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What is the Difference Between Levulan and Fraxel Treatments?
asked 1 year ago by Rip in Utah
Latest answer by Ronald Shelton, MD
Question viewed 491 times
Tags: comparison, sebaceous hyperplasia
I have sebaceous hyperplasia. One MD recommended Levulan; another recommended Fraxel. What is the difference?
2 answers to What is the Difference Between Levulan and Fraxel Treatments?
+1
Sebaceous hyperplasia and treatment with Fraxel or PDT
Fraxel laser is either the restore / dual or the repair. The fraxel restore is a 1550nm. erbium-yag fractional laser, the dual adds a 1927nm. thurium laser that is more specific for pigment reduction, and the fraxel repair is a fractional carbon dioxide laser. These lasers (the thurium is not expected to help the sebaceous hyperplasia) are nonspecific for the sebaceous hyperplasia, but may help reduce the mass from their resurfacing. PDT, or photodynamic therapy, involves the...
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+1
Very different therapies
Levulan refers to a chemical (ALA= amino levulenic acid) that is used in PDT (photodynamic therapy). ALA is activated by certain wavelenghts of light and initiates a reaction in the skin to reduce bacteria and to diminish pre-cancers. It is used "off-label" for aging and other conditions. Fraxel refers to a laser in the infrared range which heats the skin and improves skin texture and color. I use Tazorac and a birtcher hyfrecator for sebaceous hyperplasia (SH), because no...
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