jay have you noticed improvment in your shallow rolling scars?

Hi Nate

My shallow scars are more boxcar-like than rolling and I'd say they've improved - maybe 20% so far.

 

it's beyond any of us how your box-scars received a weak 20% improvement.

jay have you noticed improvment in your shallow rolling scars?

Hi Nate

My shallow scars are more boxcar-like than rolling and I'd say they've improved - maybe 20% so far.

 

it's beyond any of us how your box-scars received a weak 20% improvement.

 

First question: how much should they have improved 2 months after 5th treatment...?

Second question: how long should I wait before confronting my derm about this? I had an appointment a few weeks ago and diplomatically said I wasn't seeing much improvement in my scars - the answer was 'give it more time and then maybe more fraxel treatments if things haven't really changed'. Uh oh... I was feeling ok after jjp007's post now I'm not feeling so good. As I said in an earlier post I was sore, swollen and red each time, but still perhaps my derm didn't go hard enough?? :doubt:

so many things influence response. from the initial severity of your scar to environmental and lifestyle choices.

a few things you can do are exercise, adequate sleep, increase protein intake, and vitamin C intake. the latter two are essential for collagen production.

if you smoke, drink, stay up late, then your cheating urself.

so many things influence response. from the initial severity of your scar to environmental and lifestyle choices.

a few things you can do are exercise, adequate sleep, increase protein intake, and vitamin C intake. the latter two are essential for collagen production.

if you smoke, drink, stay up late, then your cheating urself.

Uh huh! That could be it then...I don't take drugs or smoke and rarely drink but I have been suffering from insomnia for nearly a year now - often 4 hours; seven if I'm very, very lucky (I'm used to eight). I've tried everything except for hardcore sleeping tabs which my doctor doesn't want to prescribe anyway - I've been taking antihistamines instead for about 4 months but am weening myself off them because they're addictive and not meant for such long-term use.

Anyway, I'm healthy otherwise from exercise, good diet and multivitamins - but lack of sleep certainly can knock your skin around at the best of times... Think I'll up my protein and vitamin C intake and see what happens.

Thanx for the tip fraxelwaxel

Hi jay7,

One of the other reasons that you might not be getting the improvement you want is because you need at least 8 passes or more. I read one of your posts and it said you only got 4 passes on your treatment. And yes, sleep is very important. Sometimes I can't sleep either, but what really helps me is Unisom. I cut the pill in half or sometimes in a quarter. I try to limit myself on doing this and do this no more than twice a week.

I think sleep and exercise are really important. Hopefully you will see more improvement soon.

im not just suggesting it cause "vitamin C cures everything". if you look it up you will see that vitamin C is actually an essential catalyst in the formation of collagen.

you really do have to have a lot of it when your skin is repairing itself. more than the RDA. burn victims, for instance, have super high protein and vitamin C diets or the skin will not heal.

i'm now treated with affirm laser and i'm asian.when surfing this forum i learn that 'the highest setting is important' and someone say that 'affirm doesn't go as deep as fraxel' which make me a bit worry.i think i see some improvement with affirm now but just subtle.could somebody explain me whether i should continue with affirm or not??(i heard that affirm is suitable for asian akin though,is it right?)

i appreciate any advices.thanks.

I had my first fraxel done about 4 days ago and I wish my scars would stay the way they are right now!! Is it normal to have most of your scars disappear on the days following the procedure, only to have them return a several days/weeks after? I hope this is not the case!

Is fraxel able to totally eliminate scars on the spot without having to wait months for the collagen regrowth? Or are all these currently invisible scars of mine just gone for the time being because of the swelling?

Yeah, the scars will come back after the swelling subsides.

ur scars will come back after swelling subsides in a few weeks. collagen remodeling takes months to a year. unless you are a comic book character like wolverine LOL. are you wolverine maybe?

a few weeks??? does it really take that long for the swelling to subside? geeze stupid slow skin take your time why don't ya.

So its been almost a month since my first fraxel. It seems like my texture is worse than before...my pores are huge, and I can still see a slight red line between my eyes and cheeks, where the fraxel treatment ended. My face is all over still fairly red, but its always been a bit red. Just more so now. May have been the longterm use of tretinoin causing the redness.

Also may need to look into IPL after this, especially if I'm developing rosacea.

The worse part is if I feel my skin it feels very lumpy under the surface. I had some red surface bumps too. Its never been great but not this bad. They seem to be almost gone when I wake up in the morning, and I'm taking my antibiotics now, but they always seem to return by evening. not sure whats going on. Its like a breakout under the skin...

I've stopped using any products except for cetaphil cleanser morning, and La Roche Posay bar at night. Paula's Choice BHA at night, Skinceuticals Phyto+ morning with Purpose daily moisture spf 15.

Before that I was using Skincuticals AOX 15 in the morning, And an SPF 50 sunscreen by Sofina, which is supposed to be for sensitive skin.

I also used a new mask once, Cabots anti stress/redness vitamin E sample once, and it seems my skin got really bad just after, with the most surface red bumps. Now its just the lumpiness with a few small red bumps. Not sure whats going on, if it was the one time mask, my skincare routine, or the Fraxel...

Has anyone taken zinc supplements? I've been reading that they are for collagen rebuilding too, and may be more vital for it than C is.

Also, has anyone used copper peptides during their fraxel treatments? Do they think they helped? It seems that taking and using stuff that should help the skin build collagen would be important to how well your skin rebuilds after fraxel.

So its been almost a month since my first fraxel. It seems like my texture is worse than before...my pores are huge, and I can still see a slight red line between my eyes and cheeks, where the fraxel treatment ended. My face is all over still fairly red, but its always been a bit red. Just more so now. May have been the longterm use of tretinoin causing the redness.

Also may need to look into IPL after this, especially if I'm developing rosacea.

The worse part is if I feel my skin it feels very lumpy under the surface. I had some red surface bumps too. Its never been great but not this bad. They seem to be almost gone when I wake up in the morning, and I'm taking my antibiotics now, but they always seem to return by evening. not sure whats going on. Its like a breakout under the skin...

I've stopped using any products except for cetaphil cleanser morning, and La Roche Posay bar at night. Paula's Choice BHA at night, Skinceuticals Phyto+ morning with Purpose daily moisture spf 15.

Before that I was using Skincuticals AOX 15 in the morning, And an SPF 50 sunscreen by Sofina, which is supposed to be for sensitive skin.

I also used a new mask once, Cabots anti stress/redness vitamin E sample once, and it seems my skin got really bad just after, with the most surface red bumps. Now its just the lumpiness with a few small red bumps. Not sure whats going on, if it was the one time mask, my skincare routine, or the Fraxel...

Has anyone taken zinc supplements? I've been reading that they are for collagen rebuilding too, and may be more vital for it than C is.

Also, has anyone used copper peptides during their fraxel treatments? Do they think they helped? It seems that taking and using stuff that should help the skin build collagen would be important to how well your skin rebuilds after fraxel.

You're not supposed to use AHAs or BHAs while doing fraxel.

You're not supposed to use AHAs or BHAs while doing fraxel.

My dermo told me not to use anything active over the course of my fraxel treatments. You have to treat your skin like a bad sunburn... it's fragile and weak.

I think I might be one of the lucky ones but my skin's reacted pretty well to the treatment. It healed up 100% within 4 days and there's been no additional scarring or otherwise that I can see *knocks wood*

All I did was wash and moisturise 3 times a day, take 1-2g of vit c, and drink lots of water

😯

AHA's I know, but this is the first I've heard against salicylic acid during Fraxel. I don't use it for the first week after Fraxel. i didn't use anything except moisturizer, cleanser and sunscreen for the first week.

Also, I've read here about some people getting a type of salicylic acid peel between Fraxel treatments to help with bumpiness (silkpeel)?

Anyway, my skin does seem to be getting better, just slowly. I'll stop using all acids for awhile.

I think I need to get back on antibiotics while doing Fraxel. Hopefully the derm will know more.

Anybody with opinions about copper peptides?

You gotta relax with all the products. Your skin just got lasered. The last thing it needs is additional products interfering with the healing process.

You gotta relax with all the products. Your skin just got lasered. The last thing it needs is additional products interfering with the healing process.

is anyone taking anti inflammatory antibiotics throughout their entire fraxel course? i'm still taking mine a week after i had my fraxel done... my doc never told me when to stop taking them lol.

If you are taking antibiotics then you should complete the dose.

I was never given any medicine for my 4 fraxels. Just numbing cream and a tylenol.

Stay away from IPL. It gave me such bad acne I had to go on Accutane.

Those who had Fraxel, did your doctor immediately cool down treated area while Fraxel? My doctor did this but I saw some Fraxel video on YouTube and it seems that no cooler was used there.

Btw, it's almost 2 weeks after my 2nd Fraxel 2 treatment. Still almost zero improvement in pitted scars.

If you are taking antibiotics then you should complete the dose.

I was never given any medicine for my 4 fraxels. Just numbing cream and a tylenol.

My doc prescribed 75 tablets for me!!!! and 4 repeats. sounds a bit excessive to me but what do i know 😛

Those who had Fraxel, did your doctor immediately cool down treated area while Fraxel? My doctor did this but I saw some Fraxel video on YouTube and it seems that no cooler was used there.

Btw, it's almost 2 weeks after my 2nd Fraxel 2 treatment. Still almost zero improvement in pitted scars.

You mean that cold air blower? My doc blew that onto my face as the laser went over the skin to essentially reduce the pain... but damn it was still pretty painful. Felt like a pen was cutting through my skin. I think I might need more drugs before it next time! haha

You're right, I'm sure...but it's just so hard to sit back and wait. Gotta feel like I'm being proactive about it somehow!

So my regimen for the entire 6 months or so of treatment will now be :

Morning:

cetaphil cleanser, either the Sofina SPF 50 or Purpose SPF 15, depending on sun exposure (I may try switching to a purely physical sunscreen with zinc)

Moisturizer: cetaphil or la roche posay extra mild

my regular daily supplements which are:

multivitamin and either osteochondroitin, iron, fish oil, b-complex or vitamin c or e (don't like to take tons of pills so I alternate which supplements I take with the multivitamin)

evening:

DHC olive oil cleanser

la roche posay bar or cetaphil cleanser

moisturizer

what was your regiment in the month between lasers?

think it would be safe to stick the c serum in there? It will probably go bad in 6 months otherwise.

All I did was moisturize w/ cetaphil.

I am not going to lie.....60MJ .......hurt like a BEOTCH!!!!!!

I started tearing up under the googles, and i thought I had a high tolerance for pain. Guess not....

I was told not to use any perscriptions creams like BP while undergoing fraxel (which i was doing...yikes!!)

Oh well, maybe ill just spot treat with it. In the event that I get another breakout from Fraxel, I had finally got everythign under control and now i just had my laser today. Oh well I will try to fight this by taking 2 doxy for 2 weeks, then move down to 1 a day.

I looked in the mirror after the treatment and i saw how tight and perfect (ie swollen) my cheeks looked & i said "i wish it would stay like this" and then I asked him, do you ever get results this good (pointing to my cheek) and he said that he did have a patient that has had 13 treatmetns and had started out w/ really really bad scars and how hes dosnet really have anything.

Ok i guess.....4 down.....9 more to go.......