Reginald Rice, MD

Active Fx is completely controllable--from just a couple of days of down time to as many as 10-12 days. It depends upon the type of skin damage that is to be treated. If a pt. comes in with significant sun damage and wrinkling, a higher energy level will be required to accomplish the improvement. However, if the sun damage is light the the pt. desires only "freshening" of the skin with improvement in pigmentation and fine lines, lighter settings will be chosen to meet the needs of the patient and the problem. I my hands, the typical pt. can put make up on after a week and a weekend--(7-10 days). But, I have had pts. with 5 or 6 days of down time and I have treated pts. with 2 weeks of down time. In general, fractionated therapies (or "bridge therapies") are much, much better at maintaining outcomes with shorter down times.