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i wouldn't even compare the two. i'd never put trichloric ACID on my face so MANY horror stories with that.
i guess its cheaper but this is your face, not the bargain basement. chemical peels are ancient history compared to fraxel. just gross that people still do that to themselves.
as far as temporary. fraxel is permanent. dont know about acid.
HI Im one of those people who had fraxel at high energy levels - 35, 30 and 25 and all about 18 days apart. Which many people would think is too close. Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since my last treatment. I have been continuously red since I started. And for a week after each treatment I looked pretty horrendous, like a scaly pink chipmunk. At high levels you cannot hide the fact that you've had some kind of treatment.
A week and half ago I came over to London which is where I'll be living for the next 6 months. Its so hot here that its very difficult to avoid the sun, anyway though Im wearing a very big hat my skin has hyper pigmented, now the pinkiness is browny. Ive started applying 2% hydroquinine(?) which my doctor gave me before I left and I think its starting to fade. Unfortunately I have had a very noticeable demarcation line.
Anyway the good news is that my skin has improved, some of the scars are much shallower than they were. And one of the ice picks has filled in a lot.
The better news is that I saw a friend I hadnt seen for 6 months and she kept looking at me funny, then over dinner she blurted out "what have you done to your skin it looks really smooth". It got better yesterday when I went to buy some makeup and as the makeup artist was applying it she said "you've got great skin, the foundation glides on so smoothly"
Im now thinking this is all worth it, especially as Im going to leave it for 6 months and hopefully see some more improvement.
I highly recommend it. But remember there is a lot of downtime.
Jagger, that's great! 35 - wow, I can't even imagine! 24 does a number to me!
Question for all you fellow fraxelers...
this time around, the doctor was more aggressive in the cheek area. As a result my scaliness is much more noticeable and horrendous looking. I read on another thread about TCA peels that hot compresses accelerate the peeling process, so I did this to one particularly nasty spot, and rubbed oh-so-gently with the wet washcloth. I got the scalies off, but the skin underneath is very pink. DId I just set myself up for a pigmentation problem? Any experience or advice for this situation? I'm glad I'm not peely in that spot anymore, but wonder if I've caused collateral damage...
Jagger, that's great! 35 - wow, I can't even imagine! 24 does a number to me!
Question for all you fellow fraxelers...
this time around, the doctor was more aggressive in the cheek area. As a result my scaliness is much more noticeable and horrendous looking. I read on another thread about TCA peels that hot compresses accelerate the peeling process, so I did this to one particularly nasty spot, and rubbed oh-so-gently with the wet washcloth. I got the scalies off, but the skin underneath is very pink. DId I just set myself up for a pigmentation problem? Any experience or advice for this situation? I'm glad I'm not peely in that spot anymore, but wonder if I've caused collateral damage...
you guys are walking a fine line IMO. Pkease dont exfoliate. i know its hard dealing with downtime esp when treatments get stacked.
but the dead skin is like a bandage keeping in moisture and protecting the new skin that you just paid $1000 for.
I would like to ask if forehead scars are easier to treat in general than cheek scars. If so could I expect a higher improvement % since all of my shallow scars are on my forehead?
I can quote my plastic surgeon when i say that forehead and nose acne scars are the hardest to treat. ALso ice pick easiest to treat, rolling in the middle, and boxcar the hardest. SO hopefully u dont have boxcars on the forehead as that woudl be the worst combination.
Well I think unfortunitley I have the worst combo...could you please look at my picture at this thread http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php?showtopic=105384
and tell me what type of scars I have and what % improvement I can realistically expect from Fraxel...so I won't get my hopes up to high...thanks
Hi,
I don't recommend spacing such high treatments so close to one another, as you might undo whatever gains you get. It takes on average 5 weeks for the skin to stabilise and recover from a level 25 treatment and for one to treat himself while he is still red, would impede the collagen redevelop by introducing new trauma to the skin. The whole idea of fraxel is to introduce a heat trauma to the skin and then have the skin repair and produce new collagen during the repair phase. If you are impeding the repair phase you are compromising your results.
Some of you guys have to understand that this is serious stuff and there is potential to make things worse; cause long term damage or complications from rushing the procedure. There is risk of scarring above level 25. Keep an adequate recovery time in mind when scheduling treatment.
There is no quick fix for scarring! If you want an optimum result from fraxel then you have to deal with adequate recovery time and good treatment planning. I have been reading all these horror stories about being trying to couple TCA with their fraxel treatment? You guys think your skin is a good trial and error platform for all your scarring treatments?
Impatience and lack of research is a dangerous combination. Do proper research and understand that laser treatments are delicate procedures and you need to be as gentle to your skin as possible during this procedure. Do a google search on acne-scarring and fraxel and you will find plenty of info about research and results on fraxel for acne scars. Posting pictures here and asking what kind of results you can get isn't useful here as we are not experts and none of us as far as I know are dematologists!
Sorry if I'm venting here, but I think some of the posts I have been reading on this fraxel thread are giving the wrong idea/advice and setting people up for false expectations.
Blaster.
HI Im one of those people who had fraxel at high energy levels - 35, 30 and 25 and all about 18 days apart. Which many people would think is too close. Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since my last treatment. I have been continuously red since I started. And for a week after each treatment I looked pretty horrendous, like a scaly pink chipmunk. At high levels you cannot hide the fact that you've had some kind of treatment.
Im now thinking this is all worth it, especially as Im going to leave it for 6 months and hopefully see some more improvement.
I highly recommend it. But remember there is a lot of downtime.
Does anyone know how long the skin looks smooth after fraxel? The smooth look is what impresses me most about the before & after pictures. I do know that none of these treatments seem to last forever. I'm assuming that your skin would go back to the same ruddy look eventually.
SO, I finally got my first Fraxel treatment from Dr. Rokshar this morning after going back and forth for over a year! He's very educated and experienced but comes with a hefty price- $1,500 (somebody shoot me! or just send me a check). Despite the cost, I'm glad I finally decided to do this. His nurse put the numbing cream and left it on for 1 hour, then the blue dye, then Dr. Rokshar did the procedure himself. He treated me at:
level: 20
density: 125
total energy: 6
I didn't even ask him what level he would start me at because I totally trust him, so I was surprised when he told me it was 20! I am Chinese so lets hope that I don't have any hyperpigmentation problems. When I asked him about this he said it would just look as if I had a tan, no big deal. So I'm trusting him. He prescribed me an antibiotic since I am prone to breakouts...I think it's called Bactine, I still have to go get it. Right now I my face has that slightly red sunburn look but it's really not as bad as I expected. My worst scars are on my forehead...I think they would be classified as rolling scars. Anyway, I have so many of them on my forehead that it looks very wrinkled all the time...now that its a bit swollen my forehead kinda looks like it was pre-acne! When I took the subway home I had some stares at my leftover blue dye...damn people. Oh yeah....the doctor said there was no particular after care to do, just use a regular gentle cleanser and mosturizer. I'll keep you guys posted.
Jagger, that is great information. I'm glad to hear that someone has a real life example of high treatments in a short time frame. Can you please explain your description of the side effects a little clearer please? A picture would be awesome...I'm not quite sure what a "horrendous pink chipmonk" looks like, let alone what that compares to 
Blaster, if you are insisting that the doctors know more than you do, why are you continuously posting about the proper time frame between treatments? I doubt that Jagger forced his/her doctor to do all the treatments only 18 days apart 
~Furo
Blaster has researched Fraxel a great deal and has real life experience at high levels, so I would not discount his advice.
My highest setting was 25, with a couple passes at 30 over scarred areas. My nurse/doc and I would also argue that 18 day intervals is suboptimal. Some people can get away with shorter intervals and perhaps have a serious timing issue that mandates it. That siad, I think you will get a better end result with longer intervals and higher settings.
I also agree with JJ that it is best to leave the scaling and crust on as ong as possible to promote healing.
SO, I finally got my first Fraxel treatment from Dr. Rokshar this morning after going back and forth for over a year! He's very educated and experienced but comes with a hefty price- $1,500 (somebody shoot me! or just send me a check). Despite the cost, I'm glad I finally decided to do this. His nurse put the numbing cream and left it on for 1 hour, then the blue dye, then Dr. Rokshar did the procedure himself. He treated me at:
level: 20
density: 125
total energy: 6
I didn't even ask him what level he would start me at because I totally trust him, so I was surprised when he told me it was 20! I am Chinese so lets hope that I don't have any hyperpigmentation problems. When I asked him about this he said it would just look as if I had a tan, no big deal. So I'm trusting him. He prescribed me an antibiotic since I am prone to breakouts...I think it's called Bactine, I still have to go get it. Right now I my face has that slightly red sunburn look but it's really not as bad as I expected. My worst scars are on my forehead...I think they would be classified as rolling scars. Anyway, I have so many of them on my forehead that it looks very wrinkled all the time...now that its a bit swollen my forehead kinda looks like it was pre-acne! When I took the subway home I had some stares at my leftover blue dye...damn people. Oh yeah....the doctor said there was no particular after care to do, just use a regular gentle cleanser and mosturizer. I'll keep you guys posted.
Please keep us updated (Rokhsar is probably the best in his field in NYC based on his research and # patients) and there is a thread on asian skin and fraxel as well where a lot of hyperpigmentation issues are discussed.
Well I think unfortunately I have the worst combo...could you please look at my picture at this thread http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php?showtopic=105384
and tell me what type of scars I have and what % improvement I can realistically expect from Fraxel...so I won't get my hopes up to high...thanks
So if somebody who is pretty ignorant about Fraxel (like me) wanted to do my first treatment, should I just trust the doctor to determine the setting, how many passes, energy, etc...or do you guys have any basic info that I should be passing on to him?
There seems so many information about energy, settings, etc...
I'm Asian male...34 years old, mostly rolling scars, hoping to partial treatment (picture in scar gallery).
has anyone noticed that the members posting at the very begininning of this thread ie: kooky, light girl and more, have done the fraxel sessions, posted for a couple months and haven't been back to this site.
i take that as they had superb results and no longer further searching for their scar revision treatments, don't ya think?
King
I hope you are right, but there could be a host of reasons for dropping off; too busy to post now, have given up on treatments out of frustration, etc.
While I am happy with my overall results, the improvement to date in scars of any depth have been modest. I might be a nonresponder because of my older age and sun damage from decades of beach/lake time. But again, I have seen enough improvement to judge Fraxel a modest success, but it is far from superb.
I pm'ed all of them. They had moderate results. 30 percent on average. Some less. Most everyone complained about price to results ratio.
Most of them only had 4-5 treatments though back when one week spacing was more normal. I think they may have been undertreated. Remember the clinical study was complete a few months ago and FDA approval for acne scars given july 12, 2006
Day 1
24 hours after: m face looks pretty decent. I actually looked like this earlier in the summer when I got too much sun! Except there is clearly a line of demarcation. no more swelling as far as I can tell. I do have these tiny, tiny little dark specks everywhere....is this just from the leftover blue dye surfacing out of the pores...or is it part of the scabbing/healing????
Also I have a cluster of bumps about the size of a quarter on my jawline. They don't quite look like new pimples though. I never break out in this area so I hope I don't get new scars from this. Has anyone gotten bumps on their skin after Fraxel?
Day 1
24 hours after: m face looks pretty decent. I actually looked like this earlier in the summer when I got too much sun! Except there is clearly a line of demarcation. no more swelling as far as I can tell. I do have these tiny, tiny little dark specks everywhere....is this just from the leftover blue dye surfacing out of the pores...or is it part of the scabbing/healing????
Also I have a cluster of bumps about the size of a quarter on my jawline. They don't quite look like new pimples though. I never break out in this area so I hope I don't get new scars from this. Has anyone gotten bumps on their skin after Fraxel?
Yes and yes.... Weeks after having a Fraxel treatment I still will have little blue dots in some places. They go away as the skin exfoliates. And I ALWAYS get little bumps. Some breakouts but sometimes weird little bumps that kind of dry up and also exfoliate with time if I don't touch them. It's not fun but I try to look at it as a sign that the laser is doing something underneath the surface and the bumps are just a temporary side effect. 🙂
Is fraxel really worth the money? I'm thinking of getting this done for my mild acne scars and to get rid of my red marks the rest of the way, but I really don't want to waste 3000-5000 bucks depending on how many I would need ($1000 a time) I have mild scars so I'm hoping that if I did this that it would at least almost get rid of it if not get rid of it all together. Does this even help red marks? I just want to know if you guys who have had this done think it was worth all that damn money or if you wish you never did it? Did anyone here have no results what-so-ever? Thanks!
P.S. Sorry if this has been asked a million times but I don't have time to read every post, just read some of the pages and didn't see what I was looking for.