Hi All,

I've been in the forum for a long time and I know majority of people in the forum is on the NO side for Fraxel Restore for acne scars. However, I'm a person who has skin type III - IV and also have a history of keloids on my back. I have all kinds of scars on my cheeks including icepick, shallow boxcar and rolling scars. When I discuss treatment plan with my Dr, he has suggested me to go with Fraxel restore instead of the repair one, since he has concerns regarding to hyperpigmentation and keloid. 

I have been having Fraxel restore treatments for 3 times and have started from lvl 6 since my doctor has no idea how I was gonna react to it and the last time he has used lvl 8 and I have had a really bad swelling and oozing on the second day. Now it is 6 weeks past the 3rd treatment, I can see some improvements (10% - 20%), which being said, my skin is not that wavy anymore, but the scars are still there.

I still have 2-3 treatments left and I believe my doctor will use higher settings and more passes for them, however, I'm not sure how much improvement will I get at that time. My Dr has told me that the scar treatment will be considered as successful if 50% improvement is seen.

Now, I'm considering instead of having Fraxel Restore only, I would like to add subcision and filler as well. The majority of my scars are icepicks, however, I really don't wanna go with TCA CROSS since I have a really horrible experience for that treatment and I promise I won't receive that treatment again.  That being said, if I can get rid of all my rolling and boxcars, I will be very help then

Therefore, I would like to ask if I use Fraxel Restore with higher settings and combine it with Subcision and fillers, will I be able to get rid of all the rolling and boxcars scars? Or I'm also thinking to replace Fraxel Restore with RF Needling? Will RF needling be safe in my case? What's the real difference between these 2 treatments then?

I have attached my pic for my left cheek with most rolling and boxcars under direct lightening therefore you can see the depth of my scars.

Thanks in advance.