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I've come up with a couple of whiteheads since getting my Fraxel 2 done last Friday. 
They're not really a big deal just annoying. I've also noticed my skin seems to be a little "bumpy" (for lack of a better description) not with acne or pimples but just spots of flesh where it wasn't really before I'm seriously thinking I need Erbium or something to get rid of this shit, need something more ablative.
Same thing happened to me solidsnake - about 2 weeks after my first fraxel. I got bumpy rashy looking things mainly on my forehead. They went away after about two weeks. I had my second fraxel today and mentioned it to the derm. She said that other people have been reporting this but it seems to settle down and not cause any problems in the long term. I also got a couple of little pimples which is unusual for me now. They were very tiny and I wonder if the fraxel allowed some infection to get in to a couple of small spots. Again I just let them alone and they resolved in a couple of days with no lasting effects.
Caesar2
Hi there, I have been following this thread for some time and feel it is now time to make a contribution. Thankyou to all who have contributed thus far, it has been really helpful in my decision making and expectations.
About me. After following the technology for a long time and not wanting to take the plunge into treatments that were too extreme for me I have just entered into the world of Fraxel (Fri). I do not really suffer from acne anymore (after roacutane treatment several years ago), just the occasional pimple, but would like to reduce the appearance of acne scars as well as pigmentation.
About Fraxel. I was very pleasantly surprised that it was not as painful as imagined (40kj/8passes/full face) and even happier that I did not suffer the burning extreme sensations so many of you have reported. The day of the treatment I was a little red and hot, but kept this down with ice 15min every hour as instructed. I was pretty concerned when I woke up the next day (Sat) to an unrecognisable face: swollen to the point my eye lashes were squashed by my cheeks; a breakout of whiteheads; red spots of blood all over my face. Not at all pretty! This lasted for two days. By Monday the whiteheads had gone, the red spots were clearing and the swelling had reduced enough for me to believe I could safely re-enter society. Went to work today (Tues), I got a couple of comments on getting some sun but other than that I felt quite presentable. I have not suffered from long lasting peeling or itching, it was all over in two days (Sun-Mon), but I did lather my skin several times a day with sorbolene based moisturiser and washed twice a day with cetaphil lotion. Today, apart from looking a little sunburned my skin feels great! pores are reduced... for now...I guess all that heat extruded all that built up oil. Really looking forward to seeing what the treatment does for me in the long term. Next treatment is in a month, now I know what to expect for me. Will keep you posted.
PS FYI Fraxel is pretty new here in Oz, less than 12 months, but already a very popular treatment for acne scaring. Very expensive though... $AU1000/full face treatment.
$1000 per treatmnet. Shit!! You better have like 10 grand to spare!! Fraxel is SLOWW like everything else and promises to produce improvement, like everything else. I am so far more than a week post round 2 and no improvement yet. I know people tell me to be patient around here, but I've been let down so many times and my credit is so shot from spending so much money on these depressed acne scars. I am really at my lowest lowest point in life right now It just feels so utterly hopeless for me.
Lookupandsmile
Are you getting anything back from medicare? If you get the fraxel done with a derm who has a medicare provider number for laser treatment of acne scars you will get 80% back on your treatments (after the first $700-$1000). They do have to assess you and make sure that your scars are visible from a certain distance - I think it's 3-4 metres. Based on this rebate, my 5 treatments will cost around $2,600. Which is why my derm can afford to charge $1,850 for a full face treatment - many people are entitled to the rebate and so that brings the price down to something affordable. I'm just a bit worried that if too many people start using fraxel they will take it off the provider list - so I'm taking advantage of this while I can!
The other benefit of having hit my $1,000 limit for the year is that all medicare rebatable services (non-bulk billed visits to the doc etc) are now all refunded at the 80%mark.
Caesar2
hi - I thought I should give an update. Sorry, I don't have pictures, because I am too vain to post ugly pictures! Anyway, I had my 7th Fraxel two weeks ago. This was my 1st with the Fraxel II machine, though - the first 6 were with the first machine. With the exception of my very first session, all of my setting have been very high (25-30 on the 1st machine, 40 on the new one). I've always had 4-5 days of red, red skin, terrible swelling, peeling, whiteheads, blood spots - you name it, I had it. just plain ugly!
I am FINALLY seeing some major improvement! I almost gave up after 5 of the first Fraxels - a lot of money, time and very little improvement. Especially now that I see some real improvement. I have many rolling scars on my cheeks, temple and some on my forehead. I'm 48 yrs old, so some of these scars are 25 years old. Maybe it takes longer when you're older, I don't know.
Some of my shallower scars look like they're gone. The deeper ones are still there, but are filling in quite a bit. I would say 75 % improvement over all.
I have one more Fraxel II scheduled in two weeks. After that, my dr said we could possibly do some Perlane injections if I still want them.
Anyway, I really thought Fraxel was not worth it, but am so glad I hung in there. I could have spent the money on a lot of things, but you all know how important it is to feel good about yourself. Good luck to everyone!
Shit shit shit!!! I am on my 2nd and still waiting, am I gonna get uberexcited now. What if I could finally get improvement, I think I would faint. I would pass out and drop to the ground.have you seen any improvements as of now?? hope all is well..
nO IMPROVEMENTS AT ALL YET./ aND IT'S BEEN 10 DAYS POST FRAXEL SR 1500 #2
I'm sorry I'm usually not the one to ask a question without reading the whole thread, but this thread is long and much of it goes into specific questions or concerns w/ certain people's problems or questions.
So really all I want to know is how does this treatment fair against icepick (both shallow and deep) scarring? I had almost given up hope on fraxel as so much negativity has been written about it lately, but also, I guess I should understand those that are most upset are the ones most likely to post.... O and one last question, does the age of the patient help or hurt? I mean I'm young so would I be better off doing it sooner than later?
But ya thanks for your help and, again, I am sorry if these questions have been asked already, but HEY, YOU try reading 235 pages about fraxel! Now thats a days worth!
I am about 2 weeks post my second fraxel. My settings have been:
First Session:
Fraxel II 40mj@level 6 w/ 8 passes
Second Session
Fraxel II 40mj@level 9 w/ 8 passes
I am starting to see some very promising results. My scars are softening my pores are shrinking. So far i am very happy with my treatments and I cant wait to finish them. I have my third on the 14th and I will be moving to 40mj@level 10 w/ 8 passes. WOOO! I am finally seeing the end of my pain insight!
I am about 2 weeks post my second fraxel. My settings have been:First Session:
Fraxel II 40mj@level 6 w/ 8 passes
Second Session
Fraxel II 40mj@level 9 w/ 8 passes
I am starting to see some very promising results. My scars are softening my pores are shrinking. So far i am very happy with my treatments and I cant wait to finish them. I have my third on the 14th and I will be moving to 40mj@level 10 w/ 8 passes. WOOO! I am finally seeing the end of my pain insight!
yaaay. im very glad to hear that you are seeing some improvements...may i ask if youre seeing improvements in atrophic or hypertrophic type scars?? thanks!!
It's a full week after my first Fraxel II ... my redness is gone and my results have diminished, which is to be expected. I've had some whiteheads and a small pauple on my chin (never had a spot of acne on my chin in my life, acne has been limited to cheeks only) and, on the sides of my chin I have two very fine little curved lines, with about the depth of a small wrinkle, absolutely miniscule which were not there before. When I look at them closer in the light I can see that they do have a tiny tiny bit of depth to them, but they're still noticeable in the harsh light. Are these demarcation lines? DO they go away? If so in how long? Maybe I'm being vain, but I think I'm going to go see a plastic surgeon instead of a Derm about my scars. Fuck.
It's a full week after my first Fraxel II ... my redness is gone and my results have diminished, which is to be expected. I've had some whiteheads and a small pauple on my chin (never had a spot of acne on my chin in my life, acne has been limited to cheeks only) and, on the sides of my chin I have two very fine little curved lines, with about the depth of a small wrinkle, absolutely miniscule which were not there before. When I look at them closer in the light I can see that they do have a tiny tiny bit of depth to them, but they're still noticeable in the harsh light. Are these demarcation lines? DO they go away? If so in how long? Maybe I'm being vain, but I think I'm going to go see a plastic surgeon instead of a Derm about my scars. Fuck.
It may be that you still have some microswelling which is causing the 'lines'. I'd wait another couple days - I bet they go away. As far as the breakouts, I am 9 days past my first Fraxel and I'm a bit broken out only on my chin. I think it's from the Biafine and cleanser that they gave me. I can't use just anything and I think that's what broke me out. That and my chin was probably a bit redder than the rest of my face for the last 9 days.
Interesting/funny/annoying story about my 5th session.
I went in as usual and got numbed up. Two PAs came in to do my treatment. The usual one and a new one. The new one had some trouble getting the machine to work and actually noted that the screen was a different color. We all crack jokes that the laser is going to blow up and burn my face.
They finally get everything working and start treating my face. I noticed immediately that I felt no pain and mentioned it. My usual PA said that was strange because she definitely could see my face getting red. They finish and I distinctly notice that I still feel no pain or burning or anything, and my face doesn't feel swollen.
I trust my PA (she's awesome), so I go home without looking in the mirror at the office like I normally do. I figured that the lack of pain and swelling was just because my skin is getting used to the fraxel.
I get home and look in the mirror and my face doesn't look like it's been treated at all. I don't have any of the side effects of being treated, except my face is very slightly pink (which I later realize is due to the lidocaine).
So I'm getting worried at this point and call my PA. I wonder if maybe she accidentally put the settings too low. She says she'll discuss it with one of the docs, and we'll talk on Monday. She swears that she treated me and that she actually gave me more energy than usual this time, even though we went down to 30/8.
Now, it's Friday night, and I had made sure not to have any plans during my recovery period, so I'm just sitting around trying to figure out what's going on. Then it hits me. The machine has a simulation mode. So I call Reliant tech support and ask them if simulation mode has a different color screen than regular treatment mode. Lo and behold, it does -- the screen is greyed out when in simulation mode. So it sounds like they "treated" me in simulation mode.
So I will talk to my PA about this tomorrow and make her get me in this week for a treatment. Hopefully, I can turn this into a positive and get a few spot treatments for free out of this as well (I only have a 2in x 2in area left that I really want to improve). I'm going to try at the very least.
hi i am new to the forum. over the last year i've had 12 photodynamic laser treatments for my severe acne and it has helped immensely. it has helped a bit with my scars which are icepick and very deep. friday i had my first fraxel laser treatment and immediately after my skin looked fantastic--it looked like i had barely any hyperpigmentation and you couldnt see my scars at all. i guess it was cuz i was swollen because today i can see the scarring but it still looks a lot better. i was wondering if it looks better already because i took a TON of vitamin C about four days before the treatment and after it also so maybe my skin healed really well or is it just swollen? i don't know. sorry if you ahve gone over this swelling thing i havent had a chance to read all the fraxel posts. also how long does it take to see fraxel improve the hyperpigmentation. i know fraxel is not a sure thing to completely heal scars and i am debating after my fifth fraxel whether to get portrait done or more fraxel. i havent found many people talk about portrait....i hear it's safer than co2 and i always thought co2 would help my acne scars but it sounds like fraxel is better? or people just like fraxel more because of the less downtime? i havent seen many people mention having co2 done either....anyone have experience with this or portrait? thanks!!!!!
anyone try fraxel on stretch marks?
I have an appointment with Dr. Kilmer on Sep. 18th. She is currently performing the clinical study on Fraxel re:pair and stretch marks/acne scars for Reliant. Depending on what she tells me, I may have it performed by her. I will let this board know what she says about it.
I've talked with two dermatologist about Fraxel and stretch marks, although the results of the new co2 fractional versus erbium look more promising.
Dr. Kilmer in Sacramento? I've had a Fraxel consultation at her office. Keep us updated!
When did you have the consultation? Did you ask her about the new fraxel re:pair? I wish I could get in sooner, but she books TWO FULL MONTHS in advance just for a consultation! I'll make sure to ask her about acne scars as well. On her website, she is conducting a research trial for atrophic scars in general, both acne as well as stretch marks. I'll certainly make sure to tell you what she says.