Good or Excellent Response
44%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
Moderate Response
82%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
Side Effects
Medium-High
How to Get It
Have a dermatologist or plastic surgeon? Make an appointment to get this procedure done. Don't have a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find a dermatologist or the American Society of Plastic Surgeons to find a plastic surgeon.
Used Ablative Fractional Lasers? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
September 13, 2011
Cons:
-Can still see lines of demarcation
-Still patches of red skin
-Few Red Lines that weren't there before
-Left cheek still tingles
Fractional Erbium Laser:
I'm not going to write a review bashing or blaming lasers like a lot of people on here have done. It's my own fault for not taking care of my acne before it caused damage to my skin. However, I will say that I haven't seen too much improvement. I underwent a free trial on a new prototype laser and was very optimistic since my doctor seemed very high on it. I'm suppose to have another free treatment shortly but I'm going to pass. I heard that Co2 lasers are the only ones that will give improvement to scars but this was suppose to penetrate as deep while being safer. I took about a million before and after pictures and I'm not quite sure if the laser caused any new damage, I am positive though that it didn't help and I do regret receiving treatment. I definitely have blotches of red patches that were not there before. So I don't think I would fare too well with a Co2 laser like Fraxel Repair. I just would advise anyone to do research and be 100% sure this or any procedure is what they truly want. I scoured the internet non stop for about two weeks but did feel rushed into it since it was free. I still do trust my doctor and the practice since they are very kind and only want to help. I just haven't seen the benefits. Who knows, I was told collagen production takes awhile and it would take 3 months to see it's full effect. Just hoping that one day they will perfect stem cells or some treatment so we can all fix our damaged skin. Good luck to anyone who undergoes any treatment and sorry about the lengthy review.
September 11, 2011
Pros:
none
Cons:
fat loss
orange peel skin
widened pores
more scars
random indentations in skin
permanent redness
sensitivity to the light
severe dryness
hyperpigmentation
inflammation
aging of the skin (wrinkles, lines)
I, too, became a sucker. I had read the negative reviews and was worried about this procedure but I trusted the dermatologist when she said "how can you believe people on the internet more than me, a board certified doctor?" Well, what I should've realized was that, wherever there is money involved, you have to be suspicious. The people writing the bad reviews online are brave enough to share their stories and caring enough to want to warn others of the risks that doctors will not tell you. After this, I can never trust any doctor again because the truth is, their clinics and practices have become money-making machines and they don't really care about their patients anymore. Anyways, I had one treatment of CO2 fractional laser over 21 months ago and the damage is still surfacing more and more. My skin looked ok for the first 2-3 months but that's when the redness and hyperpigmentation showed up and never went away. Then the fat loss (this may not seem like a big deal but it is, trust me, I took the fat in my face for granted. Losing it has altered the structure of my face so that I don't even recognize the person I see in the mirror anymore). It is severely depressing to lose your face. I know this sounds outrageous, but others out there who had this procedure can attest to what I'm talking about. The skin texture has become dry, leathery and has so many shallow pits in it, it resembles the skin of an orange. To get a good idea of what your skin will look like, long term, go find an orange and consider whether you'd like that as your skin. Also, my skin's become so sensitive, I can't go outside without a hat, staying in the shade and SPF 70 sunscreen. Also, being only 25, but with the laser induced wrinkles and lines, I look like I'm at least 40. My 60 year old mother and father have better skin than I do. The bottom line is, don't put any kind of lasers to your face. No matter the condition of
June 12, 2011
Pros:
none!
and don't get false hope by reading reviews of people that aren't a full year out from this procedure
Cons:
Expensive at $900 a treatment x 4
Doesn't work
fat atrophy
loss of skin elasticity
permantent redness
enlarged pores
I very much agree with Anonymous from La Jolla CA. Don't reveiw this procedure untill you're at least 6 months out, but more like a year or futher. These lasers plump your scarrs for about a month after each session and honestly your face does looks great, but sadly you've only been tricked into thinking its working, so you do more like the doctors say. However, once you stop the treatments, after about a month or 2 the swelling goes down your face looks exactly the same as before the treatments, or maybe worse if you end up with permanent redness in areas like I did. Then, a few months later you're in for the real treat. After about 6 months was when the real side effects kicked in. I started noticing enlarged pores, I had permanent redness at the base of my nose and smile lines, loss of skin elasticity, and fat atrophy. The tissue on my face continued deteriorate for at least a year. It aged my skin so much by the time I was only 24 (I was 22 when they were done). I wish I had never had these done. They did nothing for my scars and aged my skin drastically
June 12, 2011
Pros:
Co2 maybe shallowed some of my deeper scars, but sooo many more cons than pros, including more scars.
Fraxel none
Cons:
I have had both fraxel restore (4 at $900 each) and traditional co2 resurfacing ($3,200)and both only made me hate my face more.
Fraxel
didn't work at all
enlarged pores
made scars widen
caused fat atrophy
caused permanent redness around nose and smile lines
Co2
long and gross down time
hyper and hypo pigmentation
caused lots of little 'nick' scars and ridges in skin
further fat atrophy
further enlarged pores
caused burn like appearance and tex
I really hate lasers. They ruin your skin in so many ways, are too expensive, and don't work, but doctors love to push them on people because they make so much money. The only type of person I would ever even think to suggest this procedure to was someone with really, really bad scarring all over their face. Like moon crater bad where all the side effects might be worth the reduction of scars. And then I would only suggest the stronger lasers (yag, traditional Co2) with a very experienced doc that can show you pics of THEIR work. But again I would only maybe suggest this procedure in the worst of worst acne scarring. I would never suggest fraxel to anyone though. It doesn't work, cost tons, and as much as they say there is no risk there are side effects. I had quite a lot of moderate and mild scarring scattered all over my face and a couple of deep scars. So, from what the doctors said these seemed like the best options because there were so many scars to treat and few of them could have been treated with subsition/punch graph or similar methods. I was so wrong to listen to them. I wasted so much money and they ruined my face. I have lost so much fat in my face now and the texture is so uneven I won't even wear makeup because it looks horrible on my skin and makeup was the only thing that use to give me confidence by hiding my scars. Because of the fat lose I am already thinking of a face lift and I'm only 27. Not that my skin is really saggy, but it is lose and by no means taught, causing scars to be more noticeable, lines and the appearance of my face to be different. Please don't use lasers!! On a positive note, I started using derma rollers and now stamps. The stamps really, really work!! You just have to be a little patient. I do it once a month. Stamp (1.8mm) all areas 15-20 times and start seeing results in a week. My scars have improved so much in the last few months. I just wish I had discovered this before my face was wrecked b
May 3, 2011
Pros:
none
Cons:
Months of redness
My skin has become VERY SENSITIVE
Acne is back
This is my experience with fractional co2 laser (power 30W), I had the treatment in October (4 days with crusting 3 of peeling then redness), now it's May, and my skin is not completely healed... it's still a pink but the worst thing is that my skin has become VERY VERY sensitive, I can't use BP anymore cause my face literally burn (and my acne is coming back!! In the past I could put almost everything on it without any problem and now it's the opposite, I wouldn't do it again... maybe my scars (boxcar) are a little bit improved (5-10%??) but the price to pay is too high, 3-4 months of redness (maybe my treatment was to harsh but the doc told me 5-7 days of redness NOT months!!!!) I DO NOT recommend this laser at ALL!!
April 26, 2011
Pros:
All illusions in the beginning. Swelling masked the damage I would notice months/years later.
Board certified "expert" who developed, researched on this laser, in a practice that self proclaimed to be "the best".
Cons:
Permanent streaks, scars, hypo and hyperpigmentation, loss of fat/facial volume, changes in the contours of your face, thinned skin (which is most disturbing because there is nothing you can do about that last one and its the most aging effect of them all).
Going to the "best" meant nothing for me and other patients of the same practice/doctors. These are permanent consequences. This is more risky than effective. I have more damage than when I went in and I would trade those mild acne scars in a second to prevent the devastation this laser caused. It was the only face/skin "procedure" I'd ever done or will do again. Once (on moderate settings) was enough to destroy my skin's elasticity, integrity, volume, color, texture, health and luminosity, etc. Be careful of reviews that rave about this when they are only a few weeks/months out. When they are 1-2 years post-procedure, then their reviews have more validity. Try deep fillers to spread out and stretch your skin if you have acne scars before trying lasers. This is what they'll recommend when the laser does not work anyway. And fillers done correctly ARE effective at reducing the look of acne scars. They'll create volume under the skin and smooth out the surface similar to if you were to pull your skin in opposite directions to stretch the skin. Lasers can and frequently do have permanent consequences. Temporary benefits are not worth the risks.
April 14, 2010
Pros:
None
Cons:
Left me with:
Rolling Scars
Scarred Pores
Orange Peel Textured Skin
Paid A Lot of money for worse skin
It's been about 5 years since I went to a Laser Center to receive treatment for Hyperpigmentation and large pores. Being impatient and naive, I stupidly went to get laser treatment for red marks that would go away if I just waited and did cheaper less invasive treatments. Instead, the consultant probably seen a sucker in me, and said laser treatments would work wonders for my seemingly mild problem. They performed CO2 treatments, along with a few other lasers over a course of 6 appointments. I tried to hold out hope that my skin would look much better after all the money I dropped, but it looked much worse. I was left with rolling scars on my cheeks ( I am guessing the idiot left the laser on it too long,) along with scarred pores, and an uneven texture to my skin. Basically I went from having red marks left from acne, to red marks and scars!! To make matters worse, it took me 5 years to pay off the treatments, because I was just a broke college student. Not to generalize, but I think Laser specialists are out for one thing, MONEY, and it doesn't matter how mild or severe your skin is, they will just pry on your vulnerability. Think twice before spending so much on a treatment promising to give you your dream skin. I wouldn't recommend laser treatment to anybody. If you live in L.A., don't ever go to that laser center in Covina...there is only one!
September 4, 2009
Pros:
none
Cons:
> 6 months of social downtime.
Fraxel repair on full face in mid Jan for scars on cheeks. Still have demarcation lines, hyperpigmentation, sensitive skin, & stubborn whiteheads. Only see about 20% improvement on scars. Still spending more money to correct hyperpigmentation with bleaching creams, tretinoin, peels at salons, etc.
June 10, 2009
Pros:
--
Cons:
painful time consuming costly
never improved, felt ugly before and after
February 17, 2009
Pros:
nothing!! PEARL CUTERA
Cons:
I'm on day #5 and my skin is rough and red STILL! I broke out all over my cheeks ( i never broke out there). My skin is the worst it has ever been.
I'm only 23 and I think I have ruined my skin :(. If anybody went through the same thing, and can give me some advice that would be great.
Pros:
Looks like it might of helped for one larger boxscar