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Ahh, gotcha. Well, I just had my first fraxel on March 17th and went back to work yesterday (the 20th). I definitely wouldn't have gone to work, though, if I didn't wear make-up (just powder). I was really flakey and pink in the areas where my skin had flaked off, so the tone was very uneven. I'm looking a lot more uniform today, but still look much better with make-up. Perhaps you could schedule them for Fridays and go back to work on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, taking off 2-3 work days for each fraxel. How many sessions do you plan on having?
I don't know yet. I have about 4-5 indented rolling scars that are the main concern. I was thinking about getting fraxel in conjunction with subcision to break the scar tissue away from the muscle. Do you think that would be a good idea? I think 4 or 5 fraxels would be good.
OK i dont know where to start...
My face started breaking out alot like 5 years ago.. im 25 now and its just now going away. Im not sure if its going away cause i recently got 6 treatments of micro-dermabrasion but well see.
My tooth broke and it got infected and made my cheek break out over and over.. it was a huge red circle the size of a nickel.. so i was stupid and started putting rubbing alcohol on it and then it dried out and i peeled and peeled the dry skin of cause im an idiot. Now i have tis huge scar on the side of my face.. i also have a few other ones around my other cheek that i want to get rid of.. when i go out in the sun.. its horrible.. you see so many dents that you cant see in the mirror and i hate it..
I thought microderm would help it but hasnt lowered the dents... then my microderm lady gave me a glycolic acic peel for free to see if i liked it.. i didnt think it came close to the microderm but she said it stimulated coligen and thats what i need to raise my scar right?
SO i purchased this 70% glycolic acid from ebay for $8 lol... and beleive it or not, its the same stuff the doctor gave me but stronger.. the doctor gave me 30%... this is 70% professional grade. It stings and burns the same. Ive used it 3 times in 8 days even though it says to only use 1 time per week.
But with the microderms and the peels my face looks 20 times better.. the red spots are almost gone execpt the big one on my cheek 
I suppose my questions are....
1) is glycolic acid safe to do on yourself at home?
2) What can i do to get my dents fixed so i can be happy in the sun?
3) any product you would recommend to me?
Heres a few pics 2 weeks ago.. the redness has REALLY went down from microderm and now i need to get rid of the indents somehow
bad side
after my 90 second 70% glycolic acid treatment today...
the one side isnt bad but the other is horrible.. in the sunlight its NASTY...
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would fraxel work for me?
how much does it cost? is that per treatment or what ?
OK i dont know where to start...
My face started breaking out alot like 5 years ago.. im 25 now and its just now going away. Im not sure if its going away cause i recently got 6 treatments of micro-dermabrasion but well see.
My tooth broke and it got infected and made my cheek break out over and over.. it was a huge red circle the size of a nickel.. so i was stupid and started putting rubbing alcohol on it and then it dried out and i peeled and peeled the dry skin of cause im an idiot. Now i have tis huge scar on the side of my face.. i also have a few other ones around my other cheek that i want to get rid of.. when i go out in the sun.. its horrible.. you see so many dents that you cant see in the mirror and i hate it..
I thought microderm would help it but hasnt lowered the dents... then my microderm lady gave me a glycolic acic peel for free to see if i liked it.. i didnt think it came close to the microderm but she said it stimulated coligen and thats what i need to raise my scar right?
SO i purchased this 70% glycolic acid from ebay for $8 lol... and beleive it or not, its the same stuff the doctor gave me but stronger.. the doctor gave me 30%... this is 70% professional grade. It stings and burns the same. Ive used it 3 times in 8 days even though it says to only use 1 time per week.
But with the microderms and the peels my face looks 20 times better.. the red spots are almost gone execpt the big one on my cheek 🙁
I suppose my questions are....
1) is glycolic acid safe to do on yourself at home?
2) What can i do to get my dents fixed so i can be happy in the sun?
3) any product you would recommend to me?
Heres a few pics 2 weeks ago.. the redness has REALLY went down from microderm and now i need to get rid of the indents somehow 🙁
bad side
after my 90 second 70% glycolic acid treatment today...
the one side isnt bad but the other is horrible.. in the sunlight its NASTY... 🙁
=========================
=================
============
========
=====
===
=
would fraxel work for me?
how much does it cost? is that per treatment or what ?
Fraxel will improve your scars. At least 30 percent. If you only get the cheeks done you will probably pay about 400-500 per session. If you get the whole face expect crazy prices anywhere from 1000-1500 per treatment. You should definately get the 5 treatments series.
Read up on it here: www.fraxel.com and www.reliant-tech.com
I'm suprised microderm and peels worked so well for you. Most people say it doesnt help scars and maybe just improves texture and tone. Where did you go for microderm and peels? Cost? Healing time? Etc?
I think Fraxel would work beautifully for you, I am in the healing process and my scars are about 30-40% improved, I have three more to go
Brian,
Where was your scarring? I can't see any in your pictures. U look like you have perfect skin. Was it scarred pores?
The scar that I have on my cheek is flat... but it has some rough edges that should be "blended" into the skin and the texture could be a bit better. Is fraxel a good option for this kind of scar?
Judging from the slidehow on fraxel and reliant sites I think that is exactly what it does: smooth the edges of scars and help elevate and smooth them gradually (although this is not the FDA approved use of fraxel). The FDA approved use is actually for Melasma (pigment changes from pregnancy) and photodamage (pigment and texture changes from sun). Im not sure if its was also approved for wrinkles but it definately helps those too. One post a few pages back on this thread said it 95 percent improved a large area of hypopigmentation (the size of an iron's tip) on a woman's cheek. Just make sure to stay out of the sun before and after treatment while you heal.
The size of an irons tip? Haha. I don't know how big that is... but my scar is about 4/5" in diameter and it flat. If I knew the pigment would come back, I'd bring a suitcase of cash to the Dr. this afternoon and do the Fraxel w/o anesthetic. 😀 He said it might, but he couldn't guarantee anything. What do you all think?
The scar that I have on my cheek is flat... but it has some rough edges that should be "blended" into the skin and the texture could be a bit better. Is fraxel a good option for this kind of scar?
Judging from the slidehow on fraxel and reliant sites I think that is exactly what it does: smooth the edges of scars and help elevate and smooth them gradually (although this is not the FDA approved use of fraxel). The FDA approved use is actually for Melasma (pigment changes from pregnancy) and photodamage (pigment and texture changes from sun). Im not sure if its was also approved for wrinkles but it definately helps those too. One post a few pages back on this thread said it 95 percent improved a large area of hypopigmentation (the size of an iron's tip) on a woman's cheek. Just make sure to stay out of the sun before and after treatment while you heal.
The size of an irons tip? Haha. I don't know how big that is... but my scar is about 4/5" in diameter and it flat. If I knew the pigment would come back, I'd bring a suitcase of cash to the Dr. this afternoon and do the Fraxel w/o anesthetic. 😀 He said it might, but he couldn't guarantee anything. What do you all think?
I don't know if it was me he was talking about, but it was about 1/4" around. It was a flat whitish scar. After 4 Fraxels it was almost gone. I had my 5th on Monday, and I'll be able to tell you in a few more days if it is completely gone or not. I am very happy and surprised about this.
So Fraxel seems to work on softening scars but can anyone comment if it improves overall skin texture? I have about 5-6 shallow rolling scars but the rest of my skin is a mess too. The whole texture is rough and losing elasticity. Does Fraxel bring back a youthful texture at all (tighter, smoother)?
I went to see my derm three weeks ago for a fraxel consultation. He said he thought it would be a good laser for me and we went ahead and scheduled the treatment. He also gave me some Tazorac to unclog some plugged pores along my jawline. The first few weeks of retiniod use ALWAYS makes me break out. I told the nurse I was concerned about this because we were scheduling the fraxel for three weeks into my Taz use which in my experience is when all the junk comes to the surface. She said it shouldn't be a problem and even if I did have a few pimples they could still do it. Well, of course, my face is a bit of a mess right now and I have my appointment tomorrow. I don't have any real active spots, I stopped the taz a few days ago, but I have quite a bit of red blotchiness and a few clogged bumps.
Do you think I will still be able to have the fraxel done tomorrow?
From what I understand any retnoid I.E. retin-a, isotrotenin, ect restructures cellular walls, and although the effects cause rapid healing, it can also scar, this may be completely off the wall and b.s., but it does say on fraxel.com to stop any type of retnoid at least 2 weeks prior, and after fraxel, p.s. blinny I have seen a wonderful difference in texture
I went to see my derm three weeks ago for a fraxel consultation. He said he thought it would be a good laser for me and we went ahead and scheduled the treatment. He also gave me some Tazorac to unclog some plugged pores along my jawline. The first few weeks of retiniod use ALWAYS makes me break out. I told the nurse I was concerned about this because we were scheduling the fraxel for three weeks into my Taz use which in my experience is when all the junk comes to the surface. She said it shouldn't be a problem and even if I did have a few pimples they could still do it. Well, of course, my face is a bit of a mess right now and I have my appointment tomorrow. I don't have any real active spots, I stopped the taz a few days ago, but I have quite a bit of red blotchiness and a few clogged bumps.
Do you think I will still be able to have the fraxel done tomorrow?
It will be zapped away. I don't gave major break-outs any more but get some flare-ups when I'm stressed. Right before my 1st treatment, I had a flare-up of some bumps on my forehead. I was worried they wouldn't be able to treat me but it wasn't a problem. The fraxel cleared it all up! I did notice that the zits absorbed the dye much more and the "bumps" got really dark after the fraxel treatment. It really stood out but healed up nicely. Also, I did flare up a bit after the 1st treatment and asked my Dr about it. She said that the laser cleans out your system so that's why I broke out. The 2nd treatment cleared that up too. My skin texture is 10x's better than before I started.
As far as the topical Rx's, I used retin-a up until a day before my treatment and have had zero problems. I do stop using to allow my skin to heal but start up again soon after.
First treatment today. I have nothing really to add to what other people have already said. My face is blue, bluer than I thought it would be, swollen enough to hide most of my scars, and sore. I didn't expect to feel so wiped out. I'm normally a pretty high energy person but right now I feel like just spending the day on the couch.
The nurse started me off at a pretty low level (10) and then went back over the scarred areas at 18. The 10 hurt WAY worse than the 18.
First treatment today. I have nothing really to add to what other people have already said. My face is blue, bluer than I thought it would be, swollen enough to hide most of my scars, and sore. I didn't expect to feel so wiped out. I'm normally a pretty high energy person but right now I feel like just spending the day on the couch.
The nurse started me off at a pretty low level (10) and then went back over the scarred areas at 18. The 10 hurt WAY worse than the 18.
Hi Faye,
There is no need for your face to be blue after your fraxel treatment. The dye should easily wash off. It sounds as if they aren't giving you the right soap to use or they are letting the blue dye stay on your face for too long. The dye doesn't need to be applied to your face until right before the fraxel.
Actually she didn't apply the blue dye until right before the treatment. She washed it off with dish soap. I washed again just a little bit ago with Dawn and got more off but I still have blue streaks. This is a much much different treatment than smoothbeam. I'm excited. I did get some results from the smoothbeam so I can't wait to see what I get from this craziness!
For anyone that was following the Toki thread I have started drinking that again. I want to give my body everything possible to help it make collagen. Between the Fraxel, the Toki, and the Taz I should be a collagen producing fool!
Blukit, I did not mean to offend you if I did, but I tell ya the doc I had seemed pretty confident in her process and recommendations, I can see a huge difference since my first fraxel, I had one done last Friday, and if you read my long post ( i think on page 42-43) she did not do the conventional methods of fraxel, she customized it, see my gallery and the one with the blue was about an hr after the treatment
Brian
First treatment today. I have nothing really to add to what other people have already said. My face is blue, bluer than I thought it would be, swollen enough to hide most of my scars, and sore. I didn't expect to feel so wiped out. I'm normally a pretty high energy person but right now I feel like just spending the day on the couch.
The nurse started me off at a pretty low level (10) and then went back over the scarred areas at 18. The 10 hurt WAY worse than the 18.
Glad it went......well... OK i guess :angel: so how many treatments are you getting? I had my 3rd last week and still a little red but it's going away. I'll be having my fourth on Monday. I can see some great imrovements in some of the scars and my skin tone is great. You'll be glad you went through all the drama. You'll be feeling better as the hours go by.
Good luck!
I'm very glad everyone is having such good improvements and sharing their experiences (with PICTURES!). This forum is invaluable.
This seems to be the main thread on fraxel. Any other popular ones?
I was also looking at other treaments people are talking about. The only thing that looks promising is the Plasma laser. Not as many people getting that as fraxel and it seems like it's no different than CO2.
Right now I'm planning on getting 4 treatments but of course if I think I need it I'll get the 5th. When I touch my face now, especially my chin where she went over an old accident scar a third time at a higher level, I feel something grainy. Is that my skin flaking off already?!
Mine is quite bad with lotsa ice pick...
Imagine a cheek with an large area filled with very small ice pick and some big ones with box scar... That's me...
Fraxel does quite alot on the small ice pick ( some of which I had CO2 before)... Great improvement in the appearance... Frankly after the fraxel My concern wasn't really the small scars but the big ones... I don't think Fraxel remove them totally... Probably one more resurfacing but it still works wonders..
Trying TCA cross for my large and deeper scars...
I think expectation plays an important part too... Are you looking for perfect complexion or one that is accpetable .... I am wishing for one that is accpetable.
If you want you could send me your pics.... so as I see how much fraxel works for you.
Hi Holelyface,
I come to this forum occasionally to check out the results of fraxel as I have been considering it, I will be in Singapore tomorrow until this friday or saturday and thinking to make appointment to see the dr in Sloane Clinic for consultation as well. If I am not mistaken you had your fraxel with them, how is the result ? ( my scar seems to fit the description of your scar, but generally I have like orange skin with ice pick and box scar) Would appreciate if you could let me know. Moreover, I am interested in TCA as well, do you know where can I get this treatment in Singpore ? how much is the cost? Would appreciate your reply soonest possible. TQ.
Hi again holelyface,
I flew to Singapore and met Dr Lee at Sloane Clinic at Chip Bee Garden ( nice place, did get a chance to try the French Restaurant there-- Au Petite Salute), Dr Lee is quite professional, from the way he explained the options available to me, I can tell that he was all for flaxel, he said that in average one can get about 60% improvement from flaxel, in my case, I would probably need more than 5 sessions( i.e. 8 sessions) for more significant improvement, anyhow, he did not press for 8 sessions, he said I can always try 5 sessions first and see whether I want go for more after that. He told me that he does subsicion as well, have you tried subsicion with him? is subsicion for ice pick scar or other type of scar? (I forgot to ask him) how is his skill? I suppose he is a GP not a surgeon, right? I am under the impression that subsicion is better to be done by surgeon, any comments? 15mj is what he will do for me if I sign up, he said it is the best level for treatment of ance scar, is it the level you got from them as well when they treated you? how much improvement you got from fraxel treatment with them in term of percentage?
Would appreciate your opinion or advise as to what else I should do to on top of Dr Lee's advise to ensure I get the best results from his treatments (such as insists on increase the mj or passes or power of the machine or any products I should apply my face to speed up my healing process, any preparation which would be of help, or what are the things that I should avoid after or before treatment) from your experience.
What Dr Lee advised only to avoid sun before or after the treatments and he gave me some skin care to clear my ance and blemish of my face b4 the treatments, that is all he said. I have not actually signed up with him, but I think I will at this moment. Moreover, I have to wait for a while as I took 1-month accutane/or some thing similar to that in Jan, he asked me to wait for at least 3 months b4 going for fraxel. I think I will wait for 3-6 months before starting the 1st treatment.
Would appreciate your thoughts on the above.
Thank you.