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I just had my first today at 10. I was concerned that that's too low, but my scarring is mild to moderate (ice pick and boxcar I think) so hopefully it will be ok at first. I look like I got mugged by a smurf for now, but I took four days off so hopefully I'll look somewhat normal by monday. She's going to go to higer levels in the future. It wasn't too painful, just in certain areas like around the mouth and close to the ears (I don't even know why they went there, there is nothing really wrong with those areas). I asked her about higher levels and she said that she's gotten results with these levels as well. I think I'll send her the names of those other doctors, what were their names again? Also, I'm taking BP for my active acne (which has gone down to mild recently), so when should I start putting that on again? My doc said for a couple days, but I know I'll breakout if I stop it for that long, so I was hoping maybe tomorrow morning?
Anyways, I'll keep everyone updated; hopefully it'll help someone out there.
Pinky, because im only gettin fraxel on my cheeks, and I am the very first to do such spot like treatments, they are charging me $2000 for 5 treatments lol..considerably low compared to others! but then again, im a student also.. and yea i've got all these scars from accutane.. and well.. they're mostly pitted scars now.. i'm gettin my first treatment today, hopefully she wont stoop to level 10.. but aim for around 15.. i wanna make the best out of each session na mean? anyways holla if your interested in flying here.
HI everyone, it's great to hear about your efforts, I hope everything goes well. I must say that it's really encouraging to hear from a lot of you.
I'm also going to get fraxel done in a few weeks.
I am Asian with fairly light skin. A few weeks ago I have 20 excisions done. I have a lot of very deep scars, many of which are 2-3 mm in depth, and range from 3-10mm wide. I had to get several fusiform excisions done because most of my scars are too large for punch excisions. I'm somewhat unsure about the results of the treatment. The scars are now more shallow, which will allow the laser to be more effective, yet the surface area of the scars has increased (basically widened). Additionally, because my skin is so light, my scars appear almost bloody red. It's been kinda diffifult psychologically, but at this point it can't be helped.
I'm a little concerned about the setting my doctor will use. I think at most he may do 14, and probably stick to 12. He has said that Asian skin often responds to physical trauma by hyperpigmentating. I think reading all the posts about level 20 settings has gotten my hopes a little too high. I can only hope for the best.
BTW, I am getting 5 treatments to my entire face, spaced 2 weeks apart, for a total of $4000. I received a lower cost per/treatment because of the additional costs for the excisions. I recommend asking your doctor about lowering the price if you have any additional incidental surgery done. Good luck to everyone, I hope things turn out great!
I'm now thinking of punch excision before Fraxel for the huge boxed-cars on my forehead and left cheek. Anyone done that before?
I would suggest you do the Fraxel first and see if the boxcar scars fill in any before doing the punch excisions (at least that is what I've been doing.). So far, the boxcar on my upper cheekbone has filled in to the point that I am not going to do a punch excision on it. Keep in mind though, that each Fraxel is cumulative, so if you space them out like I had to because of expenses, the results will take much, much longer. I think I had my last Fraxel back in May (?can't really remember?) and my doc wouldn't even consider doing the excisions until Nov/Dec/Jan. because he wanted to see if any would fill in to the point where they wouldn't bother me anymore. Only my boxcar scars did.......I still want to have the icepicks punch grafted.
just had mine done today, right side was set at level 11, left at 12, as me and the doc were afraid of hyperpigmenting, so we set it at such levels first, we might increase it to 13-14 next time.. for now, i just HOPE THIS IMPROVES MY SCARS.. sigh, and i hope it all goes well for those who invested in fraxel also.
Im gonna jump on the Fraxel bandwagon myself and get 4 treatments for $450 each. No great expectations more curiosity than anything. Ill try and post some pics along the way if anything noteworthy happens.
$450 thats cheap as hell. I love that u post pix of what u are doing for the other members. I always like to see other members helping out like that. Heck I only had the one kenalog in my keloid and I posted pix of that. when I do anything else I surely will keep everyone posted. good luck Pete
Im gonna jump on the Fraxel bandwagon myself and get 4 treatments for $450 each. No great expectations more curiosity than anything. Ill try and post some pics along the way if anything noteworthy happens.
Meet pete, Where are you getting Fraxel for only $450? Is that full face? Mine is going to to cost $1200 for full face. I am going to Dr Rokhsar and he probably is one of the more expensive Doc's doing this but definitely the most experienced. Just curious, thanks
Im gonna jump on the Fraxel bandwagon myself and get 4 treatments for $450 each. No great expectations more curiosity than anything. Ill try and post some pics along the way if anything noteworthy happens.
Hi, NNete Pete, I ann the one who had the e/odernn with no noti/eable innpro/ennent and I yearn to find a treatnnent that will at least gi/e nne sonne dis/ernible innpro/ennent to lift nny spirits. I will probably ha/e to wait a few nnonts. That pri/e is pretty good and I would like to know where this Dr. is at and if you ha/e dis/ussed what settings he has e/perien/e using. I would like to try the fra/el at a high setting of 20. Sin/e I will ha/e to be ba/k at work this seenns like the nnost /on/enient treatnnent for nne. Thanks
hmm.. can yall please tell me if 15-20 are the recommended levels for scar treatments with fraxel? or will a lower level also do the job.
Hi Wish, How R U? I heard that 15 to 20 is recommended for deeper scars but am not 100% sure. They might start you off with a lesser setting to see how your skin reacts. I am going in for my first Fraxel on Nov 18th w/ Dr Rokhsar in NYC, I am going to keep a record of my treatments w/ photos and a journal of the whole experience. The problem I have is that when it comes to photos my scars don't seem to come out all the time so I will have to find the lighting that shows my scars the worst and use that as a reference point, and if after 5 treatments, hopefully I will be able to give an accurate assumption of any progress made. as many of us know it is very dificult to find accurate information about treatmenst and results(there is no one procedure that works for everyone) and lots of speculation on what works and what doesn't. I am 35 years old and have dealt with facial scarring since I was in my early twenties, I have tried different things but nothing has produced the results I am looking for, I had given up unitl I heard about The Fraxel Laser and decided this might give me the results I am looking for. Time will tell. If not, I will wait for something that is more proven(and at that point I might not care anymore) but until then I will always keep my head up high and stay positive as I always have.
wish everyone the best with there treatments.
Headsup
hmm.. can yall please tell me if 15-20 are the recommended levels for scar treatments with fraxel? or will a lower level also do the job.
You will probably have a greater chance of seeing improvements from the higher settings. The laser just penetrates deeper at 15-20. But only by a couple of hundred microns or so. If you have very shallow scarring down to the upper recti..something dermis, you might still get some improvement from the lower fraxel settings. But it's a real guessing game to figure out how deep your scarring extends (at least for me). I'd just go to at least 15. I've had a few spot treatments at 20 without any noticeable short-term side effects. I attached a chart to this so you can see what depths the laser penetrates based on the energy setting. It goes up to 30, but I hear past 20, you can cause blistering and such.
Wish u all the best WishuallBest 🙂
kooky
thanks kooky.. that charts been real informative.. i'll try aim for 15 and up on the 2nd treatment.. hopefully not havin to have wasted my first on the lower settings.. by the way have u seen any improvements? and because im asian with skin type III.. my doc warns that i can hyperpigmentate.
I'm now thinking of punch excision before Fraxel for the huge boxed-cars on my forehead and left cheek. Anyone done that before?
I would suggest you do the Fraxel first and see if the boxcar scars fill in any before doing the punch excisions (at least that is what I've been doing.). So far, the boxcar on my upper cheekbone has filled in to the point that I am not going to do a punch excision on it. Keep in mind though, that each Fraxel is cumulative, so if you space them out like I had to because of expenses, the results will take much, much longer. I think I had my last Fraxel back in May (?can't really remember?) and my doc wouldn't even consider doing the excisions until Nov/Dec/Jan. because he wanted to see if any would fill in to the point where they wouldn't bother me anymore. Only my boxcar scars did.......I still want to have the icepicks punch grafted.
Thanks for your reply smiling. I've made an appt with a plastic surgeon to see abt the punch grafts...I don't know if it can be done. My boxcars are not so much deep as they are wide..and kinda red. I'm gonna try to post some pics soon. Just a question - if you hve your icepicks punch grafted, won't u have to do Fraxel again to re-surface the marks from the graft?
Hey Wish - Is it US $2,000 ur doc is charging you for 5 spot treatments? I'm going to be paying ard US $2,950 for 5 full face here in Sing sing so don't think I'll be flying out ur way anytime soon. Good luck and keep us posted. Better yet, post some pics if u can.
I've been looking thru' some previous fraxel threads as well and noticed that while people like VB777 etc reported great results with fraxel and promised before/after pics, no one other than Florida guy actually did put up any pics. It was the same with the excision thread, Maria and Maya reported great results but no pics either. What's the deal with that? Is it because the great results fade with time and they decide they're really not that happy with it after all?
I'd thot people wud wanna share their success with some real pics and help the rest of us separate the truth from the crap out there. I'm sure you've all been to docs that pushed whatever lasers etc they had in their office without any real concern for you leaving you more confused than ever! That's why I came on the board, i was just sick of spending thousands of $$$ on empty promises and needed some help from fellow sufferers. Just my thots...
Ylem, I can't answer your question, but it apparently is a lot different than Smoothbeam. Part of the reason is that it only targets part of your skin at one time.
Quite frankly though< I don't get it either.
By the way, I did some research on docs in the mid-atlantic area who do this and one of the most famous ones is Tina Alster (DC). However, after going to the website and reading some news on her, I figured her skin is WAAAAYY too perfect to be a doctor who can help us blokes out.
Ylem, I can't answer your question, but it apparently is a lot different than Smoothbeam. Part of the reason is that it only targets part of your skin at one time.
Quite frankly though< I don't get it either.
By the way, I did some research on docs in the mid-atlantic area who do this and one of the most famous ones is Tina Alster (DC). However, after going to the website and reading some news on her, I figured her skin is WAAAAYY too perfect to be a doctor who can help us blokes out.
Right on my Dermo has wretched skin. Hes nice as hell though and actually takes time to answer all my questions as best he can. I just wonder why a dermatologist would not get something done to their own face? I guess its like getting a good haircut from a chick that has a really bad doo.
My main hope for fraxel is that it will improve some of the hyperpigmentation and redness left over from previous dermabrasions which the V Beam laser hasnt managed to remove. This is just me thinking out aloud as I get ready for fraxel.
Hi Pete,
I had a full face dermabrasion 8.5 months ago. It was the stupidest thing I ever did. My face is still red and hypopigmented.
I remember in one of your previous posts your erythema (as a result of dermabrasions) lasted for a few years and disappeared by itself (that would be the best scenario for me and a couple other post dermabrasion asians now). How much redness do you have left?
Thanks.
HI, i'm new to this site. this is my story. when i was 19 i started doing a bad steroid which did'nt agree with me,it was anadrol. one of the most powerfull steroids, lots of androgens etc.,it caused me to break out with cystic acne and of course scarring. went on acutane, which was my miracle drug at the time.well now i'm 37 and very well educated on hormones and the steriods that can alter them.now my road to recovery.I went to dr. rapaport for a consultation, he was very good and honest with me,and gave me my options. then i applied my own theorys. First i did the subcisions, i think like 3, little improvement ,like 10 percent on some,and 20 on others, the deeper scars are harder. then a one time n-lite laser....useless,don't waste your money.that was 3 years ago.Now i've been on testosterone for some time,cuz i'm a bodybuilder and i keep myself very fit. I never let the scars control my life, dating women was never a problem. some women actually like them, weird but w/e. so i started an injectable human growth hormone program, which makes your body 10 years younger and collagen formation multiply like an 18 yr. old. that combined with an 20 mj setting on the fraxel with 3 sessions,that was the 1-2 punch, now my scars are almost hard to detect, its been 4 months and still improving. collagen has been filling in, better skin tone and the added testosterone is giving me the right amount of hormones for healing. i will defintely go for another 2 fraxels just for fun and extra measure of improvement. look, my regimen might not agree with you,cuz theirs drugs mixed in, but do your homework on hgh... injectable, not the bullshit sprays or pills, too big of a molecular structure for a spray or pill, must be injected. go to medical arts therapy and get a prescription legally and go on while your face heals, it doubles the cell counts in your face when healing.when you get older your healing slows immensely,as does collagen production.thats why some lasers don't work as well for people. also i eat well,lots of protein,fruits and vegetables, l-lysine,msm pills.
Oh, and the hgh company i used is meds2life.com
HI, i'm new to this site. this is my story. when i was 19 i started doing a bad steroid which did'nt agree with me,it was anadrol. one of the most powerfull steroids, lots of androgens etc.,it caused me to break out with cystic acne and of course scarring. went on acutane, which was my miracle drug at the time.well now i'm 37 and very well educated on hormones and the steriods that can alter them.now my road to recovery.I went to dr. rapaport for a consultation, he was very good and honest with me,and gave me my options. then i applied my own theorys. First i did the subcisions, i think like 3, little improvement ,like 10 percent on some,and 20 on others, the deeper scars are harder. then a one time n-lite laser....useless,don't waste your money.that was 3 years ago.Now i've been on testosterone for some time,cuz i'm a bodybuilder and i keep myself very fit. I never let the scars control my life, dating women was never a problem. some women actually like them, weird but w/e. so i started an injectable human growth hormone program, which makes your body 10 years younger and collagen formation multiply like an 18 yr. old. that combined with an 20 mj setting on the fraxel with 3 sessions,that was the 1-2 punch, now my scars are almost hard to detect, its been 4 months and still improving. collagen has been filling in, better skin tone and the added testosterone is giving me the right amount of hormones for healing. i will defintely go for another 2 fraxels just for fun and extra measure of improvement. look, my regimen might not agree with you,cuz theirs drugs mixed in, but do your homework on hgh... injectable, not the bullshit sprays or pills, too big of a molecular structure for a spray or pill, must be injected. go to medical arts therapy and get a prescription legally and go on while your face heals, it doubles the cell counts in your face when healing.when you get older your healing slows immensely,as does collagen production.thats why some lasers don't work as well for people. also i eat well,lots of protein,fruits and vegetables, l-lysine,msm pills.
Oh, and the hgh company i used is meds2life.com
I hope no one on here is stupid enough to use human growth hormone for healing their acne scars. Isnt doping what caused u to break out in the first place? Don't mess with that shit at all. I will say I would rather have some acne scars than to have a shriveled up sack and lose my hair\ which is what u would get doing that shit.
peace
Comparing lasers, I had 3 Co2 lasers in the past which treat all of the skin surface at once now Fraxel only treats lets say for arguments sake 25% of the skin at one time so 4 sessions are needed to treat 100%. 4 Fraxels therefore in theory equals 1 Co2 in terms of coverage and the feeling among Drs seems to be that fraxel doesnt pack quite the punch of Co2. So 4 fraxels which Im having soon should in theory not produce any greater improvement than 1 Co2. Will be interesting to see how practice compares to theory. Yes it reaches up to 700 microns but Smoothbeam also reaches close to that. Erbium is much more superficial but it is true ablative resurfacing in that it completely removes layers of skin. I did fractional resurfacing with a Dermaroller and by the length of those needles Im guessing that the needles penetrate far more than 700 microns of the fraxel given 100 microns is about the thickness of a human hair. The point Im trying to make is that fraxel isnt necessarilly going to give superior results the real difference in outcomes is still dependent on individual response. My main hope for fraxel is that it will improve some of the hyperpigmentation and redness left over from previous dermabrasions which the V Beam laser hasnt managed to remove. This is just me thinking out aloud as I get ready for fraxel.
Hey Pete, Just curious where you got your info on Smoothbeam/co2/fraxel? I was told that Co/2 can only reach up to 350 microns compared to up to 700 microns w/ Fraxel, so I don't see how 1 Co/2 can be just as efffective as 4 to 5 Fraxels. JMO. When it comes to Smoothbeam, I know it's been around a while and the results have never been conclusive in regards to acne scars, I'm not sure about the depth(in Microns) it is able to reach but I would definitely like to see the differences between the two. Are you saying the Fraxel is just another name for the same laser? Dr Rokhsar in NYC seems to think differently.
Just looking for the facts, no offense to what you have heard or know.. Have a great night..