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 8, 2009
Cons:
Pain of treatment, down time, cleansing routine, cost, hyperpigmentation, still have scars!
I love my doctor, but the Fraxel Repair was not for me. It was the first one in the Midwest, and I thought what the heck; I've tried everything else. I got greedy and had my eyes and neck done too. Big mistake. My eyes look worse with wrinkels, and scars under my eyes and I still have a demarcation line on my nexk after a year an a half. This was a one time shot, and the pain was enourmous. I have severe acne scars, and most are still there and now I'm dealing with hyperpigmentation too. The down time was close to two weeks washing with water and vinegar every 2 hours. The swelling lasted a couple of months. If your thinking about the Fraxel laser I would start with one of the other 2 lasers as the Repair did more damage to me than help.
August 28, 2009
Pros:
a bit resurfaced the skin, scarring is not as deep as before. pain is tolerable, as if you are just dumped in a pail full of friendly ants.
Cons:
very expensive, seeing your face swollen like that makes you anxious that it wouldn't come back to normal but after 4 days, it did came back to its original shape.
My Dr. said my scars are too deep, I could clearly see the twilight of the laser even my eyes were shut. I was thinking of an injured face after the treatment because I cannot believe a hightech laser is brushing my sensitive skin. My Dr. is talking to me while doing the treatment but I kept my mouth shut, couldn't afford to mumble a word, worried that the laser might accidentally slipped on my lips or my eyes so I just hmmm'd at what she's talking about. After the numerous passing, the Dr flashed a mirror right onto my face and commented "umangat sya oh"... and to my relief, it really did. Today is my 5th day after my 1st treatment and I haven't went outside to get a sunlight but still I am satisfied. It was a surprise to me reading here that the collagen will continue to rebuild 6 months after the treatment. My Dr didn't told me about that. Can anybody explain it briefly to me? Please send your ideas about that through my e-mail, lagreta168@[link removed] THANK YOU VERY MUCH
August 8, 2009
Pros:
Massive improvement in scarring, pigment, and breakouts. Self esteem is no longer non-existent.
Cons:
Very uncomfortable, Down time, Improvement does take time.
Fraxel was recommened to me by a friends dad, who works as a laser technician. Because he gives me a huge discount (1 and a half treatments for $500) and is someone I trust, I decided to try it out. I'll be honest, at first I felt robbed of $500. I kept thinking that I would see improvements within the first couple of months and I was let down; furthermore, I had noticed a lingering burn from the laser that resembled a BAD foundation line along my jawline; I decided that I wouldn't go forward with more treatments. Over the course of 6-8 months my skin MASSIVELY improved. The discoloration vanished with time, my icepick scars softened, and my breakouts substantially decreased. It's been a year and a half since my treatment, and I have reached a plateau of improvement, I will be going back for another treatment. Do not go every 2 months, do not go every 5 months. Wait it out for as long as you possibly can, because this method will be saving me about $1,500.
June 29, 2009
Pros:
Removed melasma (85% after the first treatment), smaller pores, plumped skin, more even skin tone, easily look 5 years younger.
Cons:
The pain while managable, is still very real! The downtime was way more than expected...easily 4 days. Very swollen for 2 days after I looked like balloon girl, followed by another 2 days of peeling, followed by another 2 or 3 days of acne.
Bottom line for ME is that it simply worked. I've been reading a lot of these reviews and felt I had to write one myself because the expression, "if somenone has a good experience they'll tell 2 people and if they have a bad one they'll tell 12" is probably true here. I was reluctant since it's not cheap and my busy schedule doesn't allow for a lot of downtime, but I am SO glad I did it. I also am a big fan of botox and fillers so have high expectation in terms of fast results and fraxel didn't dissapoint. My melasma (from 2 pregnancies) is almost completely gone, and I swear it has actually helped my moderate adult acne. My skin looks amazing. There is no doubt it has produced collegen since my face is more plump (now 4 weeks post treatment). I think I'll wait about 6 months and do another, the treatments are cumlative so they don't need to be done every month.
October 7, 2008
Pros:
Saw immediate reduction of pores on 2nd treatment, 1st got rid of brown sun spots on face and chin. Skin has less congestion. Large brown spot on face has not come back.
Cons:
Hurts, but the results are worth it. 1st treatment, I was swollen for 3 days. Less the next treatments. Must use sunscreen on a daily basis in a sunny climate and I have olive skin that never used to burn.
Make sure a Board Certified M.D. performs the procedure, not a medi-spa. M.D.s have a lot of follow-up. I have gone to this M.D. many times in the last 20 years. Products given to me to use were great in moisturizing and helping skin heal.
August 12, 2008
Pros:
after 1 treatment i have improved melasma, smaller pores, overall improved skin tone. a good dr is a must. stay in close touch with any problems.
Cons:
subjective. it wasn't that painful, i've had worse. i had 1 day down and went to work, peeling, swelling and all. i didn't die. acne can be treated if needed.
after 20 years of suffering from melasma and acne scars, i have been thru the gambet of treatments. peels, dermabrasions, ipl, creams, pastes, arrogant drs by the score. one even told me to learn how to wear makeup.
you have to have "realisitic" expectations. you can't expect perfection, there is no such thing. as to down time, i had alot of swelling and redness, peeling. very little break out. i work out in the public, my face gets looked at and reacted to all the time. i'm use to being started at:( though i hate it, there it is. there was no hiding the swelling and peeling, laugh, get over it, i'm doing this for me, screw the public and their opinions. when they ask about my sun burn, i tell them the truth. BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE. that is how i deal with my scarred face. that has also scarred my soul for so many years. there is no perfection, only improvment. 2 treatments to go, after which any acne scarring left, will be filled. dr recommended obagi along with fraxel.very effecti
August 8, 2008
Pros:
Skin looks and feels great after 1 treatment.
Cons:
Not cheap. Minor break out.
Had my first treatment 7 days ago and cannot believe the improvement. Skin is smooth, pores minimised and definitely improvement on shallow boxcar scars. Expected much more down time, was red for 2 days with peeling for about 2 days and broke out a little but cleared up super fast and completely worth it for the immediate results. Did not find the experience painful at all (used numbing cream for 1.5 hours before). My suggestion is find a reputable dermatologist and you can't go wrong.
June 23, 2008
Pros:
I think mircolaser peel helped me a lot because I noticed my ance scars r less a lot after first treatment and healing my skin in four weeks. I just had second treatment last two days ago. I will have to wait to notice it in four weeks. I might won't
Cons:
I know it's experive and I hate swelling, itchy and sore for a few days but its worth it!
I pay the payment about $500 three times for three treatments
June 11, 2008
Pros:
almost 98% of my scars were gone, it was like i was given a new face. absolutely loved it
Cons:
Hurt, a lot. Took about a solid week to completely recover. MY face is still a little redder than the rest of my body now. Also, after a few weeks I was breaking out again.
If I could do it every month, I would. I've done 5 treatments. each one was 750. and i got the 5th for free. still makes it far too expensive to keep doing.
June 2, 2008
Pros:
My scars were mostly on the cheeks and temples, mostly rolling with a few ice pick. I can see a big difference. My settings were high and I did take pain medicines. I was told the final result will not be seen for 6 months. Very encouraged.
Cons:
I had redness and swelling for 2 days, puffy eyes for 3-4 days. I had a lot of heat in my face for about 1 hour after the treatment. Flaking was bad the 3rd day but then skin was great. Lots of moisturizer used.
My MD has a lady RN that does packages( 3 treatments for 3300) and does a lot of the acne scar patients. She seems to be very knowledgeable about the treatments and also how it works to do what it is suppose to do. I have 2 more scheduled and look forward to them. I recommend it to all my friends, even those that dont have scars, as the literature says it helps with texture,fine lines and pigmentation.
Pros:
The emotional anticipation of a beautiful face