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one thing that concerns me with fraxel is the uncharted territory drs are going with higher power levels (25-35mj). i understand it lays down microthermal zones, but with a series of treatments done, i imagine you are quite literally burning your face. in certain cases, there might be a possibility of scars forming, not depressed post acne scars but scars from burns. example, even boiling water accidentally spilled on skin will result in scars all over the area--a mangling of collagen. so take caution.
Widgie
What options are you going to try?
If my Sept. pictures don't reveal much improvement, I will either throw in the towel or perhaps try needling. I have a several scarred pores on center face that are amenable to needling, while most of my real scars are on left jaw/cheek. I don't think i can treat those because they are not visible in mirror shots where I would tryst myself, and I won't ask my wife or daughters to do it. They are already pissed that I am "wasting time and money on a nonissue", so they might try to needle me deep, if you know what I mean.
If I see improvement, I might sign up for another 4 Fraxels, at high levels.
Hey Billyboy... I also think I might try needling... Just one or two to see what happens first, but it seems like a few people have seen improvement with it on these boards. I'd have to wait awhile after the Fraxels though, I don't want to ruin any newly forming collegen. I was also looking into spot dermabrasion, but that scares me a little more. There is a Dr. around me who does it along with various other scar treatments. I might go in for a consultation and see if she has any useful recommendations.
Butterflies - you are a kick! I'm glad you are here for fun too. 
Widgie - I considered dermabrasion, but then got scared and learned of Fraxel. I think I would have gotten a better scar result from derm, but the pigment risk, etc was too much to take. You have had several treatments at lower levels. Based on your experience, do you think I might benefit from more than 4 Fraxels?
I have "Mini Fraxel" done for four times, which resurfaced around 8% of my face surface everytime around 6 weeks apart. As I am an Asian, my doctor said mini fraxel would lower the risk of hyper-pigmentation. So far, the recovery satisfied me. I paid 6,000 US dollars for 8 sessions of mini fraxel as a package. I still think the fee outrageous, still, the dermatologist who treated me was very very top in Hong Kong. I had only one subcision conbined with my first mini fraxel. Subcision costs 380 US dollars per treatment. I am thinking if I should go for subcision with my last four mini fraxels. Because many of my scars are usually rolling scars on my cheeks, some due to epidermis lost, relatively deeper on temples. As for my shallow rolling scars, I am trying to use TNS Recovery Complex to see if my epidermis would regrow thicker, if not much, I would go for subcision to get them elevated.
Could you buddies give me some suggestion?
What's the method for a mini fraxel? Just one pass? What level?
Widgie - I considered dermabrasion, but then got scared and learned of Fraxel. I think I would have gotten a better scar result from derm, but the pigment risk, etc was too much to take. You have had several treatments at lower levels. Based on your experience, do you think I might benefit from more than 4 Fraxels?
Billyboy.....honestly....and this is only my opinion mind you....yes I do... I know that if I would have stopped at 4 Fraxels, I wouldn't be as pleased with my results. I'm doing three more myself, hopefully at the highest settings I can persuade them to use.
Yes, dermabrasion kind of scares me too....I just got my skin back to a uniform color, I'm not sure I want to take the risks associated with that procedure. But consultations are usually free....if anything I can get more information to share with people here.
Floridaguy...how much improvement do you think i could get in my skin from 10 fraxels? I've got the money to do it, so i want my skin to look really nice...I'm planning on having the first 3 treatments once a week to get the ball rolling, and then have one treatment every two or three weeks after that...do you think that would lead to some "mad" improvement in skin tone/acne scars?
FloridaGuy,
WOW is all I can say after looking at the website and your photo!! I think you underestimate the effect on your scarring bec it looks great in the photo!! I am excited to post my results for everyone after 6 treatments.
i'd like to see the pics os floridaguy's improvements, too! what's the URL?
thanx,Lu (from italy)
Butterflies - you are a kick! I'm glad you are here for fun too. :clap:
Widgie - I considered dermabrasion, but then got scared and learned of Fraxel. I think I would have gotten a better scar result from derm, but the pigment risk, etc was too much to take. You have had several treatments at lower levels. Based on your experience, do you think I might benefit from more than 4 Fraxels?
ABSOLUTELY YES! I seldom say it so confidently. But Fraxel does great in making your color uniform. Very effectively. Much more than treating the scars itself.
Holeyface - thanks for input.
Fraxel has really improved texture and color to the point that I see no need for further improvement. However, I am a little disappointed with results on scarring, but I was told to give it 8 weeks after last session to make a final judgement.
http://www.bcm.edu/dermatology/?pmid=4263
There's a pic of the woman right after her blue dye is washed off. The pores on her cheek look huge!
I guess it's temporary inflammation?
i'd like to see the pics os floridaguy's improvements, too! what's the URL?
thanx,Lu (from italy)
His before and after photos are located under 'Procedures' and then click the word 'Open' under the photo. He's on the right side. :wavey:
http://www.bcm.edu/dermatology/?pmid=4263
There's a pic of the woman right after her blue dye is washed off. The pores on her cheek look huge!
I guess it's temporary inflammation?
My pores ALWAYS look horrible for the first couple of days. It's a bit disconcerting, but then they get smaller again. On a positive note, my skin looks great in the rear view mirror of the car. I can almost not believe it's MY skin. It really was shocking to me. I did have some tinted moisturizer on, but no primer or concealer. What other posters have said about tone and texture is very true. I still have some scars that I want to address, but haven't decided what course to follow.
Dont do the treatments with deep scarring unless u are only expecting a change in tone and slight improvements to the edges of the scars. For the Fraxel price though u would be better off either getting the scars cut out, or getting fillers and or subcision done to each deep scar.
masterk, I agree with you.... Fraxel has improved my shallow scarring but I don't see how it would really help ice pick scars (which I don't have) or anything deep. I have 2 moderately deep scars that my PS specifically pointed to in my initial consultation and said 'Fraxel won't help those much'. They don't bother me though, I think they actually are chicken pox scars and I've had them for ages.....they add character...;)
I think that as more docs start using Fraxel for scarring, we will not only hear about them using higher treatment settings, but also using Fraxel in conjunction with things like subcision to achieve even better results.
Hi all!
Its been awhile since i posted on here and I havent really been able to read up on the thread. But i hope you all are well and that you're fraxel treatements and healing is going well. I did manage to perve on billyboys pics and you look amazing might i add!! its been over a month since my last fraxel. I have 3 spots of hypOpigmentation 
need to figure out how to treat this. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I'm amazed that you guys can assess your improvement and translate in into percentages. My skin definitely looks better and to tell you the truth i wud much rather this hypopigmentation than scars. I do have some pictures to post up. But they are only after my second fraxel. I do not have recent pictures...well i do but that is with makeup on. I will definitely take pictures after the 6 month period and post them up.
At this point, the scars on my skin do not bother me as much as they used to. I've actually been out and about without my makeup 
My scars are still present but very minimal. I do believe with 3 more fraxels I shld b able to achieve near 90%. I might consider doing these 3 treatements next year. But first I'll see how i go after the 6 month period. I've posted up pictures in my album. So have a look. If anybody has any question pls do PM me as I'm unable to read this thread post for post right now. But shall keep updating.
Thank you n god bless
love M
http://www.bcm.edu/dermatology/?pmid=4263
There's a pic of the woman right after her blue dye is washed off. The pores on her cheek look huge!
I guess it's temporary inflammation?
My pores ALWAYS look horrible for the first couple of days. It's a bit disconcerting, but then they get smaller again. On a positive note, my skin looks great in the rear view mirror of the car. I can almost not believe it's MY skin. It really was shocking to me. I did have some tinted moisturizer on, but no primer or concealer. What other posters have said about tone and texture is very true. I still have some scars that I want to address, but haven't decided what course to follow.
The picture of the woman at 24 hours shows some very small red scabs. Has anyone experienced that, and did they heal without leaving little scars or marks?
Can someone tell me your fraxel price range per treatment? In the state where I live, there are only two clinic offices that offer fraxel. One office quote price is $4,600.00 for four treatments, it includes all the necessary medication such as sun screen, lotion. The other office I called, it cost $1,195 for a full face treatment and $750 for jus the cheek area.
It is pricy and I am seeking out of state clinics that border my state to see if it is cleaper than I am going to drive over there to get it done.
Fraxel is costly and you have to make decision on whether you want to get the treatment or saving the money for your for emergency situation.
I have been chatting with different members about procedures for a couple weeks on here and have not been to this thread yet. I had 6 Fraxels done mainly to rid the skin of red and marks left from 12 excisions to remove tiny ice pick scars.
I will be honest and say that u need to do some revisions to EACH bothersome scar first and then resurface. I can tell u from experience that the fraxel laser WILL remove scars about 4 pieces of notebook paper thick, or deep I guess. That is not very deep but is all u need if the scars are near the surface. I didnt just have ice picks I had shallow surface scarring too and that was what recieved the benefits of the Fraxel treatments.
Dont do the treatments with deep scarring unless u are only expecting a change in tone and slight improvements to the edges of the scars. For the Fraxel price though u would be better off either getting the scars cut out, or getting fillers and or subcision done to each deep scar.
masterk, in regards to fraxel removing scars 4 pieces of notebook paper think, how many treatments did you have to do before these scars were removed and at what settings???....thanks!
I have been chatting with different members about procedures for a couple weeks on here and have not been to this thread yet. I had 6 Fraxels done mainly to rid the skin of red and marks left from 12 excisions to remove tiny ice pick scars.
I will be honest and say that u need to do some revisions to EACH bothersome scar first and then resurface. I can tell u from experience that the fraxel laser WILL remove scars about 4 pieces of notebook paper thick, or deep I guess. That is not very deep but is all u need if the scars are near the surface. I didnt just have ice picks I had shallow surface scarring too and that was what recieved the benefits of the Fraxel treatments.
Dont do the treatments with deep scarring unless u are only expecting a change in tone and slight improvements to the edges of the scars. For the Fraxel price though u would be better off either getting the scars cut out, or getting fillers and or subcision done to each deep scar.
masterk, in regards to fraxel removing scars 4 pieces of notebook paper think, how many treatments did you have to do before these scars were removed and at what settings???....thanks!
Hi. Just wanted to update you on my first Fraxel. I got it done 9 days ago with Dr. Rokshar. My settings were 20/125/6.1
Day 1: sun burn look and pinkish
Days 2-3: stripes became more apparent especially on my forehead, still pinkish. One quarter-size spot close to my jawline that developed these bumps which disappeared after a couple of hours (wierd!!), this was the only spot where the scabbing was obvious and heavy...maybe because this was the driest part of my face? I don't know. Throughout my face I had these small dark pricks which I guess are like MTZ scabs or something...not very obvious unless you really looked. Still didn't feel comfortable going out because of very clear line of demarcation.
Days 4-6: Skin starting to slowly exfoliate. I'm not sure if other's skin reacted in a similar way as mine, but to get rid of the dark MTZ scabs try this: Take a warm 15 minute shower and at the end of the shower wet a paper towel and gently wipe your face. If you see dark skin rolling off that means your skin is ready to exfoliate. If not that means your skin is not ready so try it again in 2 or 3 days. Completely exfoliated by day 6. Less pink each day.
Day 7: I looked completely normal! No spots, no pink.
Overall I'm very satisfied with the downtime. It wasn't bad at all. I didn't use any kind of special after care at all except for constant sunscreen. My doctor did prescribe me with an antibiotic because I'm prone to breaking out but I've forgotten more times than not to take it and haven't broken out.
I do have some questions:
1) My pores on my forehead do seem bigger. If I continue to do fraxel will they just get bigger and bigger?
2) For those who had hyperpigmentation: I am Chinese and scared of hyperpigmentation. I haven't seen any signs of it yet but would it show up weeks after Fraxel? or immediately?
Hi. Just wanted to update you on my first Fraxel. I got it done 9 days ago with Dr. Rokshar. My settings were 20/125/6.1
I do have some questions:
1) My pores on my forehead do seem bigger. If I continue to do fraxel will they just get bigger and bigger?
I don't think so. i've noticed my pores open when I'm dehydrated or my skin is on the dry side. After Fraxel my skin gets a little dry so that explains it for me. My pores are OK.
2) For those who had hyperpigmentation: I am Chinese and scared of hyperpigmentation. I haven't seen any signs of it yet but would it show up weeks after Fraxel? or immediately?
hmmm, I think it would show up sooner rather than later. Just stay the heck out of the sun girl. I mean walking to work from your car sun and driving home in your car sun and sun in general. I do my absolute best to not get any sun on my face at all. So far so good. No brown spots and no white spots.
and sometimes I look down and use my hair to curtain my face when its really sunny.. I live in South Florida so I usually walk around outside looking like Cousin It from the Addams Family. 😀
[EDIT] Dear Mod - Let me know if we can't link anymore, so I won't. Thanks...
Hi. Just wanted to update you on my first Fraxel. I got it done 9 days ago with Dr. Rokshar. My settings were 20/125/6.1
Day 1: sun burn look and pinkish
Days 2-3: stripes became more apparent especially on my forehead, still pinkish. One quarter-size spot close to my jawline that developed these bumps which disappeared after a couple of hours (wierd!!), this was the only spot where the scabbing was obvious and heavy...maybe because this was the driest part of my face? I don't know. Throughout my face I had these small dark pricks which I guess are like MTZ scabs or something...not very obvious unless you really looked. Still didn't feel comfortable going out because of very clear line of demarcation.
Days 4-6: Skin starting to slowly exfoliate. I'm not sure if other's skin reacted in a similar way as mine, but to get rid of the dark MTZ scabs try this: Take a warm 15 minute shower and at the end of the shower wet a paper towel and gently wipe your face. If you see dark skin rolling off that means your skin is ready to exfoliate. If not that means your skin is not ready so try it again in 2 or 3 days. Completely exfoliated by day 6. Less pink each day.
Day 7: I looked completely normal! No spots, no pink.
Overall I'm very satisfied with the downtime. It wasn't bad at all. I didn't use any kind of special after care at all except for constant sunscreen. My doctor did prescribe me with an antibiotic because I'm prone to breaking out but I've forgotten more times than not to take it and haven't broken out.
I do have some questions:
1) My pores on my forehead do seem bigger. If I continue to do fraxel will they just get bigger and bigger?
2) For those who had hyperpigmentation: I am Chinese and scared of hyperpigmentation. I haven't seen any signs of it yet but would it show up weeks after Fraxel? or immediately?
OK. This really worries me. This is the third person that has said:
1) Pores look bigger after fraxel (AFTER swelling has gone down)
2) They can see the red scabs from the MTZs (like in this link http://www.bcm.edu/dermatology/?pmid=4263 )
Hi. Just wanted to update you on my first Fraxel. I got it done 9 days ago with Dr. Rokshar. My settings were 20/125/6.1
Day 1: sun burn look and pinkish
Days 2-3: stripes became more apparent especially on my forehead, still pinkish. One quarter-size spot close to my jawline that developed these bumps which disappeared after a couple of hours (wierd!!), this was the only spot where the scabbing was obvious and heavy...maybe because this was the driest part of my face? I don't know. Throughout my face I had these small dark pricks which I guess are like MTZ scabs or something...not very obvious unless you really looked. Still didn't feel comfortable going out because of very clear line of demarcation.
Days 4-6: Skin starting to slowly exfoliate. I'm not sure if other's skin reacted in a similar way as mine, but to get rid of the dark MTZ scabs try this: Take a warm 15 minute shower and at the end of the shower wet a paper towel and gently wipe your face. If you see dark skin rolling off that means your skin is ready to exfoliate. If not that means your skin is not ready so try it again in 2 or 3 days. Completely exfoliated by day 6. Less pink each day.
Day 7: I looked completely normal! No spots, no pink.
Overall I'm very satisfied with the downtime. It wasn't bad at all. I didn't use any kind of special after care at all except for constant sunscreen. My doctor did prescribe me with an antibiotic because I'm prone to breaking out but I've forgotten more times than not to take it and haven't broken out.
I do have some questions:
1) My pores on my forehead do seem bigger. If I continue to do fraxel will they just get bigger and bigger?
2) For those who had hyperpigmentation: I am Chinese and scared of hyperpigmentation. I haven't seen any signs of it yet but would it show up weeks after Fraxel? or immediately?
OK. This really worries me. This is the third person that has said:
1) Pores look bigger after fraxel (AFTER swelling has gone down)
2) They can see the red scabs from the MTZs (like in this link http://www.bcm.edu/dermatology/?pmid=4263 )
it depends on the level you are doing. If you are doing below 10 the scabs are really nothing to worry.
For those doing 15 and above. Forexample I did 20, It took 3-4 days for the scab to disappear. You does look like a pig face for the first 3 days. Subsequently it's better.
After your 5 treatment everythign improves so well. If you have deep ice picks and etc. My advise is excision first. Before fraxel. Trust me Fraxel will work very beautifully after it.