Did you get acne breakout after Fraxel treatment?

I had a very aggressive fraxel laser treatment done on my face a week ago. 4 - 5 days after my treatment, I started breaking out... more & more each day. :( I did this to reduce my acne scarring & hyperpigmentation of my skin... it has turned into my worst nightmare. :( Prior to having this done... my skin was basically clear... aside from an occasional breakout. Above & under my mouth & my chin area are out of control with cystic acne... probably 25 at least, varing in size. I soooo wish I could turn back the hands of time & not had this procedure done. I called my dermatologist, & he was shocked... never had a patient respond so negatively to fraxel. $650 for a horrific breakout... sigh.

• View 2 replies
• reply

I too suffered a severe outbreak with cystic acne. My face had been clear for years and two weeks after the fraxel treatment, I had at least a dozen deep, very red cystic bumps. I had to go to my dermatologist and get a prescription for antibiotics. I had one fraxel treatment one month ago, and my face is just now clearing up. I will not do this again. I did not use aquaphor or any type of moisturizer that I had not previously used. I do have oily skin and knew better than to put any type of occlusive lotion on my face. There was no other reason for the breakout other than the laser treatment.

• reply

I had my first fraxel treatment two days ago for acne scars (3 more to go) and I can already tell that Im going to have several break outs soon. My doctor warned me of this before I agreed to the procedure and told me it was because the laser will force all of the bacteria that is/was currently growing under my skin, to rise to the top. He said that I need to just bare with it and in the end, it will all be better and I may even be able to stop taking the oral antibiotics that Ive been taking for 10+ years now. I do not regret my procedure at all...getting rid of these scars is worth suffering through a few days/weeks of acne.

• reply

I have seen some significant acne breakouts following CO2 Fraxel Re:pair especially in oily skin or previous significant acne prone patients. This seems to be related to using heavy emollients post treatment. If it feels greasy or heavy going on the skin you probably need to avoid it if you show evidence of breaking out. Some of the lighter skin repair treatments by Obaji, Aveene, Glytone, and SkinCeuticals have stood up well with my post Re:pair patients. Acne breakouts need to be treated as you normally would and my patients have tolerated routine acne care well.

• reply

I had the first treatment in a series of 3 last week. Oh how it hurt! My dr told me to expect some break outs around my mouth and nose area and gave me a medical wash to use, which I have. But, the acne started showing the very first day... so many tiny bumps on my chin! They grew in size and number each day for the first 5 days. It's starting to clear now, but I have a way to go and there are some painful cystic ones to deal with. So, I am researching what can be done before, during, and after the treatment to prevent or greatly reduce breakouts. AND I am going to push back my next treatment, to a date when I can allow more recovery time.

• reply