Excellent answers from other doctors. I'll just add a couple of little clarifications that many of our patients ask for.
1. There are currently two types of Fraxel lasers, two totally different machines: Restore is Erbium-based, and Repair is CO2-based.
They offer different treatments. Restore is the one that needs several (usually 5) treatments, and Repair is more powerful, usually one treatment with more downtime.
2. Active FX and Deep FX are different heads (attachments)for one laser (Lumenis Ultrapulse Encore). It is a CO2 laser.
We, as most doctors, utilize both heads for almost every patient. Deep FX head is better for treating wrinkles, scars, acne scars and similar "deeper" lesions. Active FX head is better for dyschromias (pigment, sun damage) and similar superficial lesions. We also use it for removing pre-cancerous lesions and sometimes skin cancer.
