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Re: The new fraxel machine
You can go to the reliant-tech website and email the customer svc asking which doctors have the new machine in your area. I was surprised they got back to me pretty quickly, I was impressed 🙂
Excellent, Leni! I have not called them yet, since they respond to email re: docs with the new machine, I'll email them instead.
Annie, when I happened upon my doc, they were offering a package deal, 5 treatments for 4K, using the new machine. I think that was a "sale" if you will, and the window for that deal either has closed or is about to close. The price for treatments with the new machine is going to be $1200 each, not sure about what package deals they may offer.
I still can't believe that I'm actually doing something about these scars. My SCARS are older than some of the posters here! 😆
:doh:
I missed the whole new machine conversation. I apologize but can someone quickly sum it up for me? I remember reading about a new undereye TIP that my Doctor does have. But what are the benefits from this new machine?
For the record, I think anything over $1000 per treatment and a high priced consultation fee is outrageous. I think mine was $50 or $75 AND IT WAS SUBTRACTED FROM THE TOTAL COST. The total cost for me in South Florida - BACK IN NOVEMBER - was 5 treatments at $4900. Which I think is very, very fair. When I see some Doctors now charging $1500 and some $900 or less for one treatment I think something is up. I know it depends on the area, but I have these done in ritzy Palm Beach county and its still a fair price. Keep researching the Doctors!! :wall:
SHYONE- Did you get a response from Reliant yet about the doctors who have the new machine?
I am only going to be paying $300 for my cheek areas, $600 if u get whole face. My doctors know how much Fraxels go for elsewhere but I live in Indiana. They told me that middle aged ladies with wrinkles and moles are 90% of the fraxel and cosmetic procedures they prefrom, and in our location that machine would sit there because nobody would shell out that much money. I really think $1000 is rediculous when u could give me a Fraxel treatment and I am sure do it right with a quick training session. Plus if its mainly middle aged ladies getting fraxels for wrinkles if it was $6000 for the sessions they could have got a face lift or be well on their way.
Annie, here's part of the press release from Reliant's website about the new machine:
"Date: 08.14.06
Reliant Launches FraxelAA SR1500 Laser
Mountain View, CA Aaaoe August 14, 2006 AaA Reliant Technologies, Inc. today announced the launch of the Fraxel SR1500 laser, the latest innovation in aesthetic laser medical technology. The Fraxel SR1500 laser combines proprietary advancements in optical technology with medical software offering physicians a treatment option that penetrates up to 30 percent deeper, delivering consistent dosage control and optimizing lesion depths. This leap in technology provides patients a safe and effective, non-invasive treatment option for skin conditions ranging from mild sun damage to severe acne scarring."
"TodayAaas launch of the Fraxel SR1500 laser brings to market another breakthrough in aesthetic skin treatment by optimizing the laser delivery technology and accompanying medical software. With the newly designed Optical Zoom hand control system, for the first time physicians can penetrate up to 1.0 millimeters below the skin surface with precise dosage control. Deeper penetration provides a greater catalyst for natural generation of new collagen to promote self healing and remodeling."
"The new software engine is driven by a sophisticated algorithm that allows the physician to optimize or more precisely focus on specific areas of repair while controlling the collimated depth of penetration. This algorithm refers to a database populated with data from thousands of histology slides that determines the most appropriate lesion depth and width based on the settings selected by the physician. The result is a greater ability to customize treatment to the one, or in many cases, several different areas of concern for each patient with the touch of a button.
The results of clinical trials studying 50 subjects treated over seven months with the Fraxel SR1500 laser showed that treatment at higher energy levels with more precise focus on smaller fractions of skin had multiple benefits for patients. The procedure provided a 75 percent improvement of acne scars, surgical scars and deep wrinkles, as reported by subjects and independent evaluators. Subjects were followed for three months after their last treatment. Deeper penetration led to greater volume of tissue treated. Efficiency of the laser resulted in reduced risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, observed during the clinical trial by the overseeing physician, Dr. Zakia Rahman."
The full press release is here:
http://reliant-tech.com/newsdetails.cfm?NEWSID=41
So the SR1500 is the infamous "1540" goblin mentioned six months ago! Wonder if they made it 1500 to distinguish it from the "erbium yag 1540" laser . . . They're still using blue dye with it though . . . what gives?
Can't say I like the idea that it's more powerful. And how does being more powerful make it less painful?
When are they going to make the MTZs smaller? I think 100 microns is still too large. If they cut it to 40 microns or less I think they'd get much better results.
So the SR1500 is the infamous "1540" goblin mentioned six months ago! Wonder if they made it 1500 to distinguish it from the "erbium yag 1540" laser . . . They're still using blue dye with it though . . . what gives?
Can't say I like the idea that it's more powerful. And how does being more powerful make it less painful?
When are they going to make the MTZs smaller? I think 100 microns is still too large. If they cut it to 40 microns or less I think they'd get much better results.
Lmao those guys live for studying these lasers and machines, I am sure they know what they are doing. I think the new Fraxel is very exciting. It goes deeper and works faster/more effectively. I would think this would be a really good time if any to have acne scars as soon they will have a fraxel that does the same as a dermabrasion or CO2 without the horrible recovery and traumatic surgery. I have no scarring that would warrant a dermabrasion, but I would love perfect skin and would gladly get dermabrasion results without getting my face tore to hell in the process.
So this new Fraxel tip is supposed to go deeper.. I think I read like >1000 micrometers deep. Is there any possibility that it could accidently reach beyond the dermis into the fat layer, and cause fat damage/loss? I think it's great that the laser is reaching deeper than any other "non-ablative" out there i'm just scared of any side effects from reaching into uncharted territory.
I attached an MTZ depth to Pulse Energy correlation sheet. It looks like any doctors doing 30mj were reaching down to 900 micrometers. Anyone doing 35mj were already reaching 1000 micrometers. I guess the new tip just makes it easier, right?
[attachmentid=5777]
So this new Fraxel tip is supposed to go deeper.. I think I read like >1000 micrometers deep. Is there any possibility that it could accidently reach beyond the dermis into the fat layer, and cause fat damage/loss? I think it's great that the laser is reaching deeper than any other "non-ablative" out there i'm just scared of any side effects from reaching into uncharted territory.
I attached an MTZ depth to Pulse Energy correlation sheet. It looks like any doctors doing 30mj were reaching down to 900 micrometers. Anyone doing 35mj were already reaching 1000 micrometers. I guess the new tip just makes it easier, right?
[attachmentid=5777]
I like that chart. So what's the main difference in regards to depth with this laser then? Does it take less mj's to reach 1000 micrometers?
yay! i have a consultation for sept. 18th. my doc charges $700 for full face and $400 for cheeks. he is in roanoke, va which is closer to me than some of the outrageosly expensive docs in dc.
added bonus...i was reading an article on fraxel at this docs office and the aesthetician use to have cystic acne and has had fraxel done on herself. i think she will be very sympathetic to my cause.
So the SR1500 is the infamous "1540" goblin mentioned six months ago! Wonder if they made it 1500 to distinguish it from the "erbium yag 1540" laser . . . They're still using blue dye with it though . . . what gives?
Can't say I like the idea that it's more powerful. And how does being more powerful make it less painful?
When are they going to make the MTZs smaller? I think 100 microns is still too large. If they cut it to 40 microns or less I think they'd get much better results.
Lmao those guys live for studying these lasers and machines, I am sure they know what they are doing. I think the new Fraxel is very exciting. It goes deeper and works faster/more effectively. I would think this would be a really good time if any to have acne scars as soon they will have a fraxel that does the same as a dermabrasion or CO2 without the horrible recovery and traumatic surgery. I have no scarring that would warrant a dermabrasion, but I would love perfect skin and would gladly get dermabrasion results without getting my face tore to hell in the process.
too bad keith found the fraxel thread. we've managed to go 100 pages without bad netiquette. can we ban him?
"How about the pain level?"
Since I've not had anything done on the older model machine, I can't give you a comparison of what the pain is like.
I can tell you the doc did 10 full face passes, 16mj, treatment level 10; then did an additional 8 passes at 30mj on my cheeks, treatment level 6.
I found it quite painful but not unbearably so.
I had it done on Tuesday afternoon. It's now Sunday morning. I am still red but much less so today. I am still swollen but much less so today. I've been peeling since Wednesday.
I'm reserving comment on improvement until after the swelling has complete resolved. I'll get pics for comparison at that time as well.
Four more treatments to go!
To Keithr23,
To be quite honest, I do not see any improvement from the Fraxel treatments. I think that depending on the lighting, it sometimes appears better or worse, but even after a year, I did not notice that your skin improved at all.
Again, I mean no offense but am being very honest. The procedure seems expensive for almost no difference in scar repair. And I have been considering Fraxel.
One week post first Fraxel (new machine) update:
Redness still present but only slightly. Swelling seems to be gone, if any remains it is slight. Still having some flaking.
Second treatment set for 9/19, will shoot for 3 week intervals between treatments.
Husband says he sees no difference. I see/feel a change in texture, and I also see some change in the one patch of scars that bothered me most. Could be residual swelling, I guess, so I'm not jumping for joy just yet.
I'll take progress pictures tonight and post them (along with pre fraxel photos) as soon as I figure out how to do that.
Fox ten o clock news just had a blip about fraxel. Some doctor in NJ is using it to treat acne. The girl they showed had pretty bad acne and scars. Her face was clear in the after footage but it looked flaky and scarred. Im sure the scaring is from acne and not fraxel, but she had lots of weird patches of white and dark I think had to have come from the laser since they were so pronounced and not there in the before pics. She was also a soccer player though so maybe she spent too much time outside after fraxel.
hey every1, im having my 1st fraxel treatment next week, mid september, im lucky because my dermo told me i have to pay $1000 for 1st treatment then the rest are 80% off. same wif all the filler, im thinking of getting the permanant 1s. i live in australia and i get 80% back from medicare new rule now wif pplz with acne scars hopefully i get the time to get b4 and after pics so i can show u guys. ive searched heaps of places and fraxel seems like the only promising thing out there. ive tried peels, ipls, microdermabrasion all with no improvement. it will be nice even to have a 60% improvement
So the SR1500 is the infamous "1540" goblin mentioned six months ago! Wonder if they made it 1500 to distinguish it from the "erbium yag 1540" laser . . . They're still using blue dye with it though . . . what gives?
Can't say I like the idea that it's more powerful. And how does being more powerful make it less painful?
When are they going to make the MTZs smaller? I think 100 microns is still too large. If they cut it to 40 microns or less I think they'd get much better results.
Lmao those guys live for studying these lasers and machines, I am sure they know what they are doing. I think the new Fraxel is very exciting. It goes deeper and works faster/more effectively. I would think this would be a really good time if any to have acne scars as soon they will have a fraxel that does the same as a dermabrasion or CO2 without the horrible recovery and traumatic surgery. I have no scarring that would warrant a dermabrasion, but I would love perfect skin and would gladly get dermabrasion results without getting my face tore to hell in the process.
too bad keith found the fraxel thread. we've managed to go 100 pages without bad netiquette. can we ban him?
U are lame. I have gotten into an argument with few but u really post stupid stuff sometimes. Well most times lol. I laughed my ass off when u were talking about making MTZ's smaller and all of that. Are u studying to build your own machine 😀
To Keithr23,
To be quite honest, I do not see any improvement from the Fraxel treatments. I think that depending on the lighting, it sometimes appears better or worse, but even after a year, I did not notice that your skin improved at all.
Again, I mean no offense but am being very honest. The procedure seems expensive for almost no difference in scar repair. And I have been considering Fraxel.
I have not had any Fraxels done, nor said I did sure its me your talking about?????
I am STARTING them in 1 1/2 months.
Keithr23:
What types of scars do you have??
I had 1 slightly raised scar that I had excised or cut out and sutured and 3 shallow ice picks that were subsized.
The rest of the scars on my face are visible in bright lighting situations when my skin is greasy or has differin on. They are very much surface scars at this point so I dont really know what they would be classified as. Maybe very very very shallow ice picks? If u view my gallery those pictures were taken under harsh lighting and I was wet or greasy from differin in them to try and get the best view of the scarring.
I would say that Fraxel treatments are too expensive to use on severe or moderate cases of acne scarring, as the results will probably not warrant the cost. I would prob look into scar revisions such as excision or subcision, then get fraxels done.
Keithr23:
What types of scars do you have??
I had 1 slightly raised scar that I had excised or cut out and sutured and 3 shallow ice picks that were subsized.
The rest of the scars on my face are visible in bright lighting situations when my skin is greasy or has differin on. They are very much surface scars at this point so I dont really know what they would be classified as. Maybe very very very shallow ice picks? If u view my gallery those pictures were taken under harsh lighting and I was wet or greasy from differin in them to try and get the best view of the scarring.
I would say that Fraxel treatments are too expensive to use on severe or moderate cases of acne scarring, as the results will probably not warrant the cost. I would prob look into scar revisions such as excision or subcision, then get fraxels done.
Keith, I have a hypertrophic scar as well that is only slightly raised. Is the one in your picture the one you got excised recently?
Keithr23:
What types of scars do you have??
I had 1 slightly raised scar that I had excised or cut out and sutured and 3 shallow ice picks that were subsized.
The rest of the scars on my face are visible in bright lighting situations when my skin is greasy or has differin on. They are very much surface scars at this point so I dont really know what they would be classified as. Maybe very very very shallow ice picks? If u view my gallery those pictures were taken under harsh lighting and I was wet or greasy from differin in them to try and get the best view of the scarring.
I would say that Fraxel treatments are too expensive to use on severe or moderate cases of acne scarring, as the results will probably not warrant the cost. I would prob look into scar revisions such as excision or subcision, then get fraxels done.
Keith, I have a hypertrophic scar as well that is only slightly raised. Is the one in your picture the one you got excised recently?
Yeah that was the one I had cut out. I initally joined this site because I got a pretty large zit on that cheek and then fell and tore it up, leaving a disgusting scar behind. I had the scar injected with kenalog which made it go down a lot. It looked a lot better than it was initially (I posted a supersize pic of the scar many months ago) but it was like a raised portion of skin around a slight depression. It was much less noticable after it had healed but still I am really really happy I had it taken out.