Acne.org Products
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:
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September 2, 2014
Fraxel co2 treatment
I am 29th and have been suffering from acne since i was 10. My face is left with ice-picked scarring and uneven skin tone. I have just had my third fraxel co2 done yesterday. I had my second fraxel done six months ago. The skin consultant decided that he could go try a more aggressive approach as my skin seems to be tolerating the laser well, e.g. no pigmentation problem issue as yet. My face looks really red and swollen at the moment and my face goes redder as the hours passes by. I am using Vaseline at the moment to keep the skin hydrated and provide an ideal environment for the skin to repair/renew. It is important that i clean my face with ph5.5 product or cetaphil as i have oily skin and by the end of the day, i could see blister/new pimples forming. If it is not cleanse throughly, the pores would be blocked and instead of new skin forming, i would get breakout on the treated part of the face. I was given aciclovir and flucloxacillin for my past 2 visit; not sure why i wasn't given this time and i had just realised the fact so can't query with the consultant. I will update you with my post treatment for the next few weeks. I would like to post the picture after the treatment so that you could have a look and know what to expect but unfortunately i don't think we are allowed to post picture on this site. I'll try my best to update my skin condition with everyone and hopefully you find my sharing useful.
September 4, 2013
Don't use this treatment, if you don't want ur skin look worst.
Cons:
Expensive
Painful
Severe acne/sensitivity
I'm 31 years old. I had two treatment of fraxel n one more to go. But after my two treatment my skin get so sensitive and irritation that give me pimples and blackheads around my cheeks area. I noticed that my skin get so red n inflamed from all types of products that contain alcohol or acid in it. Right now, I'm so embarrassed to go out without any make-up on. I also take picture before and after from my camera. When I had a look at my before pic for fraxel treatment my skin didn't had any pimples or blackheads. After two treatment my skin getting worst and the acne scar doesn't look any better after 6 month post treatment. Honestly, don't waste ur time and money, bcus it is a lot of pain if you're not high pain intolerance.
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
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".
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 :)
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.
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.
October 31, 2011
Pros:
none that i can see
none that people close to me can see
Cons:
i got a horizontal scar on my face! it's not transient pigmentation either it's an actual gash
some of the small scars that were there are worse than before.
I had it done and I can't see any improvement. Those close to me can't see any improvement. Well, that is all fine, but in fact we can all see it has made things WORSE! There is a new gash on my face, which is not pigmentation, it is a horizontal scar. And some small scars are now larger. What can I do??? This is so stupid and regrettable. I don't care about the money I jsut want results. But how can they screw up so bad. Don't want to bring out the lawyers just want things back the way they were. I wanted just a little improvement to begin with but now it's a case of trying to figure out how to minimise the damage. More fraxel needed...?? OMG what are my options.
August 15, 2011
Pros:
More even, smoother skin
Cons:
Down time is about one week, stayed slight pink until my next fraxel treatment.
I have just received my 3rd fraxel and have 1 more to go. I am happy so far but I am concerned reading some the bad reviews. Some had problems after 1 or 2 years following fraxel stating that the damage will start to show looking worse than before. Can those who had fraxel after several years and are happy with the results, please share their experience? That wouuld be encouraging to know in the long run things can be ok. Did your skin look worse than before fraxel?
May 16, 2009
Pros:
You can go back to work, But....people will notice the swelling in the area you have done...
Cons:
I stay swollen for about a week. The procedure it self is painful even with pain meds and numbing cream .
I just had my 4th treatment, and so far myself as well as others have seen improvement! I feel so much better about myself, I now just wear a little bit of makeup...as now I really feel that I don't need it to much anymore..
I am 41 and have/had severe acne scars...I would recommend this to those who suffer from acne scars!
It is spendy...but to me well worth it!
Pros:
Minimal result