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Headsup Im no expert on scar revision I just come to my own conclusions based on what I read and my own experience. Smoothbeam can reach about 500 microns, Fraxel can reach about 700 not a big difference, they both seek to initiate a wound healing reponse resulting in a thickening of the skin. If the experts seem to think Fraxel is better then it must be because it delivers a higher intensity of energy and a potentially greater wound healing response but it only affects a fraction of the skin at a time which is the only reason it can go so deep in the first place. Co2 only penetrates half that but its ablative so it can also potentially remove superficial scars less than the depth it penetrates in addition to stimulating skin thickening and it affects the skin as a whole not in fractions. Im not criticising fraxel Im just keeping a realistic attitude toward it.
Hey Pete - I had 6 Smoothbeams done when it was still fairly new technology way back in 2002. I blistered n have this strange round brown patch on my right cheek which is still kinda there. The thing is SB did not cause any peeling the way that Fraxel is supposed to. SB is also not used for sun damage like Fraxel is which suggests to me anyways that Fraxel is a bit abalative. A doc actually said that Fraxel was like an expensive and perhaps more effective chemical peel.
SB is similar to Cooltouch according to the derm I was seeing for SB. She also said that it had abt the same rate of success, i.e. only abt 40% of people with acne scars who've done SB or CT experience any significant improvement of 30% or more. But we decided to give it a shot (after all what else did I really have to lose? The derm assured me it wud'nt cause further scarring.) Anyways, I was the other 60% and it didn't make a whole lotta difference except make my cheeks feel tighter. :lol2:
For both SB and CT, its collagen stimulating effects are not permanent and you'll need touch-ups every year or so. What I'd like to know is if Fraxel works, would the effects be permanent since it has some ablation?
BTW, the phenol / TCA peels from the past few months have turned my cheeks a little white (thank God I can wear blusher) AND also given me hyperpigmentation cuz like you, I'm a Fitzpatrick III.
I'm scheduled for Fraxel this Sat. but not before I get another opinion from a plastic surgeon. Maybe excise a coupla scars....I really don't know...Fraxel is expensive SXXX where I live. Good luck with your Fraxel!
Ryan - if you're still on here, how are your Fraxels coming along? You mentioned you didn't see any improvement even after ur 2nd one. Would love to hear your progress.
I have read through most of the types of scar treatments out there and believe that at this point fraxel is one of the better choices because of its result/risk ratio. Here is why, and something to keep in mind:
1. Fraxel has compartively low risk--however, it is only a year old and nobody knows the long term effects yet so you still should be careful.
Risk should be the first thing you think of, because you don't want to permanently alter your skin in a negative way because you don't know when a treatment will be invented which could have corrected your problem (i.e. fraxel). Dermabrasion, CO2 lasers, high strength peels, self-needling, etc. which alter/remove layers of skin you should really think very, very carefully (personally I would not consider them) about because you may be permanently altering you skin in a way that new methods cannot fix.
That being said, I have the following questions:
1. Has anyone had a series of fraxel treatments with ongoing acne? Does it help or make it worse? How is a cyst, pustule, blackhead, etc. affected by a .7mm puncture? Does the acne bacteria impede the healing/make it worse?
2. Are people who acheive drastic results taking lots of supplements, if so what?
3. At 20mj/1250 Micro-Thermal Zones per cm^2 has anyone experienced blistering with or without a zimmer machine?
4. The bronzing effect/redness is it noticeble, embarrassing, or would be hard to explain if the procedure was undergone in the winter?
i did 3 fraxels with dr. rapaport at 20 mj's. thats the hook for deeper scars. my face looked awesome swollen and bronzed, but then the swelling goes down. you will get fustrsted cuz you see nothing happening,then when month 4 rolls around you start seeing some incredible gains in scars filling in. continued progress for sure.just remember be patient, the higher the mj's the longer the progress.
i eat very well, cuz i'm a bodybuilder, that alone helps alot, and also a lot of people including myself have food allergies that make your face look worse than other days. reason being, its what you eat. i am allergic to wheat,corn and milk. once i got rid of that, i started looking better just from that. hope this helps all who reads it.
and also i had no blistering, just swelling that i loved, cuz i knew i did something hardcore to the scars
i did 3 fraxels with dr. rapaport at 20 mj's. thats the hook for deeper scars. my face looked awesome swollen and bronzed, but then the swelling goes down. you will get fustrsted cuz you see nothing happening,then when month 4 rolls around you start seeing some incredible gains in scars filling in. continued progress for sure.just remember be patient, the higher the mj's the longer the progress.
i eat very well, cuz i'm a bodybuilder, that alone helps alot, and also a lot of people including myself have food allergies that make your face look worse than other days. reason being, its what you eat. i am allergic to wheat,corn and milk. once i got rid of that, i started looking better just from that. hope this helps all who reads it.
and also i had no blistering, just swelling that i loved, cuz i knew i did something hardcore to the scars
Healing for good,
Glad to hear your having some good results. Was your scars mild/moderate or deep? Also, how much does Dr Rappaport charge for full face treatments of Fraxel? thanks
headsup, i had some deep scars on both temple areas and some on the high cheek area. i would say 30% severe 60% moderate and 10% minor. but the heavier fraxel settings are key.the deeper you go, or the harder you go at them, the better the response.10 8 even 12 mj's are for wrinkle people,or sun damage,when or if you go,tell your doc to crank it up,don't pussy foot around, they know, they just want you to keep coming back for more.my beleif is that they string you along knowing all along whats gonna work or not. i was fooled into n-lite, or no lite,as i call it. subcision only works if you combine it with something heavy duty like co2 or fraxel set high, a day after.
dr. rapaport was about $4700 tax and all.
Hi,
Dr. Rapaport is obviously using a variety of techniques to tackle acne scars including Fraxel Laser. Just wondering why dermabrasion is not one of his methods for certain types of patients. 
I emailed his office today for more information and got a price quote for all his different procedures. His charge is HIGH for sure. 
Is anyone here a NJ or New York city resident who can recommend a nearby city (of Englewood Cliffs) with affordable apartment or house-for-share? (headsup? healingforgood?) I'm thinking about temporarily relocating over there for a few months just for the convenience of seeing Dr. Rapaport and get this over with. 
It just doesn't make much sense to fly over there from Los Angeles every two weeks and fly back with an embarassingly swollen face. 
thanks
JL
headsup, i had some deep scars on both temple areas and some on the high cheek area. i would say 30% severe 60% moderate and 10% minor. but the heavier fraxel settings are key.the deeper you go, or the harder you go at them, the better the response.10 8 even 12 mj's are for wrinkle people,or sun damage,when or if you go,tell your doc to crank it up,don't pussy foot around, they know, they just want you to keep coming back for more.my beleif is that they string you along knowing all along whats gonna work or not. i was fooled into n-lite, or no lite,as i call it. subcision only works if you combine it with something heavy duty like co2 or fraxel set high, a day after.
dr. rapaport was about $4700 tax and all.
Hi,
Dr. Rapaport is obviously using a variety of techniques to tackle acne scars including Fraxel Laser. Just wondering why dermabrasion is not one of his methods for certain types of patients. :doh:
I emailed his office today for more information and got a price quote for all his different procedures. His charge is HIGH for sure. 😯
Is anyone here a NJ or New York city resident who can recommend a nearby city (of Englewood Cliffs) with affordable apartment or house-for-share? (headsup? healingforgood?) I'm thinking about temporarily relocating over there for a few months just for the convenience of seeing Dr. Rapaport and get this over with. :pray: It just doesn't make much sense to fly over there from Los Angeles every two weeks and fly back with an embarassing swollen face. :wall:
thanks
JL
headsup, i had some deep scars on both temple areas and some on the high cheek area. i would say 30% severe 60% moderate and 10% minor. but the heavier fraxel settings are key.the deeper you go, or the harder you go at them, the better the response.10 8 even 12 mj's are for wrinkle people,or sun damage,when or if you go,tell your doc to crank it up,don't pussy foot around, they know, they just want you to keep coming back for more.my beleif is that they string you along knowing all along whats gonna work or not. i was fooled into n-lite, or no lite,as i call it. subcision only works if you combine it with something heavy duty like co2 or fraxel set high, a day after.
dr. rapaport was about $4700 tax and all.
Hi Jenny,
I live in NYC, I am not that familiar with Nj but I do know some good places you might be able to find a place. There is a place called Hoboken,NJ i t is about 15 miles from Englewood Cliffs. There might be something closer but at least Hoboken has a alot to offer. It is close to NYC and has a nice Nightlife(when you are comfortable going out in between Fraxel) very good restaurants and lots of fun people. It is a young town so you might be able to find a place to either share or Sublet for a few weeks/months. The only problem would be getting back and forth to Dr R's office, But I think it would be an ideal place. JMO. Hope this helps you out..
amnesiac, i had my sessions 2 weeks apart for a total of 3.
amnesiac, i had my sessions 2 weeks apart for a total of 3. i did have subcision about 2 yrs. ago followed with n-lite. it was maybe a 20% improvement.if i had done subcision with a co2, i think it would have been like a 75% or better improvement. my gains now are in the 80% range,with fraxel and my gh injections,but i might go back for a co2,cuz it regenerates the outer layer, if that alone does 25%,i'll hit a home run with total scar reduction. fraxel takes time cuz it works from the bottom up,co2 is more instant cuz you basically cook the skins outer layer, so my theory is to do both, i know its a lot of money,but for total satisfaction,i think everyone in these rooms will spend the money.
hmm.. accordin to healingforgood.. if my last session which was set at 11 and 12 mJs.. it was a total waste? cuz seriously i cant afford to waste anymore treatments, there's 4 left to go, i do see some improvement after the first.. dunno if my eyes are foolin me or not.. but there is a difference, however scars are still there.. and well im thinkin of goin level 20 next time, or 17.. hopefully not hyperpigmenting also.. goodlucks to all who're on it.
Hi, healingforgood,
You know your face will be pink to red for about 6 months after CO2 laser treatment, don't you? 
Is that something you can take?
JL
Hi, healingforgood,
What types of acne scars on your face improved the most after Fraxel laser treatment? I'm wondering if small bumps caused by overly injected permanent filler could be somewhat flattened out by fraxel?
JL
hi jennyl , who cares about the pinkish,red tint.at least you know some serious healing is taking place.
you can do a one pass co2 laser if the down time is an inconvience. i truly beleive you have too go hardcore to get results for deeper scars.
i would say the rolling scars improved the most, still have visible scarring, but i'm waiting 6 months and doing it again.I had my last treatment on june 8.
dr. rapaport went heavy with the settings, i will opt for that again, and throw some hgh injections for rapid healing and collagen count.gh increases collagen by 340%
Hadenough, Dr. Rapaport did like 3 or 4 passes, and the deeper scars were at 20mj's, because i remember him pausing and doing something with the machine,adjusting i'm sure. but i would imangine all my normal skin was a lot lower setting.my progress is still improving month to month,and its now month 5.they say it continues for like 6-7 months,especially when you go on a higher mj. I gotta say he's good. fraxel is a good laser, for sure.Also you want to take a collagen booster of some sort as your healing, like msm,which is sulfur, mega vitamins, l-lysine is a good amino acid. drink water, stay out of the sun or tanning salons for like 6 months.
oh i forgot, iwas bronze for like a week, iwent out of my house in 3 days, the bronze did'nt bother me it was summer time anyway, so it looked like a deep tan.nobody noticed,none of my friends.
Going for my 5th Fraxel this Friday with Dr. Rokhsar. Really pleased so far. I saw my frist signs of improvement after the 3rd treatment and now, 10 days after the 4th, I'd estimate about 40% improvement. Pretty significant I think.
Most of the improvement is in overall texture and color. But I definitely see raised areas flattening out and the pitted scars filling in and looking softer.
I also have a half-dollar size area from a CO2 test spot (from another doctor who went too deep that resulted in raised scarring) that is seeing nice improvement. The CO2 was horrible, took forever to heal and really still isn't fully healed (after 4 months) but each Fraxel treatment has helped that area tremendously - blending the obvious demarcated and raised edges with the surrounding skin and making it much less delicate.
The deepest scars are seeing the least improvement, but I think it's in line with the rest - they just have further to go.
I held out on forming an opinion on Fraxel until now, but am definitely a big fan. It's too expensive and takes too many treatments, but at least it actually works, heals quickly, and does no harm either. I think it's very dependent on the physician as well, but that will probably change as technique and results spread around. It would be nice if some doctors were even as informed as the people on this site.
So Dr. Rokhsar has been treating me at 20/1250, 2 weeks apart, and he is very determined. He is treating me as aggresively as he feels possible. Over 20mj can blister, creating more problems. I haven't had any blistering or healing problems at 20mj. There is some oozing (yellowish fluid) the first day after treatment that I have to keep from crusting, but that stops within several hours.
I'm planning on doing 6 treatments and then taking a break for a few months so the skin can fully heal (will then post some pics too).
I definitely don't dwell on my scars nearlly as much any more.
Hey that's great to hear birch. That's funny (haha) that you mentioned how people on this board are sometimes more informed than the doctors. I am trying to learn as much as I can to delicately pass on any info to my doctor before I start my treatments. One thing that stood out to me in your post was that you were having treatments spaced 2 weeks apart. Did Dr. Rokhsar (or "Rock Star" as some people dub him) recommend that or was that your decision to do so? I was wondering because I've heard one month (from Dr. Rokhsar himself) is a good waiting period for acne scar patients.
A few other questions if you don't mind (sorry if they've been asked before):
- how long did each treatment take (beginning at the time he started Fraxeling your face)? did you do full face or partial face treatments?
- how many passes did he do?
- what's your skin type/color?
Thanks a bunch! Good luck on your 5th and 6th!
sincerely,
kooky
I held out on forming an opinion on Fraxel until now, but am definitely a big fan. It's too expensive and takes too many treatments, but at least it actually works, heals quickly, and does no harm either. I think it's very dependent on the physician as well, but that will probably change as technique and results spread around. It would be nice if some doctors were even as informed as the people on this site.
So Dr. Rokhsar has been treating me at 20/1250, 2 weeks apart, and he is very determined. He is treating me as aggresively as he feels possible. Over 20mj can blister, creating more problems. I haven't had any blistering or healing problems at 20mj. There is some oozing (yellowish fluid) the first day after treatment that I have to keep from crusting, but that stops within several hours.
I'm planning on doing 6 treatments and then taking a break for a few months so the skin can fully heal (will then post some pics too).
I definitely don't dwell on my scars nearlly as much any more.