well, i have a slightly different situation. i am half chinese and half caucasion. any other "halfies" out there who have tried fraxel?
the more research i do the better it sounds. my scarring is fairly shallow...derms classify them as "superficial". is there anyone out there with shallow scarring who is happy with their fraxel results?
thanks.
well, i have a slightly different situation. i am half chinese and half caucasion. any other "halfies" out there who have tried fraxel?
the more research i do the better it sounds. my scarring is fairly shallow...derms classify them as "superficial". is there anyone out there with shallow scarring who is happy with their fraxel results?
thanks.
I'd like to know too. I'm halfie as well. My derm told me that there is a 30% chance of Asian skin getting serious hyperpigmentation with any invasive laser. I wonder if that makes it a 15% for halfies? I haven't been able to get excisions either, because of the risk of keloid formation. 
Hey everyone,As i read through these forums i was looking to see if anyone else had the same symptoms from fraxel as I did but i didnt find much. so if any of you are experiencing what i am going through PLEASE let me know.
ok, so i am in my early 20's and i am of Indian decent. i have several icepick scars and some mild scars on my cheeks. to me they look pretty severe because its my face but most people say its mild to moderate.
Anyway,i had my 4th and final fraxel treatment 3 days ago. it is still pretty swolen and i have major bronzing. my bronzing looks nothing like the pictures on the fraxel website. its more like scabs, thick linear scabs down my cheek and chin. I CANNNOT cover it up with makeup because it looks even worse and i cant go anywhere for about a week cuz thats how long it takes for the bronzing to do away. even after that my skin looks pretty raw and it is really noticeable because my forehead is a warm bronze color and my cheeks look like raw meat. it actually takes about a month for my skin to look normal again.
scar results:
i honestly did not see any change until the 3rd treatment. the changes very subtle too, its almost like my scars icepick scars have widened instead filled in . they are still there and pretty noticeable but my skin is much smoother and my makeup glides on like butter so thats a major plus.
the procedure:
well, a major bummer is the pain from the fraxel. I take 10mg percocet, 1mg of xanax, and lidocaine ointment an hour before the procedure. The drugs are GREAT, but not enough cuz i still remember the memory of the sharp pain from the procedure. the whole thing is unbearable. i tear up and i have to hold my breath most of the time and i need many breaks. By the end im so out of it from the pain and the drugs that i blabber on about things that dont make any sense. its not fun at all.
The side effects:
well due to my yellow undertones and brown skin, i have hypOpigmentation on my cheeks. it started off as a small, round clearly demarcated patch on my cheek after my third treatment. i actually thought it was a ring worm or something cuz it would crust up and plus i had a pediatrics rotation. Thankfully, it was not ringworms it was contact dermatitis which i still have. im on a low strength corticosteroid for it.
wow, i wrote alot. i didnt think i had so much to say. ill just bold the main points so you guys dont have to read my side comments.
aite fellas,
take care... n let me know if any of you have the same experience.
I want to try this but my derm told me there's no point since i'm oriental(as she puts it) I will just get more scarring and hyperpigmentation. That sucks ><;; ah well I guess I'll just have to hope some asian person makes something for asian skin scarring. I'm chinese btw.
I am middle aged asian female. I have done 4 fraxel (last 2 treatment was with 1500) and have shallow acne scars. My skin DID NOT improve. Not much at all. I've tried many different treatments before like IPL, chemical peel, Obaji, microdermabrasion, and etc... This Fraxel was no different. I've had bad hyperpigmentation with IPL. I thought Fraxel would improve somewhat, maybe 20%. Not even close to 10% improvement for 3 Grand. I am kicking my foot and telling everyone to not do the fraxel. Don't waste your money!
I am middle aged asian female. I have done 4 fraxel (last 2 treatment was with 1500) and have shallow acne scars. My skin DID NOT improve. Not much at all. I've tried many different treatments before like IPL, chemical peel, Obaji, microdermabrasion, and etc... This Fraxel was no different. I've had bad hyperpigmentation with IPL. I thought Fraxel would improve somewhat, maybe 20%. Not even close to 10% improvement for 3 Grand. I am kicking my foot and telling everyone to not do the fraxel. Don't waste your money!
I am middle aged asian female. I have done 4 fraxel (last 2 treatment was with 1500) and have shallow acne scars. My skin DID NOT improve. Not much at all. I've tried many different treatments before like IPL, chemical peel, Obaji, microdermabrasion, and etc... This Fraxel was no different. I've had bad hyperpigmentation with IPL. I thought Fraxel would improve somewhat, maybe 20%. Not even close to 10% improvement for 3 Grand. I am kicking my foot and telling everyone to not do the fraxel. Don't waste your money!
Wow, guess if someone says, "I'll show you the best treament that worked perfectly on someone." then I must always turn around and say, "I'll show you a case where it didn't work on someone at all!"
God, Ive been waiting for someone like you to surface and unfortunately I am now on treatment 3. Shit shit shit
Beauty21, what were your settings for the fraxel sr 1500?
hey guys i've been reading this thread and i'm going through five fraxel treatments as well.
i am asian and i noticed that even after the skin has peeled and stuff, there is this 'circles around my eye' where the fraxel didnt go through, even after like four weeks, i look like ive been sunburnt in the sun with sunglasses on.
pls tell me that that is normal and it will go away with time as the skin naturally sheds?
I'm Asian and in my mid 20's. I have moderate acne scars that have been with me since high school, so I've done some research around the internet and ask my friends to help me find the way to reduce the acne scars, so I ended up decided reading about Fraxel. It takes me months to deciding if this is the best for me, so I go to the consultation and it sounds good.
I then recently had my first Fraxel treatment for my acne scars on my face and it has been 3 days now, my face look like I was out of the sun too much and the skin all over my face start to peeling off (but most of the bronze/dry skins still attach to my face). Which then had left me with one new scar on the side of my lip. But my skin seems to look tighter and smoother (in the area where my skin have peeled off).
This is one of the experience I will never forget and maybe in the future will do it again because even though my skin feel tighter and smoother, there still dead bronze skin attached on my face that I hope will fall off tomorrow or so.
I'm korean and have had 4 fraxel restore treatments. My RN only goes up to level 7 on me too but we go deeper every time... last one was at 55mj, level 7 at 8 passes. Overall, I am satisfied with the results. i had punch excisions done and they looked worse than before so it definately helped shrink the marks left from them. I have about 2-3 that are still noticable to me, boxcar ones that are much improved. My plan is to get 2 more but only spot treatment on my cheeks at $300. I do not feel I have hypopigmentation.. lucky me. but I do wear tinted moisturizer so I don't really notice. What's the most people have gotten? I mean I wouldn't mind doing 8 if I keep getting better results every time as I have so far!
Fraxel Restore has worked for me given that I've had moderate expectations. My initial expectation was to have about 35% improvement after 5 Fraxels, which was successfully achieved. I then decided to go for three more with the expectation of additional 15% improvement. I'm going for my 7th in March.
If you consider Fraxel Restore, try only if you're willing and capable to go for at least 5 treatments. Be sure that you have the patience, time, energy and emotional strength to go through ups and downs, possible breakouts, redness and dry skin. Treating acne scars with Fraxel Restore require 1. determination, 2. determination, and 3. determination!!
Good luck to you all.
cutie, I get fraxels done on the east coast. I have to say it improved a little each time but really noticed improvment the last time. I never tried the copper peptide thing, I do sometime before I got to bed put mederma on top of my scars and also biofine cream seems to help. I've only done 4 treatments. bellydance, wow the settings you've done on the last 2 were VERY high! Isn't that risky for asian skin?
cutie, I get fraxels done on the east coast. I have to say it improved a little each time but really noticed improvment the last time. I never tried the copper peptide thing, I do sometime before I got to bed put mederma on top of my scars and also biofine cream seems to help. I've only done 4 treatments. bellydance, wow the settings you've done on the last 2 were VERY high! Isn't that risky for asian skin?
hi,sunblocks,
are you in nyc?
thxx~~
bellydance, wow the settings you've done on the last 2 were VERY high! Isn't that risky for asian skin?
Well, it depends on the type of Asian skin you have since you can be fair, medium and dark Asian.
I am very fair-skinned so that could be the reason why I experienced no discoloration issues when it comes to Fraxel. I had experienced a lot of breakouts, but with antibiotics, the problem has been solved 99%.
bellydance, i am interested in finding out which doctor in nyc is performing your latest fraxel restores treatments. you can send me a message directly if you'd like. thanks!
I had them done by Dr. Rokhsar. He has offices in Manhattan and Long Island (Garden City right by the mall). He charges $1200 per Fraxel and his consultation fee is $150, which is going to be applied toward $1200 if you decided to have the procedure.
He's a very nice person and approachable, so you should ask him any questions you have during consultation. He's awesome.
I am in the middle area in terms of Asian skin shade.
The setting for the last Fraxel Re:Store sessions:
60mj 6 TL 8 passes.
I am very pleased with the results.
Be patient.
I think you'll find the results start to become very apparent after the 4/5 treatment, spread a 4-5 weeks apart.
I am reluctant to put a % improvement after six sessions.
But, I can comfortably write that my skin has probably improved by at least 40%.
Be sure to use the appropriate depth and spread in your settings.
There is no point spending thousands of dollars, undergoing hours of discomfort, and living with continued disappointment with low settings. I was advised that my settings were a bit too high for Asian type skin.
Be sure to do all the other things to help with your recovery:
Stop smoking
Get enough rest
Eat well
Drink lots of vit-c drinks like Apple, Mango, OJ...
Relax
Avoid the sun and wear lots of high block sunscreen
Not sure if it helps, but I insist they NOT put cortisone on my face after the Fraxel session. It is applied to reduce swelling. I stopped using cortisone after reading how prolonged use can thin out the skin. In any case, after the Fraxel, the skin is relatively raw and vulnerable. I don't see what good cortisone can do other than the comfort of reduced swelling. In my opinion, I can do without it.
I will be getting another set of Fraxel Re:Store sessions in the late Autumn.
These sessions will be spot treatments, not the entire face.
I would like a bit more improvement in the left temple area and the forehead.
Hi,
I am Korean American and after much debate... I got Fraxel Repair done. My skin is a bit dark for Korean. Doctor said my skin is Fitzpatrick IV.
Today is post 14 day. My skin hyperpigmented! My face looks so much darker than rest of my body. I am so worried. The doctor put me on hydroquinone about a week ago. I can't tell if it's helping or not yet. I will be meeting my doctor tomorrow and I will be asking him about my skin condition, etc.
I asked my doctor about this issue before I got procedure and he made it sound like it's not even an issue...but now I realize I should have done more research, etc.
Please be careful before you get Fraxel Repair!
If anybody has any experience with similar issues, etc, please let me know and share your story!
Today is post 14 day. My skin hyperpigmented! My face looks so much darker than rest of my body. I am so worried. The doctor put me on hydroquinone about a week ago. I can't tell if it's helping or not yet. I will be meeting my doctor tomorrow and I will be asking him about my skin condition, etc.
I asked my doctor about this issue before I got procedure and he made it sound like it's not even an issue...but now I realize I should have done more research, etc.
Please be careful before you get Fraxel Repair!
If anybody has any experience with similar issues, etc, please let me know and share your story!
I had to read your post three times to comprehend your issue...
Um, it's only the 14th day after Fraxel Repair, correct? I've only done Restores, which takes less healing periods than Repair, but I've had temporary discoloration (reddish/tanned skin) that last about anywhere from one month to three months and I've never thought of it as an issue at all. It's your skin's healing process. I mean, do you expect your skin to go back to the condition/coloring that it was before the treatment, after only 14 days from your treatment!?! That's completely unrealistic!
I understand that you're in a panic mode, but it's too soon to freak out. Your skin needs time to heal.
hanarei, thanks for sharing your repair story. I think I am fitz IV too. Sometimes I contemplate just getting a spot repair done but the place I go to only has the restore. Atleast you are taking care of the problem now even though I do agree that your complexion is still healing, I had a full face dermabrasion done and my original color did not completely come back for 5-6 months no lie!
I just had my 5th one a couple of days ago at level 7, 60mj. 8 passes. The higher the mj the better bc it goes deeper for scars, the level just means it will cover more % of being touched. level 7 is 20% and I believe level 8 is 25%.
I agree that around the 5th fraxel restore will results be at its best. I'm feeling good about this one plus it was only on the cheeks where I need it. Maybe one more in a month or so and I will not have to cover myself with concealer!