Acne Relief

Posts Tagged ‘laser’

This post is on Fraxel laser side effects as the post about Fraxel laser reviews mentioned people saying that their side effects were not what they expected.  I had already discussed my concern of what the marketing hype says and what real Fraxel patients say.

My dermatologist told me to expect some pimple breakouts after getting Fraxel treatments and this matches what I have read on the subject as well.  I know she’s being honest with me and she has had previous experience with this common side effect at least.  In fact, she’s a cosmetic dermatologist who has fifteen years of experience in lasers so hopefully she can do a good job using Fraxel to get rid of my acne scars.    However, there are other areas of concern for me with this doctor.

I have an olive skin complexion so I had read that non white people might have skin discoloration issues?  Hypopigmentation and hyper pigmentation after Fraxel done.  I had heard to stay out of the sun but what if you follow all the procedures of wearing sunblock/sunscreen and wide brim hats and still get discolored?  I really don’t know why one would get discolored with Fraxel but I don’t doubt what people say.  If they reported it after the laser treatment I want to know if it is a possibility.  I asked my dermatologist and she says as well that people don’t get discolored because the Fraxel laser does not target melanin (which I read on the web as well).   But like I said before, after reading the message boards of some acne sites, a doctor commented that some people do get discolored.  Now is it because they were in the sun, or because the laser did that to them?

I really hate this conflicting information.  I’d rather have the truth being told to me so then I can evaluate the risks.  If my dermatologist says this is not the case, then I have to question this.  If this is something she doesn’t know about, then am I comfortable with her doing my acne scar treatment or will she introduce even more problems?  Or, is this whole thing blown out of proportion with people not following up correctly on their Fraxel after care program?    Still, like I said, my doctor  has fifteen years in the cosmetic laser industry.

Other conflicting reports that I have read about Fraxel side effects are the down time regarding having this procedure done.  People say that Fraxel takes like a week or two weeks to heal while the brochures conveniently say you can go back to work within the afternoon and it’s practically something you can do at lunch time.  What I think is going on here is that it depends on the intensity that the Fraxel laser is set on.

There are three types of Fraxel laser treatments:

Fraxel re:fine, Fraxel re: store, and Fraxel re: pair.  The intensity of the laser is different on each and the FDA has approved different types of skin treatments for each laser.  For instance, Fraxel re: fine is for pigmented lesions, periorbital fine lines, melasma, skin resurfacing, soft tissue coagulation.  Fraxel re: store is for photodamage, mild to moderate periorbital wrinkles, acne scars, surgical scars, melasma, actinic Keratosis.  Fraxel re: pair is for rhytides, pigmented lesions, moderate to severe wrinkles and furrows in lax skin, fine lines, textural irregularities, vascular dyschromia.

Now, I have no idea what all these medical terminology means because I just copied the stuff but clearly for acne laser scar treatment Fraxel re: store is what you are probably going to undergo.  At least, that is the type of  laser treatment you should have.  If you have the Fraxel re: fine, that is not FDA approved for acne scar treatment because it’s too light an intensity (I think) and Fraxel re: pair might be too strong.  However, the last I read, clinical trials are underway for acne scar removal with Fraxel re: pair.  Some patients have reported good results for deep acne pitting.

So my concern with the Fraxel laser marketing brochures reporting short down times might be because they were giving the best case scenario for Fraxel re: fine and not Fraxel re: store.  And for those who are out of commission for several days to reheal after Fraxel might have gotten Fraxel re:pair.

The thing is, you must ask your dermatologist what type of Fraxel laser you are getting and truthfully what type of side effects you are going to undergo and how long it will take you to heal.  There might be discrepancies in what you read and what they tell you for better or for worse.  It is too late to find out later what to expect after you have the Fraxel laser done without knowing the consequences.

Ever since I’ve been contemplating about acne laser skin treatment, I’ve been noticing more about other people’s skin.  I’ve always looked at other people’s faces with envy without any acne scarring but now I’m beginning to think I can be scar free too with Fraxel laser treatment.  I’m holding out for the hope at least.  All the Fraxel laser literature says great things about it.  However, this is my face we’re talking about here so I must do my research.

The way Fraxel laser is supposed to work is by sending thousands of microscopic beams of light in specific areas of treatment to destroy damaged skin cells while promoting the growth of new ones.  And because the Fraxel laser only targets 5 to 50 percent of the skin’s surface, it leaves the rest of the skin free to help with the healing.  I am not well versed in cosmetic dermatology so it all sounds good to me.  Also, they claim that Fraxel’s recovery time is much shorter than other acne laser scar removal procedures precisely because of this localized healing and the precise nature of the laser.

Okay, so maybe that’s all marketing hype but the Fraxel treatment has been FDA cleared to treat acne scars and skin resurfacing.  One can only hope that they are not in the pockets of the cosmetic companies and they have our best interests at heart.

In any case, maybe I’m cynical but I really, really want to believe in Fraxel for my acne scarring and so I’ve been doing lots of research.  Reading Fraxel reviews, only slightly more than 50% said they would recommend it.  Why so low if the cosmetic industry says it’s the greatest acne scar removal treatment there is?  Are the only reviewers on these forums just negative people?  We all know that people are more likely to give negative comments than give positive comments.  That’s just the way life is.   People just don’t give compliments or say thank you in their daily lives so you can’t expect them to log into a forum.  At least that’s the way I’m justifying it.

However, other things that concern me are the down times advertised.  The Fraxel laser treatment brochures I’ve been given say that the downtime is short (actually, they don’t say specific numbers at all).  The Fraxel side effects I’d expect are redness and swelling much like a sunburn.  And then I can expect some itching and flaking and then a bronzed skin appearance.  Okay, that doesn’t sound bad at all and frankly, I’ve had worse from acne medication that caused the flakiness and drying.  I can live with this.  However, from the reviews I’ve read, the side effects are much more severe and longer lasting.  We’re talking about a week of down time here.  For some people, they might be able to get away with make up but I would probably want to take a week off.  First of all, I don’t want my coworkers to know that I’m getting a cosmetic procedure done and next, I would want to stay away from the sun for as long as possible so I don’t get burned.  I think the treatment makes you more light sensitive.  Finally, I don’t want to wear make up as that might aggravate the acne into coming back.  I’ve already read from people that after Fraxel treatments, it made their acne come back so you better be prepared for that as well and have some medication either oral or topical to combat it.

Maybe the people who are reviewing the Fraxel laser treatment haven’t had the full course yet.  You’re supposed to get a series of four treatments spaced 1 to 3 months apart.  Perhaps they stopped at only one when they didn’t see any results or the results weren’t to their expectations.   Apparently with the Fraxel laser, you see immediate results and then the progressive results that happen later on.  With the immediate results, your face gets fuller I guess because of the swelling so it elevates the pitted acne scars.  But then later on, when the collagen starts to produce you see the more permanent results.  Again, this is what has been advertised by the cosmetics industry.  Is it just because they want you to come back for return visits so it pays them more?  I don’t know.  I think the best scenario is to have realistic expectations before having the laser treatment.  That is what I’m going to ask my dermatologist.  How much can I expect my acne scars to improve after Fraxel?   If it doesn’t work then either she is a bad doctor or she lied.  In either case, I’m not going to go for a second, third and fourth treatment after that.  It would be a waste of money and I’m putting my face in danger by a doctor I cannot trust.

There are many Fraxel acne resources so I suggest that you read up when having this procedure done.  I know I am.