Ablative Fractional Lasers
Results
Side Effects

Ablative fractional lasers shine an intense beam of light at the skin in a dot-matrix (imagine tiny polka dots) pattern. The light completely...

Ablative fractional lasers shine an intense beam of light at the skin in a dot-matrix (imagine tiny polka dots) pattern. The light completely removes (ablates) the epidermis in this dot-matrix pattern, leaving some of the skin intact. It also stimulates the underlying dermis to produce more collagen and elastin over time. Ablative fractional lasers attempt to approximate the efficacy of ablative lasers while not completely removing the entire surface of the skin, thus reducing side effects.

This procedure is normally repeated 3 times in 1-month intervals, and you should see gradual results with each session. And after your last session, your skin should continue to improve.

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May 1, 2013

Pros:

Quick
Firm, fresh skin
Scarring is less severe

Cons:

Expensive
Minimal information
Painful

I had fraxel restore done in 2012 and I am going to have my second (first fraxel C02) treatment done in may this year. I was very happy with my results, I would say about 20-30% improvement from 1 treatment. I've seen alot of negative reviews and "horror stories" and I feel bad and often think, who did these treatments? I have vlogged my results on my youtube channel [link edited out] removed] and showed my daily recovery. If you have any questions just let me know :)
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February 24, 2013

Pros:

Peeled some older marks

Cons:

Pain
Can't go out for atleast 5-6 days
Expensive
Orange peel texture
Made face more oily
Broke me out horribly
Made new scars appear
Red Blotchiness
Big pores

Don't do it! it may seem like it works at first but after 6 months your face becomes a mess. I only got it done on my cheeks and you can see the difference from my skin before fraxel and its SO much better. And its funny because I ONLY breakout where I got fraxel done..... I regret it. At first it seemed like it worked but after a month I started getting real bad cystic breakouts. PLEASE DON'T do it, its not worth it!
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January 16, 2013

Pros:

1. Gets rid of most scarring (temporarily)

Cons:

1. The great results only lasted 1 year
2. Had to do 5 rounds of very painful visits
3. A week of downtime needed after treatment
4, Skin is now red alot of the time and VERY sensitive to sunlight

I did the treatment 3 years ago. After I did the treatments my acne scars were almost completely gone. I had pitted scars and hyper pigmentation..You name it I had every form of scarring. Unfortunately for me the scarring slowly but surely came back even tho i stopped breaking out.. I no longer have acne but am still left with these horrible pits in my face and negative $2500 dollars. Also my doctor at the time was very rude, yelled at me, and basically told me I was very pretty if only I didn't have such horrible pitted skin.. Ya.. thanks. His name was Dr.Rispler.. If you do choose to do this do not use him Im sure you can find a dermatologist that's a lot nicer and just as "good".
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December 22, 2012

Pros:

Fraxel Repair..Worked very well on my skin. I'm 45 aging and had acne scars. I had two repair treatments 1 year apart. My skin look great: much younger and acne scars are not visable.

Cons:

5 days down time. That is the only thing that is tough

I highly reccommend it.
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December 19, 2012

Pros:

None

Cons:

Orange Peel Texture
Fat Loss
burning and tightness under skin
More scars
Micro holes
Hypo and hyper pigmentation
Cystic acne

I had Sciton Profractional laser done to my cheeks for mild acne scarring. Before this I was just using lemon juice to take care of my scars and it worked so much better. If I could only turn back the hands of time. Please really think about having this procedure done. A dermatologist performed this procedure and it ruined my skin. It is serious surgery. It destroys all your good collagen and replaces it with weaker scar tissue. I am 33 and am considering getting a fat graft. Before this I only had to worry about acne scars that only very few people notice. Now I am battling skin discoloration, more severe acne, scarring and textural changes, rapid aging and depression.
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December 1, 2012

Pros:

it can improve scars

Cons:

may leave permanent scars (little dot tracks)
may cause long term, possibly permanent damage to pores if you don't have clear skin at time of treatment
will alter your skin, so that if you get breakouts afterwards you will get nasty (boxcar type) scars almost every time and these will be permanent
If you don't heal well, you may notice loss of facial fat/ collagen (?) - you definitely don't want that.

i had two pro fractional treatments. the first one went well, I was really happy with the results on near my temple where i had the most scarring (boxcar), shallow, less than 1 mm. I thought that I would do this 1x/ year to rebuild collagen and as anti aging precaution as well as a scar treatment - last time the doc was much more aggressive only this time i have track marks, my formerly healthy skin has permanent track marks and almost every big pimple leaves a bad indented scar probably because my collagen structure was altered. I had some breakouts when I did the treatment because the dermatologist said it was just slight, no problem - well - it was IMO more than slight and my advice to you is don't do it unless your skin is clear. also don't do it unless you plan for your skin to continue to be clear. In hindsight I regret going an almost uniform depth on my whole face including the perfect skin. I would say if possible only treat the areas that really require it and don't have a treatment that is too aggressive. Since i now have WAY MORE SCARS than before over more of my face, I'll probably do another laser treatment at some point - however I will prefer to only treat the scars, as lightly as possible and only when my skin is totally under control. Right now I'm still trying to get pregnant and I have PCOS which causes mild to moderate hormonal acne all the time so I can only use AHA and BHA - nothing else so... hence I have to tolerate these breakouts which are scarring my face..........I would not subject pretty nice, healthy skin to this treatment. It will stress that skin. It stands to reason, after pro fractional your face will be all bloody. I think also that age might matter. Probably younger skin with lots of collagen and or fat and that heals really well does better with this.
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August 25, 2012

Pros:

Improved skin texture in the short term and over the long term

Cons:

May break you out badly, expensive ($900 per treatment)

After doing pixels for almost a year and seeing no results, I chose to get a fraxel. I got my first fraxel and it hurt like hell, about 1.5 times worse than pixel. However following the initial 3-4 days where my face was quite red, my skin did start to look better in that scars appeared less deep (however this was mainly the result of swelling). Following 2 weeks, I did notice that my skin seemed a little better, but the results were minimal. I chose to get another fraxel a month after the first one and this was the worst mistake I made. Apparently they cranked up the setting and went quite a bit deeper. Immediately following, there was nothing out of the ordinary compared to the first one. However, in the following week to 2 weeks I started to break out really bad like never before. And then beyond that it just kept getting worse and worse, breaking out in places I had never broken out before and it was destroying me. At the time I had no idea what was causing it, but in hindsight I believe it was the laser stimulating the sebaceous glands. Finally 2 months later of disastrous suffering, I started taking omega 3's primrose evening oil, and flax seed oil to get a good balance of 3,6,9 fatty acids and zinc which seemed to help. And then I also started taking b5 supplements which I had taken in my teen years 10 years earlier and I remember they were one of the few things that worked for me. I've also recently started coolTouch treatments although I have low expectations for this. I just need to do something treat the acne and scarring and I think coolTouch may be a good option if I do it many times. Because of the damage fraxel did, it's not really an option at this point. I do think that it stimulates collagen production and can correct scars after multiple treatments, but for me at this point its not worth the risk. Maybe again in the future I can do it and layer it with antibiotics and b5, once the CoolTouch allegedly shrinks my se
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May 11, 2012

Pros:

I only did a test patch!

Some evening out of texture.

Cons:

I only did a test patch!
Redness lasted way too long was horribly itchy, caused acne the week post. I am noticing loss of fat and elasticity. I really believe the longer term effect is that it thins your skin. It has been about 9 months since I did a test patch.

If the doctor doesn't let you do a test patch, RUN. They charged me $100 for this and it was worth it for me to investigate. I am not sold on getting my whole face done yet because of the apparent loss of elasticity. It is VERY itchy an uncomfortable.
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April 15, 2012

Pros:

There probably are I just can't think of them at the moment

Cons:

Caused Cystic Acne! (Never ever had this before!)

This is my third treatment with the Fraxel Laser and it caused Cystic Acne all over my chin. I have never had cystic acne in my life. This is one of the most awful experiences of my life. My New Year's resolution was to treat the minor scarring I had on my face so I wouldn't have to wear liquid foundation and now I've been left with much more scarring and active acne. I would definitely not recommend this to anyone in their teens or twenties or anyone who still have any active acne.
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March 27, 2012

Pros:

Had a cute plastic surgeon :)
Swelling gives your face a beautiful glow for about 3 days

Cons:

Each time gets more and more painful
You have to stay out of public eye for about 4 days
Swelling gives you false hope
Makes your skin break out after you've had the treatment

I received 4 fraxel treatments from a plastic surgeon and I've got to say that it was the biggest waste of money I've ever spent. First off, it is painful and anyone that tells you otherwise is has only had one or two treatments. They start off on a low setting and progressively work their way up each treatment. Your face is swollen for about 7-10 days..four of which you wouldn't be caught dead in public. The perk about your face being swollen is that your skin looks amazing! You have perfect glowing skin but it soon fades after about three to four days revealing that your skin looks exactly how it did before the treatment. Something they don't tell you is that the fraxel makes you break out horribly for about a week after the swelling goes down in your face. After four treatments, my skin looked worse then when I started. If you have deep indented scars please do not do this because I promise you it will only be a waste of money. After the realization the fraxel did nothing for me, I decided to get dermabrasion on one side of my face and excision on the other (both were small areas) I would recommend dermabrasion to anyone...please know I am not talking about microdermabrasion, dermabrasion is more aggressive. Dermabrasion improved my deep scars by 85% and it looks so much better. Dermabrasion was $500 for an area the size of a quarter. Excision was $250 and he took out 3 scars for that price. The only thing with excision is that you are trading acne scars for a surgical looking scar. To me it was worth it because even though I still have a scar on my face, it's less embarrassing than holes in my face from where I picked at my skin. It's been a month now and the excision scar is still very red but it will fade over the next year to my normal skin color (possibly lighter). Please know there are other cheaper options out there that work better than fraxel. I just don't want you guys to be disappointed and in debt like I was for something that never worked
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Finding a Doctor

The right dermatologist can make a big difference to your patient experience and the success of your acne treatment plan. Here are the steps to find a dermatologist who is a good fit:

  1. Use the search feature on the American Academy of Dermatology website to look for board-certified dermatologists in your area, and filter the search results for doctors with a special interest in treating acne.
  2. Read online patient reviews of any dermatologists you are considering and ask people you know whether they have any experience with these dermatologists.
  3. Do your research and go to your first appointment with questions prepared.
  4. Listen to what your gut feeling tells you once you see a dermatologist in person. If you are not completely comfortable, try a different dermatologist.
Find a Doctor Using The American Acacemy of Dermatology Website

Finding a Doctor

Only a select few plastic surgeons specialize in acne scar revision surgery. Be certain to find a provider who specializes in acne scar repair and who is passionate and experienced in this area.

Be sure to:

  • Look at before and after photos, the more the better, especially patients with similar scarring to your own.
  • Be realistic about results. Look for improvement, not a cure.

Questions to ask a potential scar revision specialist:

  • Are you board certified? Be certain that they are board certified.
  • How long have you been performing these procedures? Normally, the more experience the better, however, some younger surgeons may be more on top of the latest procedures.
  • Can I speak to some of your other patients? Ask for references for several patients who had similar scarring and speak to them about the process and their satisfaction with results.

Red flags:

  • Their story changes: As you discuss different treatment options, if they tend to change their mind easily, or agree with whatever you say, consider this a red flag. A confident, experienced surgeon will possess strong, unwavering opinions.
  • Your gut tells you "no": Trust your gut. If you just don't feel that the doctor is the right fit, trust that and move on. On the other hand, if you feel they are the perfect specialist for you, trust that feeling.
Find a Doctor Using the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Website