Ablative Fractional Lasers

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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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Daniel36

October 14, 2008

Pros:

little down time

Cons:

painful, expensive, minimal results

I haven't seen hardly any results. I have acne scars on my cheeks and I've had the full-ablative co2 before. I concider myself very realistic but I'm really disappointed in fraxel. I was told the outcome after 4 treatments would equate to the co2 results(which I already had once so I knew what to expect) and the cost was pretty much the same( around 4K). Honestly I can't see any improvement and I actually think my scars look worse. I can now see scars where I didn' t before, and my poor size hasn't changed. My forehead wrinkles are still there with no change either. I've had all four treatments and I see no change. I wish I would have spent my money on another co2. At least I wouldn't have felt any pain( fraxel is EXTREMELY painful) and I would have the results I want. It would have been worth the longer downtime.

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Lynn Jackson

September 11, 2008

Pros:

The swelling was only 2 or 3 days.

Cons:

It hurts very bad, I now have spots that were not there before, no changes in scars except they look worse

The doctor (reputable) did not say there were any cons and the nurse said individuals need 4 treatments and should see results the 3rd or 4th treatment. When I finsihed the 3rd I saw nothing and she said probably not till 6 weeks after the 4th. Still nothing. I went for the final visit after finishing the laser and the doctor said he saw some improvement on the computer image and that I would most likely need 4 more treatments. I felt my money was stolen the first time and they wanted more to weigh down their pocketbooks. I am single, work very hard for my money and this was a waste!!!!

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tang12345678

August 26, 2008

Pros:

none

Cons:

Fraxel has left me with scars, hypo pigmentation and very rough skin. BE CAREFUL. If you would like to see the pictures email me at christine.hoene@[link removed]. It has been four months.

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curry

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

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Glowing

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.

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erica

July 25, 2008

Pros:

none

Cons:

extremely painful even with numbing cream, red face for 2 weeks, caused acne breakout, blistered, it has been a year and it never changed a thing

Expensive....4 treatments (by a dermatologist) times $400 = $1,600, painful and didn't work a bit.

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krystal

July 17, 2008

Pros:

looks good one week after only, then when you heal, you look much worse

Cons:

several days downtime, damaged skin, new pores where they never used to be, indented flesh, valleys in your face

I wish i had never had Fraxel! i paid $900. the doctor said that it would remove dark spots on my cheeks and it would make the pores on my cheeks look just like the pristine skin on the sides of my face. i thought what he means was that the pores on my cheeks would go away and look like pristine skin, but just the opposite happened!! the dark spots are still there, but it looks like a section of flesh has been removed over the dark spots and healed indented like that. i think she overdid it. Now where the dark spots were is now an obvious indentation of flesh. and worse yet, my pores are still there, but my prevoiusly beautiful, clear, pristine skin i used to have on the rest of my face looks like there are small pores all over the place! it is like my face is now riddled with tiny little holes all over! This has been four months since my treatment, and I am so depressed over what i allowed this doctor to do to me. I just ask people to please not rush into this.

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Krystal

July 14, 2008

Pros:

my skin looked good 7 days after treatment till about 30 days after treatment.

Cons:

5 days of downtime. My face was swollen like a balloon and looked severely burned. red face turned brown color the next few days. A month after treatment, scars were visible again. Worse, my natural smooth skin now has tiny pits all over.

I had some pores on my cheeks with a few acne scars and scar from mole removal. The rest of my face was beautiful and porcelein smooth. The Dr. told me the cheek pores would look smooth after Fraxel, and the acne scars would go away. After Fraxel, the scars are still visible, the pores are unchanged, but my previously smooth skin is damaged! i look like i have little pock marks all over where my beautiful pristine skin used to be. I am damaged and depressed over this!

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blank

July 11, 2008

Pros:

Looks better for a little while.

Cons:

Downtime of about a week and redness persisting for a while longer, but I had about 3 layers done at once. Looks like a bad sunburn and you can't really go outside or even leave the house until it heals Oh, and it hurt like hell to get done!!!

I got this done for some scarring and pigmentation issues left from acne. I have very fair skin, so if any mark is left it's SO noticeable. People were saying my skin looked much better once the redness started to fade from the resurfacing, but unfortunately, the results were not long lasting. I don't know if it was from the stress on my skin or just from the layers coming off so quickly, but it left me with a break out, and skin eventually went back to looking pretty much the same as before. Luckily, I am on Obagi nu-derm which, after using for a few months, greatly reduces the risk of hyperpigmentation and fades marks 10x faster when they do pop up. I would say the laser(I used a Er:YAG laser by the way) is probably good for minimal scarring and hyperpigmentation, but not anything too severe unless you get many treatments done, then it may work well. Good luck.

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Janelle

July 10, 2008

Pros:

None!!!

Cons:

cystic acne all over face even the places where i never broke out before.

My face ended up with more scars than I went in with because of all the cystic acne I got from the treatment.It took years for my face to scar up they way it was and it took the doctor only a couple of weeks to make it worse.I feel like my life is over.

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