The Fraxel re:pair has fractional laser technology that made the CO2 laser much safer than completely ablative CO2 lasers. The company has seen none of the risks that the older CO2 had - hypopigmentation, scarring, and lines of demarcation. The CO2 laser has been long regarded as the gold standard for wrinkles and tightening, but with the previously mentioned risks happening in about 15 percent of patients, it fell out of favor.
Another benefit of the Fraxel re:pair is the depth of penetration, up to 1.6mm, much deeper than the prior CO2 lasers which went 0.3mm as well as the 2 competitive lasers - Mixto - 0.7mm, and the Deep Fx, which is 1mm. Deeper treatments mean better results.
The other Fraxel (re:store) is an erbium laser, and is considered non-ablative (does not remove tissue) whereas the re:pair causes ablation. Removing tissue will result in more wrinkle correction and tightening. The CO2 also causes some peripheral heat damage which also leads to more tightening. The erbium causes very little peripheral heating.
There is more downtime with the re:pair but it's only one treatment. All my patients are extremely pleased with the re:pair, and I can't say that about the re:store.
