. Bromelain and arnica are supposed to help with the swelling, not so sure about the redness though. I would avoid strenous activity and (obviously)the sun alltogether. The only other suggestion I have is to put some icepacks on your face for the first 2 or 3 days.

I'm really considering going to Dr Rokhsar...

but there is some recovery time needed for Fraxel? Can I go out in public without looking messed up after the treatment? How much time is spent hiding out at home?????????? Thanks

I kept bacatrin/neosporin on my face (all day/night) for the first three days and its now the 8th day after a 20mJ treatment and I havent peeled, nor does it look like I will. I also spent more time wiping off the blue dye this time around so I looked completely normal except for the neosporin on my face. I even went out to get food the day after treatment.

Hi,

I'm really curious about this treatment.

Is there anyone doing Fraxel in London or the Uk?

Does everyone peel after each fraxel treatment? The first one i did ALOT...2,3,4,5 just mostly flaking i guess...Is this normal? Or should i be peeling more?Usually done flaking after day 3...then maybe just a litttle bit after that...And does anyone have pinpoint bleeding? Iv heard some say yeah..But i hav'nt...thanx

hi hen..

Fraxel is available in the UK here- http://www.aestheticbeautycentre.co.uk/fraxel.htm

I know of a derm who is head of a clinic in Belfast and is considering getting the Fraxel laser in Jan/Feb but is waiting until after a convention in Paris where he can see for himself the benefits and drawbacks of the Fraxel laser

Hey man, save your money. Yours "scars" are nothing compared to people with serious scars.

I am going for my first treament tomorrow afternoon for mild scarring from years of ingrown hairs. I intend on posting pictures post op so people can see for themselves. Barring some adverse reaction, I am going to go for 4-5 treatments.

 

I will start it off with pre-op pictures and will post some more tomorrow night. I am sure there are ton of people like myself who wanted to see some post op photos and progress photos, but have had as little luck as I have had on finding them on this thread as well as the web.

 

We'll see how it goes....

 

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php...lbum&album=1999

 

Here is a quick update:

I had my 2nd fraxel on the 15h -- today is day 5 post procedure -- I am still red, of course, and this morning I woke up to find major peeling -- despite using Zia gel cleanser, emu oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera, oil of olay senstive moisterizer, eucerine redness relief cream, preparation-H with bio-dyne from canada, tns recovery complex and a green tea serum with a bunch of goodies in there. Most of the skin came off in the shower and now I have new / fresh skin on top -- I just want the redness to fade as quickly as possible now --

Otherwise, i am taking glycine, proline, lysine, methionine, asorbic acid, green tea extract, grape seed extract, selenium, MSN, and zinc to promote healing and collagen rebuilding.

Any suggestions for speeding up the healing process???

- Eric

 

Dear Eric

Dr. Tina Alster ( the laser guru) did a study of using topical L-ascorbic acid to reduce post laser redness. I have used this many times to reduce redness post dermabrasion, lasers , and peels. It reduces redness in just about half the time as expected, ie 6 months post Co2 laser redness gone in 3 months for example. It was just one small study and not taken very seriously but it works.

How I use it for myself and clients is

1/4-3/4 tsp L ascorbic acid (Solgars or Now) in distilled water 30 ml. Spray(dark glass bottle) on face 3-4 times per day or as tolerated. Skin sensitiviy will determine application and percentage used. Make fresh every day and keep in cool place. In this solution the pH needs to stay low for penetration 2.5-3.

You can add Hyaluronic acid to this or apply after spraying I highly recommend. There are many ways to use L-ascorbic acid but this is easy, cheap and effective. If super sensitive then adding some to a cream base, glycerin or lecithin and tocoperol, or adding to the cleansing routine you have, would help but not as effective to reduce the redness and heal the epidermis. Do not use C if using plant extracts unless there is a chleating agent such as tretrasodium EDTA otherwise C becomes pro-oxidant, not good.

Vit C with "bioflavonoids" added as a supplement also will help with faster angiogensesis and capillary strength and organization thus reducing redness and spead healing. So I hope your C has this.

You are using too many products IMO and the skin is confused here. My guess it is not helping with the prolong redness. Gentle Gentle with few products. I know you want to build collagen but this takes time and prolong redness means inflammation and can cause destruction of all you are tying to do, ie increased scarring, decreased fibroblast proliferation and increased immune response not good.

Other skin healers are d-panthenol works well with LA (l-ascorbic acid)

Lascobic acid also works well with TNS. Apply LA first then TNS. But the growth factors in TNS may be giving you the increase in redness.

Hyaluronic acid is always in the first biochemical reaction for repair in the skin it should always be included in post tx's.

Shyana, where can I buy l asorbic acid?

Does everyone peel after each fraxel treatment? The first one i did ALOT...2,3,4,5 just mostly flaking i guess...Is this normal? Or should i be peeling more?Usually done flaking after day 3...then maybe just a litttle bit after that...And does anyone have pinpoint bleeding? Iv heard some say yeah..But i hav'nt...thanx

 

Hey all!

I haven't posted for a while. It's been 10 days since my 2nd Fraxel treament and I didn't peel at all this time. For all those wondering if you should be peeling or not, the doc explained that it depends on the mj and density. For my 1st Fraxel, we started only at 8mjs at 250mtz/cm. He did 4 passes for a total of 1,000 mtz/cm. There was quite a lot of peeling like the kind you'd experience after a phenol/TCA peel.

This 2nd time round, we went up to 15mjs at 125mtz/cm, 4 passes for a total of 500mtz/cm. He explained that as the laser goes deeper (higher mjs), the area covered is less. I didn't peel but when I wiped my face, there were little black spots of ash which is basically your skin being burnt off. Fraxel is an ABLATIVE laser, like CO2 but without the downtime and potential scarring. I didn't have any pinpoint bleeding tho'.

My face is still kinda red after 10 days and in bright light, I look like I'm wearing some kinda mask. My cheeks still hurt a little when I'm washing my face. BUT I don't really see any improvement for my scarring, even with the swelling and in fact, the box scars on my left cheek looks wider than before! 🙁

BTW, it hurt like hell this 2nd time round, even with the zimmer cooling machine and the painkiller they gave me beforehand.

Keeping my fingers that this is not going to be like Smoothbeam..and just money down the drain!

Happy holidays y'all!

Pinky

Shyana, where can I buy l asorbic acid?

 

www.herbalremedies.com has NOW asorbic acid powder (same as Lascorbic acid) this is one source.

I buy my L-ascorbic acid crystals from Solgar at my local health food store. But online sources are available I just don't remember these. The powder is easier than the crystals to use, dissolve better.

grams of solute(LA) divided by ml's of distilled water X 100= the percent of solution. The study was 10% if I recall but I have used 5% up to 20% depending on skin type and problem treated. Solubility of LA is 1:3 or 1:3.5 in water and 1:20 for most humectants for it to dissolve. Also pH is so important you can raise it to 3.5 at the most with baking soda if the skin becomes too irritated. I use straight DI or DW water and LA with a pH of 2.5 for better penetration. But I don't have sensitive skin.

You can also use specific gravities to weigh volume measures.

Shyana: Is ester C better?

 

Does everyone peel after each fraxel treatment? The first one i did ALOT...2,3,4,5 just mostly flaking i guess...Is this normal? Or should i be peeling more?Usually done flaking after day 3...then maybe just a litttle bit after that...And does anyone have pinpoint bleeding? Iv heard some say yeah..But i hav'nt...thanx

 

Hey all!

I haven't posted for a while. It's been 10 days since my 2nd Fraxel treament and I didn't peel at all this time. For all those wondering if you should be peeling or not, the doc explained that it depends on the mj and density. For my 1st Fraxel, we started only at 8mjs at 250mtz/cm. He did 4 passes for a total of 1,000 mtz/cm. There was quite a lot of peeling like the kind you'd experience after a phenol/TCA peel.

This 2nd time round, we went up to 15mjs at 125mtz/cm, 4 passes for a total of 500mtz/cm. He explained that as the laser goes deeper (higher mjs), the area covered is less. I didn't peel but when I wiped my face, there were little black spots of ash which is basically your skin being burnt off. Fraxel is an ABLATIVE laser, like CO2 but without the downtime and potential scarring. I didn't have any pinpoint bleeding tho'.

My face is still kinda red after 10 days and in bright light, I look like I'm wearing some kinda mask. My cheeks still hurt a little when I'm washing my face. BUT I don't really see any improvement for my scarring, even with the swelling and in fact, the box scars on my left cheek looks wider than before! 🙁

BTW, it hurt like hell this 2nd time round, even with the zimmer cooling machine and the painkiller they gave me beforehand.

Keeping my fingers that this is not going to be like Smoothbeam..and just money down the drain!

Happy holidays y'all!

Pinky

 

Hi Pinky,

Did you feedback your skin condition to the doctor? How did he reply?

I think fraxel treatment cost a lot, he is responsible for your current skin conditions...

And don't bother too much==>happier==>faster healing==>better result

Wish you can see a dramatic improvement after 3rd treatment! :angel:

BoraBora