Can Fraxel Be Used on Dark or Hispanic Skin Types?

Any ablative or "hot" laser on Hispanic skin is a little dicey. The melanin content in your skin type is high, making you far more susceptible to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH). Fraxel will have the potential to cause PIH in darker skin. I tend to be very conservative when treating olive skin tones with heat technology and will pretreat with a pigment inhibitor like prescription strength hydroquinone prior to laser procedures. Melasma is an overfunction of the... more

When treating darker skin types with Fraxel it is very important to use Hydroquionone for 2-3 weeks prior and 7-10days after the procedure. The bleaching cream will suppress the melanin production and will prevent hyper pigmentation post laser. Darker skin should be treated with caution, less energy and intensity. More consecutive treatments are also necessary for darker skin with prolonged recovery time. As long as the procedure is done by an expert, with experience in treating darker skin... more

Unfortunately, the advice you received is correct. People with darker skin tones (darker Caucasians tones, Latinos, Asians and African Americans) are not good candidates for aggressive laser procedures that are necessary to treat deep acne scarring. Furthermore, less aggressive treatments, such as light chemical peels and microdermabrasion, are ineffective at treating acne scars. However, the newer fillers, such as Restylane and Juvederm, are effective at filling in and smoothing many... more

You are correct. Certain darker skin types are more difficult to treat and require enormous expertise on the part of the physician. It is impossible to determine if you are an appropriate candidate unless I see your skin. In general, however, the darker the skin, the higher the risks for post-treatment hyperpigmentation.

Fractionated laser has become quite popular in the United States because of the increased depth of treatment and the minimal downtime. The depth of fractionated laser can acheive greater results in comparison to typical laser resurfacing, while the fractionated beam diffuses the treatment area between treatments. In ethnic skin types, there is a propensity to develop hyperpigmentation of the skin. This can be managed post-procedure, or more appropriately, before the treatment itself. Our... more

Fraxel laser does not target the pigment and cn be used on any skin color. I have used Fraxel laser treatment on many different skin type with excellent and predictable result.