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i have had 2 fraxel 2 sessions....
I 3 weeks post the 2nd treatment and see an improvment on the right side of my face for sure.. the left side of my face i cant see an improvment though I am confident it will improve as I just have to be patient.
I have booked in for 5 sessions all 4 weeks apart.. i booked all 5 sessions at once that way i dont have to cross my fingers and hope that they can fit me in.
If i need 6 or 7 treatment then that is what I am going to do.. after my next session I will book in for another 1 just to make sure.. if i need the 6th then i am covered...
I heard about Fraxel through a news program, which also mentioned that Fraxel's results are only effective for up to 10 years?For this reason my bf is disapproving and unsupportive of me undergoing treatment.
Can anyone dispel this "fact"? I would love to believe that results are permanent..
Thanks for any help!
LOL. most of the literature on fraxel is referring to wrinkles and sun damage. fraxel doesn't stop the aging clock it just restarts it by about ten years. (most people who get it doen look about ten years younger--most apparent in old people).
as for acne scars. no, you will never get "new" ones unless you get more acne.
ylem said:zonk said:ylem said:Unfortunately, just as I had thought in the beginning, it doesn't look like Fraxel is really effective for pitted scars, as that is all I am looking to treat. What a disappointment; I feel real shitty right now.Are you basing this off your own experience at 70 mJ? From what I recall, you only had 1 treatment, right? You don't really see results until the 3rd treatment.
With that said, fraxel is least effective for icepicks, which is what i assume you meant when you said pitted scars.
No I have rolling/saucer scars (also known as the soft scars that fade when stretched)...EVERYWHERE. I scar even when I get a tiny little pimple. I have ALWAYS been prone to ONLY these types of scars. And the resultant scar is SOO dramatic looking it's ridiculous. I have picked up an insane amount of additional scars since accutane, even though I don't break out that much anymore. These types of scars pose the greatest difficulty to treat, according to ASDS.
I have had 2 rounds on the temple area. 1st at 70 mjs 8 passes. The second at 55 mjs 8 passes. Scars still look the same. I have had one round on the rest of the scars at 55 mjs level 8. No visisble imrpovement yet there, even on a new saucer I just got a few days ago. It's heartbreaking I just want to kill myself. This is also after having silicone microdroplet and wire brush dermabrasion on my forehead. What makes anyone think Fraxel is going to work on my skin after all of that. I am just a non-responder to acne scar treatments, pure and simple, and I can only acquire additional scars.
And the worst part is I have to schedule my next appt almost 5 weeks since my last. Is this waiting too long. They have absolutely no availabilities for anything sooner for the Fraxel slots. It's so ridiculous that something like this could be so sought after.
I have spent tens of thousands and have fought with the most extreme vigor and NOTHING can work. I've tried therapy, avoiding mirrors, trying to live with it cause it will never go away and it just doesn't work. And I keep getting new scars that are impossible to treat. It hurts too much for me to even breathe. I repeat NOTHING has worked!! This is truly a curse from the devil and I am trying to figure out what I did bad in life to deserve this. I am even considering going to someone who can lift curses, as I truly feel I have had one for over 10 years.
ylem obviously doesn't understand how this novel treatment works. her posts show impatience and frustration, which i empathize with. older treatments for acne scars are like the dark ages of cosmetic medicine.
but her ignorance and impatience with fraxel has relegated her to negativity. not only does she not understand the fractional nature and need for multiple treatments. she obviously has unrealistic expectations. if her skin is as bad as she says it is then fraxel probably won't make a noticeable difference. or it may make a difference but she might not be able to see it (emotional/mental issues).
some people even forget what they look like unless they have pictures to refer to. this is because of the gradual improvement. it may still seem like the same scars are there but they aren't as bad. but you still look for it in the mirror and find it.
i saw pictures of ylem in her old moniker. i didnt even see scars to begin with. im sure she probably less than perfect skin. but i think she's also probably BDD.
ylem, why don't you refrain from updates? for your own good. come back in 6 months to a year and give us a paragraph on your experience.
fillaymin said:Hey guys - wow! 227 pages and counting. Anyways, I have a friend whose a regional sales director for fraxel and she gave me a cdrom full of photos, so I'm hoping I can upload it here:Its an executable file, please scan with your virus protection if you are (and you should be!) wary of running random executables off the internet.
I always take these things with a grain of salt - if you didn't have good results you wouldn't make the CD! This thread has me thinking, however.... Luckily my friend also owns a spa so I get a bit of a discount.
Windows:
[Removed]
[edit - deleted link to OSX version, putfile mangled it somehow, PM me for this version]
this is the same slideshow that has been on the fraxel and reliant site for several years now.
No I have rolling/saucer scars (also known as the soft scars that fade when stretched)...EVERYWHERE. I scar even when I get a tiny little pimple. I have ALWAYS been prone to ONLY these types of scars. And the resultant scar is SOO dramatic looking it's ridiculous. I have picked up an insane amount of additional scars since accutane, even though I don't break out that much anymore. These types of scars pose the greatest difficulty to treat, according to ASDS.I have had 2 rounds on the temple area. 1st at 70 mjs 8 passes. The second at 55 mjs 8 passes. Scars still look the same. I have had one round on the rest of the scars at 55 mjs level 8. No visisble imrpovement yet there, even on a new saucer I just got a few days ago. It's heartbreaking I just want to kill myself. This is also after having silicone microdroplet and wire brush dermabrasion on my forehead. What makes anyone think Fraxel is going to work on my skin after all of that. I am just a non-responder to acne scar treatments, pure and simple, and I can only acquire additional scars.
And the worst part is I have to schedule my next appt almost 5 weeks since my last. Is this waiting too long. They have absolutely no availabilities for anything sooner for the Fraxel slots. It's so ridiculous that something like this could be so sought after.
I have spent tens of thousands and have fought with the most extreme vigor and NOTHING can work. I've tried therapy, avoiding mirrors, trying to live with it cause it will never go away and it just doesn't work. And I keep getting new scars that are impossible to treat. It hurts too much for me to even breathe. I repeat NOTHING has worked!! This is truly a curse from the devil and I am trying to figure out what I did bad in life to deserve this. I am even considering going to someone who can lift curses, as I truly feel I have had one for over 10 years.
ylem i just want to comment again, i'm not sure how old you are or how old you were when you started scarring, but consider too that a lot of other people on this board have been going through the same thing -- that's why we're on here and trying these treatments. you definitely aren't the only one dealing with what you might consider bad scarring, and i'd bet that a lot of others here have scarring that they'd consider worse, or acne that they'd consider worse. my acne was never terrible (i never had huge cystic boils), but just had it for a long time, from the time i was 9 years old in fourth grade until now, and i'm 33!!!! accutane made my scarring much more prominent as well -- i don't even remember having scars (and don't have them in photos) until after using accutane at 15 and 16 years old. so i have had rolling scars, just like you say you have, on my entire face, and very noticeably, for 18 years. so please remember that you're not the only one spending thousands of dollars here, because many of us have done that, and you're not the only one who has suffered through emotional or self-esteem issues that you might attribute to having scars. try going to the other boards (like the 'psychological/emotional effects' boards) and reading some people's stories -- they might offer a little perspective and help you see things a bit differently. and do remember that it's all in the perspective you bring -- seeing yourself in a more positive light and focusing on your qualities and not all the things you might not like about yourself is MUCH better for you than picking at yourself and being depressed because of something that's basically insubstantial.
people are dying all over the world right now because of war, hunger, AIDS, etc., etc., etc., and these things are so much more significant than acne scars. basically, we have nothing to complain about... 🙁
I just had my 5th (and hopefully final) Fraxel (SR1500) treatment yesterday. The doctor I am seeing just got the new tip that does not require the blue dye in time for my treatment yesterday. I am curious to know if anyone else has been treated with the new tip because the side effects were much, much less than with my previous treatments! My last 3 treatments were very at a very high level (I'm not real sure on the numbers, but I believe they told me 7 Kj at level 10) and after the 3rd and 4th treatments my face was very red with pinpoint bleeding, swelling and severe dryness for several days. I felt as though I needed to stay inside for several days before I felt comfortable facing the world. After my treatment yesterday, I could tell immediately that my skin was not nearly as red and I did not experience any pinpoint bleeding. Today I am only slightly pink, a little puffy with very little dryness. I felt 100% comfortable going back to work today!
I am just curious if anyone else has experienced the same significant decrease of downtime with the new tip? The change was so significant that I was a little worried at first that my treatment was not as intense, but I was assured that it was and even a little higher than before. My doctor's office told me that other patients had experienced the same improvement. For anyone considering Fraxel, I would highly recommend finding a doctor who is using the new tip without the blue dye because the difference is amazing!
I just had my 5th (and hopefully final) Fraxel (SR1500) treatment yesterday. The doctor I am seeing just got the new tip that does not require the blue dye in time for my treatment yesterday. I am curious to know if anyone else has been treated with the new tip because the side effects were much, much less than with my previous treatments! My last 3 treatments were very at a very high level (I'm not real sure on the numbers, but I believe they told me 7 Kj at level 10) and after the 3rd and 4th treatments my face was very red with pinpoint bleeding, swelling and severe dryness for several days. I felt as though I needed to stay inside for several days before I felt comfortable facing the world. After my treatment yesterday, I could tell immediately that my skin was not nearly as red and I did not experience any pinpoint bleeding. Today I am only slightly pink, a little puffy with very little dryness. I felt 100% comfortable going back to work today!I am just curious if anyone else has experienced the same significant decrease of downtime with the new tip? The change was so significant that I was a little worried at first that my treatment was not as intense, but I was assured that it was and even a little higher than before. My doctor's office told me that other patients had experienced the same improvement. For anyone considering Fraxel, I would highly recommend finding a doctor who is using the new tip without the blue dye because the difference is amazing!
I just had my 4th fraxel today and was chatting with my doc about the new tip (which they have not gotten yet). She said it shouldn't make any sort of difference except for not having to use the blue dye.
Interestingly, I noticed that my swelling is much less than my other 3 times. I am also barely red. I think your faster recovery may just be because it was your 5th time. A lot of people in this thread have reported reduced recovery times over the course of the treatments.
I just had my 4th fraxel today and was chatting with my doc about the new tip (which they have not gotten yet). She said it shouldn't make any sort of difference except for not having to use the blue dye.Interestingly, I noticed that my swelling is much less than my other 3 times. I am also barely red. I think your faster recovery may just be because it was your 5th time. A lot of people in this thread have reported reduced recovery times over the course of the treatments.
Hi Zonk. Was it you that had a couple of excisions between Fraxel? How did they work out? Did your doc use intradermal sutures?
I just had my 5th (and hopefully final) Fraxel (SR1500) treatment yesterday. The doctor I am seeing just got the new tip that does not require the blue dye in time for my treatment yesterday. I am curious to know if anyone else has been treated with the new tip because the side effects were much, much less than with my previous treatments! My last 3 treatments were very at a very high level (I'm not real sure on the numbers, but I believe they told me 7 Kj at level 10) and after the 3rd and 4th treatments my face was very red with pinpoint bleeding, swelling and severe dryness for several days. I felt as though I needed to stay inside for several days before I felt comfortable facing the world. After my treatment yesterday, I could tell immediately that my skin was not nearly as red and I did not experience any pinpoint bleeding. Today I am only slightly pink, a little puffy with very little dryness. I felt 100% comfortable going back to work today!I am just curious if anyone else has experienced the same significant decrease of downtime with the new tip? The change was so significant that I was a little worried at first that my treatment was not as intense, but I was assured that it was and even a little higher than before. My doctor's office told me that other patients had experienced the same improvement. For anyone considering Fraxel, I would highly recommend finding a doctor who is using the new tip without the blue dye because the difference is amazing!
I just had my 4th fraxel done and this time it was the new tip without the blue dye. But I'm still really swollen and red. I noticed being more swollen the 1st and 2nd time. The new tip seems to hurt more than the old. The nurse said she's been having complaints that it does hurt more. She's trying new numbing cream to see if it helps.
I just had my 4th fraxel today and was chatting with my doc about the new tip (which they have not gotten yet). She said it shouldn't make any sort of difference except for not having to use the blue dye.Interestingly, I noticed that my swelling is much less than my other 3 times. I am also barely red. I think your faster recovery may just be because it was your 5th time. A lot of people in this thread have reported reduced recovery times over the course of the treatments.
Hi Zonk. Was it you that had a couple of excisions between Fraxel? How did they work out? Did your doc use intradermal sutures?
yeah, it was me. doc didn't use any sutures, because it was a 1mm punch. you need sutures for anything >1 mm. too early too tell on the excisions. i'd definitely not be happy if i had gotten them w/o fraxel. fraxel is helping, but i can't say how much yet.
I had an excision with a 1mm punch and he used 1 surface stitch. Turned out well, but if you get really close up you can see a shallow, small C (incomplete C actually). I have a couple similar sized scarred pores nearby that were made worse by floats by Dr. Y, so I can really compare the improvement, which I estimate at 75+%. I would see no need to resurface this small, shallow C. I am going to do 5 more after this success with experimenting on 1.
Zonk, did your doc use dermabond? I can't imagine not trying to keep the sides together.
I had an excision with a 1mm punch and he used 1 surface stitch. Turned out well, but if you get really close up you can see a shallow, small C (incomplete C actually). I have a couple similar sized scarred pores nearby that were made worse by floats by Dr. Y, so I can really compare the improvement, which I estimate at 75+%. I would see no need to resurface this small, shallow C. I am going to do 5 more after this success with experimenting on 1.Zonk, did your doc use dermabond? I can't imagine not trying to keep the sides together.
Didn't use anything. I wanted him to use a stitch, but he swore it would come out better w/o a stitch. If fraxel doesn't flatten out the scars, I may have them re-excised by a plastic surgeon.
I had an excision with a 1mm punch and he used 1 surface stitch. Turned out well, but if you get really close up you can see a shallow, small C (incomplete C actually). I have a couple similar sized scarred pores nearby that were made worse by floats by Dr. Y, so I can really compare the improvement, which I estimate at 75+%. I would see no need to resurface this small, shallow C. I am going to do 5 more after this success with experimenting on 1.Zonk, did your doc use dermabond? I can't imagine not trying to keep the sides together.
eh sorry to ask again billyboy- but who did your recent excision, that same guy in fremont? if you're happy with him/her anyway. my derm's retiring, etc.
I had an excision with a 1mm punch and he used 1 surface stitch. Turned out well, but if you get really close up you can see a shallow, small C (incomplete C actually). I have a couple similar sized scarred pores nearby that were made worse by floats by Dr. Y, so I can really compare the improvement, which I estimate at 75+%. I would see no need to resurface this small, shallow C. I am going to do 5 more after this success with experimenting on 1.Zonk, did your doc use dermabond? I can't imagine not trying to keep the sides together.
Didn't use anything. I wanted him to use a stitch, but he swore it would come out better w/o a stitch. If fraxel doesn't flatten out the scars, I may have them re-excised by a plastic surgeon.
Are you guys talking about punch excisions or punch grafts?
I had an excision with a 1mm punch and he used 1 surface stitch. Turned out well, but if you get really close up you can see a shallow, small C (incomplete C actually). I have a couple similar sized scarred pores nearby that were made worse by floats by Dr. Y, so I can really compare the improvement, which I estimate at 75+%. I would see no need to resurface this small, shallow C. I am going to do 5 more after this success with experimenting on 1.Zonk, did your doc use dermabond? I can't imagine not trying to keep the sides together.
Didn't use anything. I wanted him to use a stitch, but he swore it would come out better w/o a stitch. If fraxel doesn't flatten out the scars, I may have them re-excised by a plastic surgeon.
Are you guys talking about punch excisions or punch grafts?
excisions for me. i probably should've gone to a plastic surgeon, but my derm had published papers on treating ice picks with excisions, so i thought it'd be ok. i'd say 2 out of my 3 excisions made no difference. the third one is slightly worse. all are being gradually improved by fraxel.
can't say if things would be better or worse w/o the excisions. it may be the fresh scars created by the excisions made the scars more amenable to remodeling.
Hey tamara bb did the round rock location get the new fraxel yet and do you know if the westlake location has it?
The Round Rock location has it on order, but I am not sure when it will be in. I was hoping to get at least 2 treatments with the new machine and new tip, but it doesn't look like that will happen, unless they have gotten it in within the past few weeks. (My next treatment is Friday). I would assume the Westlake location either already has it or has it on order as well... They do a lot more treatments out there from what I understand.
I had an excision with a 1mm punch and he used 1 surface stitch. Turned out well, but if you get really close up you can see a shallow, small C (incomplete C actually). I have a couple similar sized scarred pores nearby that were made worse by floats by Dr. Y, so I can really compare the improvement, which I estimate at 75+%. I would see no need to resurface this small, shallow C. I am going to do 5 more after this success with experimenting on 1.Zonk, did your doc use dermabond? I can't imagine not trying to keep the sides together.
Didn't use anything. I wanted him to use a stitch, but he swore it would come out better w/o a stitch. If fraxel doesn't flatten out the scars, I may have them re-excised by a plastic surgeon.
Are you guys talking about punch excisions or punch grafts?
excisions for me. i probably should've gone to a plastic surgeon, but my derm had published papers on treating ice picks with excisions, so i thought it'd be ok. i'd say 2 out of my 3 excisions made no difference. the third one is slightly worse. all are being gradually improved by fraxel.
can't say if things would be better or worse w/o the excisions. it may be the fresh scars created by the excisions made the scars more amenable to remodeling.
seems bizarre not to use any stitches for an excision. what closed the wound? did they widen?
Semolina: Yes, Dr. Dhawan in Fremont. He did 5 more excisions today and some subcisions. I will keep you posted. I was very happy with the trial excision and only mildly happy with trial subcisions, with 3 dermal grafts. He thought they looked great and that they were still remodeling as they were still slightly pink, but I see it less favorably (again, excision truned out great- less pleased with subcision/dermal grafts, but there was some improvement). I think he knows what he is doing, as a good part of his practice is acne scarring. From experience, he tells me that certain procedures work better on certain types of scars and some don't work as well in certain parts of face. For example, he did not want to touch an ice pick on my nose, as he siad he has had bad luck on nose excisions.
His practice does not own fraxel because the input they received from other Docs is that it is not that effective on wrinkles and scars. He feels that factional resurfacting with ablation will give better results and that there are many new machines being marketed that are good or better than fraxel, and that treatments will really improve in next few years. That may be self serving, but he stikes me as straight shooter. And, as I told him, fraxel was only mildly effective for me.
Dr Dhawan says his office will purchase the Pro Fractional laser by Sciton, rather than Fraxel. I googled and found it is new (2007) and is more ablative than Fraxel, but like fraxel relies on a microscopic matrix of thermal injury to stimulate remodeling.
Anyone with experience or comparative analysis?
Hi all,
I just completed a series of 4 fraxel treatments for acne scarring four days ago. My scars could probably be labeled as mostly shallow to moderate rolling scars, with more boxcar scars on my temples. I've actually been around the forums for quite a while now, but haven't really posted anything before.
Anyways up until now, I have not seen any improvement on any of my scarring. I was very confused as to why this was the case, as the cosmetic dermatologist I go to is very famous and has been regarded as one of the best laser surgeons in the nation. He also charges quite a large price tag accordingly (I paid almost 7000 for 4 Fraxels). However, upon examining the majority of the forum posters' treatment data, I was pretty shocked. It appears that most people have been receiving about 6 more passes per treatment than I have. My treatment data is listed below as follows..
Fraxel SR1500 treatments
Fraxel #1 3/15/07
40 MJ 2 passes with 312 density
4.03 kj
20% coverage
Fraxel #2 5/3/07
70 MJ 1st pass with 224 density
40 MJ 2nd pass with 392 density
5.22 kj
20% coverage
Fraxel #3 6/7/07
70 MJ 1st pass
45 MJ 2nd pass
4.74 kj
20% coverage
Fraxel #4 6/28/07
70 MJ 1st and 2nd pass with 225 density
4.22 kj
20%
From my treatment data above, would it be reasonable to assume that the reason I am not getting any results is because I'm not getting enough passes per treatment? I'm not really sure what to make of this at the moment. Like I said, my cosmetic dermatologist is one of the top in the nation, and I do trust his experience. It's just that the discrepency between my treatment levels and the treatment levels of fellow posters here is just way too big to ignore, and I feel I must question whether my treatment levels were high enough to improve my scarring. Thanks for reading.
3 observations:
1. Be patient, time will help.
2. Total KJs seem very low. Was this full face? Do you have a large or small face?
3. Fraxel may not be as effective for scarring as we would like to believe. It helped me, but not great.
In my opinion, this procedure is risk free and foolproof. You will get a way better result with 10 treatments by a non name doc than 4 treatments by a name doc, even though the total cost might be the same. You are being gouged.
Hi all,I just completed a series of 4 fraxel treatments for acne scarring four days ago. My scars could probably be labeled as mostly shallow to moderate rolling scars, with more boxcar scars on my temples. I've actually been around the forums for quite a while now, but haven't really posted anything before.
Anyways up until now, I have not seen any improvement on any of my scarring. I was very confused as to why this was the case, as the cosmetic dermatologist I go to is very famous and has been regarded as one of the best laser surgeons in the nation. He also charges quite a large price tag accordingly (I paid almost 7000 for 4 Fraxels). However, upon examining the majority of the forum posters' treatment data, I was pretty shocked. It appears that most people have been receiving about 6 more passes per treatment than I have. My treatment data is listed below as follows..
Fraxel SR1500 treatments
Fraxel #1 3/15/07
40 MJ 2 passes with 312 density
4.03 kj
20% coverage
Fraxel #2 5/3/07
70 MJ 1st pass with 224 density
40 MJ 2nd pass with 392 density
5.22 kj
20% coverage
Fraxel #3 6/7/07
70 MJ 1st pass
45 MJ 2nd pass
4.74 kj
20% coverage
Fraxel #4 6/28/07
70 MJ 1st and 2nd pass with 225 density
4.22 kj
20%
From my treatment data above, would it be reasonable to assume that the reason I am not getting any results is because I'm not getting enough passes per treatment? I'm not really sure what to make of this at the moment. Like I said, my cosmetic dermatologist is one of the top in the nation, and I do trust his experience. It's just that the discrepency between my treatment levels and the treatment levels of fellow posters here is just way too big to ignore, and I feel I must question whether my treatment levels were high enough to improve my scarring. Thanks for reading.
I think the number of passes probably makes a difference, and my dermatologist indicated the same when I asked her about it. That being said, I have only been able to tolerate 4 passes on the aggressive settings on my cheeks (my scarred area). After 4 treatments, I am seeing improvements, but it has not been quite the miracle I had hoped for, by any stretch of the imagination. I have 2 treatments, left, however, so the jury is still out on if the downtime/pain/$$ are worth it.
Hi all,I just completed a series of 4 fraxel treatments for acne scarring four days ago. My scars could probably be labeled as mostly shallow to moderate rolling scars, with more boxcar scars on my temples. I've actually been around the forums for quite a while now, but haven't really posted anything before.
Anyways up until now, I have not seen any improvement on any of my scarring. I was very confused as to why this was the case, as the cosmetic dermatologist I go to is very famous and has been regarded as one of the best laser surgeons in the nation. He also charges quite a large price tag accordingly (I paid almost 7000 for 4 Fraxels). However, upon examining the majority of the forum posters' treatment data, I was pretty shocked. It appears that most people have been receiving about 6 more passes per treatment than I have. My treatment data is listed below as follows..
Fraxel SR1500 treatments
Fraxel #1 3/15/07
40 MJ 2 passes with 312 density
4.03 kj
20% coverage
Fraxel #2 5/3/07
70 MJ 1st pass with 224 density
40 MJ 2nd pass with 392 density
5.22 kj
20% coverage
Fraxel #3 6/7/07
70 MJ 1st pass
45 MJ 2nd pass
4.74 kj
20% coverage
Fraxel #4 6/28/07
70 MJ 1st and 2nd pass with 225 density
4.22 kj
20%
From my treatment data above, would it be reasonable to assume that the reason I am not getting any results is because I'm not getting enough passes per treatment? I'm not really sure what to make of this at the moment. Like I said, my cosmetic dermatologist is one of the top in the nation, and I do trust his experience. It's just that the discrepency between my treatment levels and the treatment levels of fellow posters here is just way too big to ignore, and I feel I must question whether my treatment levels were high enough to improve my scarring. Thanks for reading.
I'm surprised that the doctor isn't giving you more than 20% coverage each time. If your only getting 4, that's only 80% total?? My treatments have been 23% - 30% coverage each time. Did you talk with the doctor about your concerns?
Hey all, thanks for the replies.
Billyboy - Not quite sure if I have a large face or small face, probably a medium size face? The fraxels were also done for my entire face.
Sheryllynn - No I did not speak to my doctor about my concerns, since I only found out about this after all the treatments were done. I figure even if I explained to him my concerns, its not like he would perform free fraxel procedures on me to compensate for the relatively small number of passes.
I was thinking maybe the lower number of passes/kj could be attributed to the fact that I have asian skin? Then again, I have read posters on here who have received 8 passes per treatment with asian skin and not having any incidences of hyperpigmentation. I really have no idea what to do right now, I suppose all I can do is wait a couple months, let my skin heal, and see where I stand. I will probably be considering doing full face dermal grafts as my next step.
On another note, Billyboy I have seen Dr. Dhawan for dermal grafts, and I have to say that I experienced a mild improvement on my boxcar/rolling scars on temples. However, one of the scars was overfilled by the dermal graft, and ended up being uneven with the skin. I had that scar excised 2-3 months later by some big name doctor in Asia, which probably yielded a worse result than if I had just let the dermal graft finish healing by itself. Overall, I do think dermal grafting done by Dr. Dhawan on scarring should be pretty effective in theory. But, in my experience, I do not think that one graft will yield the desired improvement for most scars, and that around 2-3 grafts will have to be done per scar in order to reach satisfactory improvement. Also, overfilling may be a pretty big risk, as I do not see how it would be possible to even out the raised surface unless you laser it down or something.