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does fraxel improve skin tone?
yes thats what it was invented for. acne scars was a nice side application. it was invented for melasma. improved skin tone is the number one improvement area that everyone sees. whether its old people getting fraxel for wrinkles or kids with acne scars. skin tone is improved dramatically.
I had a consultation with a physician in another country who has the Fraxel laser as I wanted to get a scar (non-acne related) revised.
She told me she wouldn't recommend the procedure for me. She said that for scars, there is almost nothing currently on the market (incl Fraxel) that works well. She said it has been somewhat useful for things like photodamage and melasma, but for atrophic scars it has little effect.
She mentioned the whole laser business has grown into a rather sickening world of where companies are spending a lot of $$$ to convince physicians to buy expensive lasers, and then the physicians have to spend heavily to convince patients to spend heavily on treatments.
She is more optimistic, but still skeptical, about forthcoming fractional CO2.
I don't know if you guys have checked Ravpup's recent pics ... his first fraxel that was done first week of December. He has pics posted for 12/27 and I definitely see some improvement. I'm really encouraged right now.I only see 12/29 after pics. Either way, there's no way that "improvement" is permanent if that's his first or second fraxel. Probably swelling/microswelling.
Improvements don't kick in until after the 3rd or 4th session.
EFFU: Why isn't ur center using the fractional CO2 on you?
I had a consultation with a physician in another country who has the Fraxel laser as I wanted to get a scar (non-acne related) revised.She told me she wouldn't recommend the procedure for me. She said that for scars, there is almost nothing currently on the market (incl Fraxel) that works well. She said it has been somewhat useful for things like photodamage and melasma, but for atrophic scars it has little effect.
She mentioned the whole laser business has grown into a rather sickening world of where companies are spending a lot of $$$ to convince physicians to buy expensive lasers, and then the physicians have to spend heavily to convince patients to spend heavily on treatments.
She is more optimistic, but still skeptical, about forthcoming fractional CO2.
hmmmm....very interesting......i'd be curious as to what country u were in? and why did u choose to have ur scar looked at in that country? or was it a doctor from another country that was here in america......i wasnt aware that they were even offering fraxel internationally......
personally, i live in manhattan, and my doctor was one of the pioneers in dermatological laser surgery (Dr. Roy Geronemus), and he has volumes and volumes of books filled with before and after pics of former patients who would strongly disagree with ur foreign doctor friend.....lol
i'd like to know the name of the doctor who told u that, id like to research her credentials....how long has she been practicing laser surgery?......how much experience does she have?
im not criticizing her, im trying to "consider the source"....:)
Effu,With you doing so many fraxels, is your skin near perfect now?
well, it depends who u ask.....if u were to ask one of my current doctors, they would say "yes"....but i still see small imperfections.....if u were to see me outside, and not know me u would not notice anything wrong with me......but.....
i started out with severe cystic acne.....i had huge cysts and not an inch of clear skin anywhere on my face for 2 1/2 full years when i was a teen, before anyone took me to a doctor.....so the damage was done....after my skin cleared (thank you accutane), my cheeks were covered with dark red marks, and deep ice picks......i went thru hundreds of glycolic, and aha peels, 2 dermabrasions, 2 Co2 resurfacings, 10 pulse dye/v-beams, 3 punch incisions, bleaching creams, and now 9 fraxels......
so....after everthing ive been thru (including the HUMILIATIONS ive endured in public, the rejections from friends, family, and everyone else thru the years on a DAILY BASIS), i think ive become do fuckin warped in the head about my appearance, that no matter how good my skin looks i will always notice something wrong......so i have a cap set for fraxels (20 lol)....and then im going to rest.....FINALLY....
Well I had 3 Fraxels at 40mJ and I had like 5% improvement MAX on my brown spots which look similar to melasma. I don't have any deep scars, they're all smooth.I'm not spending ANY MORE money on it until the CO2 version comes out... 🙂
but 3 is not enough......i keep reading on these boards about people having fraxel and saying its garbage, and it wont work for them.......and they only had 2 or 3! fraxel is a looong process.....for success u need to go at it at the HIGHEST (deepest) setting possible, every 2-3 weeks, for at least 6 months......its the truth...
have any pics Effu?^^ Also could you post in my Fraxell thread? Its a poll.I am darkskinned and I could only got up to 18 i think on Fraxel treatments. Is there any point to me getting this done? Even if I have alot of sessions?
i dont know about dark skin, my skin is pale pale white......if u want u can call my doctor's office and ask: The Center for Laser and Skin Surgery Center (212) 686-7306....they are experts, mostly all harvard trained.....ask for Dr. Geronemus (if ur in new york, get a consultation.....
another grat fraxel doctor is Dr. Cameron Rokhsar (also in manhattan), get his number off of google.....
for my skin 18mj wouldnt help me at all.....but maybe it is different for darker skin tones.....ill pray for u:)
http://healthyskin.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a...9794#4330029794
I just found this link.It says many people at about 3 years post laser treatment report that their skin looks worse than ever. Anyone here at 3 years post treatment around?Or 3 years or less since fraxel is pretty new.
http://healthyskin.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a...9794#4330029794I just found this link.It says many people at about 3 years post laser treatment report that their skin looks worse than ever. Anyone here at 3 years post treatment around?Or 3 years or less since fraxel is pretty new.
LOOOLLLL!!!! I havent opened the link yet, i have to respond to u.....i had my first CO2 laser resurfacing approx. 10 years ago(more than 3 yrs.).....my 2nd approx 8 years ago.(more than 3 yrs).....also, i had about 10 pulse dye lasers about 5 years ago(more than 3).....and I ASSURE U: my skin is waaaaaaaaaaaay better now than before i had anything done.........
it is important to question the long term effects.
for instance, when laser hair removal came out they were touting it as permanent. but there were no studies longer than six months! and there still arent any longer than 2 years follow up. turns out it wasn't really permanent.
its not in a laser companies interest to do such long term studies. just as important though, its very difficult to keep people in studies that long. for example the one study of laser hair removal that goes to 2 years only has 4 people in it by the 2 year mark. hardly worthy of a clinical study.
as much as I like fraxel there arent any long term studies, so no one knows what the long term affects are. however i dont see any reason why it wouldn't be permanent, or would cause faster aging. but there's no way to prove that besides anecdotal evidence.
and i remember saying that about laser hair removal and being wrong.
I am darkskinned and I could only got up to 18 i think on Fraxel treatments. Is there any point to me getting this done? Even if I have alot of sessions?
Hi Texan,
I'm dark skinned and I've had 2 Fraxels. But I went with Fraxel 2. It looks like you had the Fraxel with the blue dye. They started me at 40mg and the second was at 45mj. I'm going to ask my next treatment go to 55mj. I know you are not suppose to see results until the 3rd treatment, but I am definitely starting to see improvement. My husband, who was totatlly AGAINST me getting these treatments, told me today that he is seeing improvement! I know he wouldn't say this if he didn't mean it.
Yes, you want to go as high as setting as possbile, but if your scares aren't too bad, settings like I had will give you improvement. My scares are moderate with rolling and some box scares on my chin and some ice pick scares by my hairline. The ice pick scares have not improved so far, but even the box scares are starting to fill in a little! You need to get the Fraxel 2 and forget about the Fraxel you are doing. Fraxel 2 goes deeper and they can adjust the settings for darker skinned people. Good luck!
bluemorpho are you sure it is less effective if gap between treatment is long? I was told no. I am getting them done far far apart de to $$
i was told that 2-4 weeks is optimal and you don't want to go more than 2 months between. granted, this information is from a fraxel rep and from 2-3 docs i consulted with, who are pushing it, obviously. however, i swelled more immediately (during treatment) for my fifth treatment, which was about 2 months after my fourth, than what i had with my 4th treatment. i think that was a result of my skin/body not being used to it for a longer period.
there is probably a study on the fraxel site somewhere that indicates time periods and why there is a different reaction...
Well I had 3 Fraxels at 40mJ and I had like 5% improvement MAX on my brown spots which look similar to melasma. I don't have any deep scars, they're all smooth.I'm not spending ANY MORE money on it until the CO2 version comes out... 🙂
but 3 is not enough......i keep reading on these boards about people having fraxel and saying its garbage, and it wont work for them.......and they only had 2 or 3! fraxel is a looong process.....for success u need to go at it at the HIGHEST (deepest) setting possible, every 2-3 weeks, for at least 6 months......its the truth...
i wish i had photos for you guys, because my scars are DEFINITELY getting better. it is a remodeling process in many ways because i notice some scars more now that i didn't notice as much before and don't notice others that i had been totally focused on...someone had posted a question about does fraxel work on your nose, and i went and looked in the mirror at a scar i USED TO have on my nose and i can't find it! this was a small chicken pock scar (indented) i'd had since i was four (for thirty years!) and now i have no idea where it was. my 'worst' forehead scar looks 40-50% improved to me in depth. but now there's another one that i think is my 'worst' 🙂
it is hard, certainly, to gauge improvement when i have as many scars as i have and when i got them in a time period from when i was a young teenager into my thirties. i just can't keep track of my scars that well unless they are ones that feel emotionally significant to me in some way. i had a patch of scars on my left cheekbone toward the outside of my face, near my temple area, that about a year and a half ago i had tried to 'fix' with TCA, but i ended up with a longer scar that went horizontally across that area, and was darker. that area looks significantly better now.
also, one of my best friends who is one of the 3 people i told i was getting this done (besides my parents), came over the other day after we hadn't seen each other for about a month due to the holidays, and was gushing over how great she thinks my skin is looking. she said she can tell that it's 'new' skin and that i look really radiant and that she can see that my scars are filling in.
anyhow, i really need to get a good digital camera that does great close-ups. can anyone offer recommendations?
Hello,
I am new to this so please bear with me....!
Im trying to find out some more information about this fraxel treatment for my boyfriend who has severe acne scars all over his back and chest. Its the worst case of acne scars i have ever seen, and weve seen so many dermatologists (on the NHS) and they keep sending us in circles with medication that doesnt work and a standard laser treatment that hasnt stopped the spots (or new scarring).
Is this fraxel laser safe to use on the back and chest, as i havent read anywhere that people have used it in these places, it just seems to be faces.
Thanks for any help! 
fraxel is safe for anywhere on the body, but its not going to get rid of severe atrophic acne scarring.
if there is a lot of tissue loss over a larger area then im not sure what can be done. fillers are only for small tissue loss over relatively small areas, like on the face. isolagen will be out in a few years but again, its for smaller areas on the face. its also very expensive.
if he's still getting active acne then id recommend accutane to stop it cold. then at least you wont be getting more scarring.
if he's still getting active acne then id recommend accutane to stop it cold. then at least you wont be getting more scarring.
He was on roaccutane a few years ago, he said it did clear him up for about a year, but it came back and everytime we mention about trying it again to the docs, they always say no (something about the suicide side effects and the 6months of no alcohol!!)
There are large areas of deep scarring which he knows he will have to live with, but for the smaller scars then maybe fraxel might be an answer....will be quizzzing the dermatologist about it tomorrow!
I got a big and deep icepick ance scar and 3 smaller ones on the tip of my nose and it lacks elasticity. I don't think Fraxel works for that scar so I want to have excision of the big one. Should I have excision before Fraxel or Fraxel before excision? Can Fraxel improve surgical scar from excision? What kind of treatment is best for surgical scar? Need your help. Thx!
Hello everyone,
Everything here's been so informative. Thank goodness for the internet. I have a question if anyone can help me.
I am considering Fraxel treatment, but I still have breakouts. Will the Fraxel treatment help with reducing breakouts? Or should I start with another treatment before Fraxel such as Smoothbeam for acne? BTW, Ive been on Accutane 5 different occasions....yes 5! Each for about 6+ months and still end up breaking out eventually. I feel like Im a helpless case so Im hoping I can get rid of breakouts through laser. Thanks