Is One Week Enough Time to Recover from Active FX?

Depending on how aggessive the Active FX settings are and how many passes are done, treatment of the face usually heals by day 5-7. Once the skin heals, you can start wearing makeup. Your face, however, will be pink. It typically takes 1-2 months for this redness to fade. The fairer you are, the longer it takes. I think your family and friends will know you had something done - but it's worth it because you want the results to be natural and noticeable.

I tell my patients it will take them one to two weeks to heal after the ActiveFX procedure. It depends on several factors: 1. Settings of the laser. The more aggressive the treatment, the longer the recovery 2. Patient factors. Some patients heal really fast, and some will take much longer with similar settings. 3. Male vs. female patient. While it might take about the same amount of time, it is usually much easier for women to cover up residual redness and go on with their life. Men... more

I tell all my patients that they will need a full week of healing after getting a TotalFX treatment. I encourage all my patients to have it done on Thursday or Friday and take the entire next week off so that they will have a few extra days just in case there is some delayed healing. With that type of scheduling, I have not had any patients not be able to go back to work on time. I know a week is a long time to take off but I remind them that big results come at a price. I hope that... more

This depends on many things. First, it would depend on the settings of the laser. For example, if you are have a light treatment for tone and texture, you should be fine by one week with only a hint of redness which can then be concealed with makeup. If you are having a more agressive treatment (eg. Total FX), you could still be a bit swollen and have a few crusted areas. There is also a great deal of individual variation. You should visit with your physician. Hope this helped.... more

Active FX laser treatments typically run a similar course.  The first few days the patient is swollen, following by a 2-3 day period of brownish discoloration.  The last phase is at the 6-7 day period when the new skin starts to show through.  Make-up can be worn at this time.  Of course, deeper more aggressive treatments will take longer to recover from.

The recovery time for ActiveFX really depends on the settings used and the aggressive of the treatment.  It can range from a 2-3 days to 7-10 days.  There can also be post-procedure redness or pinkness that can last several weeks after treatment.  You should discuss this with your treating physician.  

The recovery time after Active FX is highly dependent on how aggressive the procedure will be. A typical Active FX treatment will heal in 5 days. After five days there will still be some redness to the face which can last for weeks, but can easily be concealed with makeup. More aggressive treatments (higher densities) will require a longer recovery time. If your procedure will be combined with Deep FX, the you will need between 7-10 days to recover. An experienced surgeon or... more

I ask my patients to set aside a good week to recover from Active Fx.  If I do the treatment on a tuesday I will see the patient the next day to make sure everything looks good.  At that point you are red and swollen.  After about 3 or 4 days the swelling is gone but the skin is red and often itchy.  At 7 days the redness is better but the skin is dry and irritable.  At this point I have my patients come in for a wonderful hydrating facial and counseling on the... more

The downtime associated with fractionated carbon dioxide lasers is dependent upon the settings, but in my hands generally you need 7-10 days off social activities to be able to go back.  It does depend on the makeup you use and how good you are with makeup.  You will be pink for months, but that is fairly easy to cover with good use of green-tinted cover-up applied before your foundation. The great thing about fractionated CO2 lasers, such as Active FX, is that the results... more

Active Fx and most other fractional CO2 lasers typically take 6-7 days for face, 8-10 days for neck and 10-14 days for the chest to heal. You will have residual redness that can be covered with make up and may take few weeks to fade completely.