Was your fraxel painful?

I have tried a lot of things over the years, microdermabrasion, peels, oxygen facials so the more I read about Fraxel the more interested I became in a series. I have medium scarring. I felt the pain to be a 4 on a 1-10 scale. It just felt like prickling energy, nothing intolerable at all. The cold air was so cold, that seem to be too much cuz it felt so cold. After the treatment, I was a little swollen, nothing major. It took 4 days til the slight redness subsided and the sandpaper feel went away. My first treatment she used full energy on me. I guess my skin is very strong and or thick, I was told. This was easy and ok. I have gotten comments from others I look better. I used a zinc cream and it helped a lot. I think it depends on the level of thickness you have of skin. THis is with the new fraxwl 1500 machine, this is totally tolerable. cant wait for all the treatments, anything is better than having slight scarring from acne in your youth. non ablative and ablative results, love it go fraxel. I had a specialist dermatoligist doing the treatments. I dont recommend just a regular technician

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I had fraxel repair yesterday. I was given vicodan, percocet, numbing cream (1hr prior) and many dental blocks. I would guess about 17 in all. I had my neck done as well. Today, my eyes are nearly swollen shut and my face is very swollen. I look like a monster. I didn't think the procedure was very bad, but when I got up in the middle of the night and looked in the mirror. I got weak and nearly passed out. Very frightening. My face feels miserable. It's mainly due to the swelling I think. How do you know if you have an infection? Does anyone know?

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I had my second Fraxel treatment on Thursday to treat mild orange-peel scarring and sun damage. I'm fair with sensitive skin, so for my first treatment they began with the machine on a conservative setting. I was given 1/2 a Vicodin before the 20-minute procedure and the other half afterward. The pain was brief but tolerable, like getting snapped in the face with a rubber band; I'd give it a 2 or 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. My face felt hot for the rest of the afternoon. I had very little swelling, but did turn red. I slept sitting up and was only a little pink the next day. I never experienced flaking. In short, the first treatment was so painless I worried I'd get no benefit from it at all. Fortunately I noticed some slight tightening right away and started to see improvement in both clarity and smoothness just before going in for my second treatment at four weeks. For the second treatment I asked for a stronger setting. I had to drive myself home this time, so instead of Vicodin I got numbing cream. The pain was exactly the same--mild to moderate (my upper lip was a bit more sensitive) and brief, like repeated snaps from a rubber band. I turned red and had only slight swelling. Two days later, I'm pinkish-red and my skin has turned rough, so I'm hoping to get some flaking. I say "hoping" because I have the impression flaking leads to more dramatic improvement. I have two additional treatments after this and I'm looking forward to the gain without dreading the pain. I haven't had any of the problems others have experienced with terrible agony or swollen eyelids, so if you're considering Fraxel, don't assume those are universal responses.

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Ok, I need to talk to someone...I was totally unprepared for this and I admit, I should have done more research. I went to the dermatologist to have a very tiny amount of botox in my forehead. I am getting married in ~6 months and I wanted to even out my skin tone and fraxel was suggested. Side effects were a mild sunburned appearance. It was not that painful, but OH MY GOD! I am freaking out. I am swollen, red, and now I have all these little whiteheads around my nose, mouth and cheeks. I was not told about the swelling or to ice so I have just left everything alone. I have washed with cetaphyl and am moisturizing 2x/day. I had this done on 4/11 and have been so upset ever since. I am really worried that the whiteheads will scar. Is that usually the case?? There are a lot of whiteheads and although they are tiny I have never seen anything like this before. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

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The pain is horrible. It was similar to childbirth when my epidural failed. You need the dental blocks and maybe a twilight too. The 1 hour slather on your face is worthless. It doesn't help at all.

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I have had many laser procedures over the last 5 years or so. The worst was the IPL with NO pain meds. or numbing cream before-hand. After that - and running a close second was the Fraxel used WITH the numbing cream! I have broken veins in my cheeks from Rosacea and had this procedure to get rid of them. What misery! I am less than 24 hours out. The laser work itself hurt like the dickens. The "burn" afterwards had me running for ice packs like the other responder did - any time the cold wore off! And today I am really swollen on my cheeks and under my eyes. Not "puffy" I am talking "swollen!" I am too disfigured, bruised, and bright red to attempt going into public for at least a couple more days. The doctor said it could be a week before it all subsided! I am also very lumpy under the inflammation, did anyone else experience this side-effect? I was told to have the Genesis laser for the redness caused by my Rosacea and the Fraxel for the broken or exposed capillaries in my cheeks and nose. I will be happy to have more Genesis treatments but will think long and hard about my personal vanity before I go in for a loosing battle with the Fraxel again! I hated it and am going to be closely examining the results to see if it was really worth it. As of today I am thinking it definitely was NOT WORTH IT!

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I just had my fourth session. OMG, it was SO painful! I have had a number of diffferent procedures done and feel my pain tolerance is pretty high. The first fraxel was fairly well tolerated...but number two was REALLY painful! Number three was pretty bad too. I knew today was going to be a higher setting and felt a little anxious about it. The first pass is usually ok, but number two and three feels like a hot needle jabbing your face. I was TOTALLY swollen once it was done and that's when your face feels like its on fire! They gave me a cold metal roller which helps while you are being treated to help take your mind off the pain. I cant say I've seen a huge difference. Don't think I would go down this route again knowing what I know now. Maybe I will feel differently in a few moths? I hope so!!!

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Most people do not know there are great alternatives to FRAXEL. IPL for skin clarifying is great (if your treatment provider is well trained...like the 200 I have trained). It reduces unwanted brown spots and redness to make your skin look much better. Just doesn't do much for texture improvement. Second, RadioFrequency skin rejuvenation involves zero light and zero pain (if you stay away from Thermage and get a better and more elegant RF treatment), and can be great for the skin...if your operator is well-trained and experienced. Third, use something in Fraxel's category, but not FRAXEL. You see there are 3 kinds of Fractional lasers: Non-ablative, which hurt a lot and give the least results (so don't do those); CO2 ablative, which hurt a lot and require you to take things like vicodin so you cannot drive yourself to/from the treatment...and which are more aggressive than you likely need; and Erbium Ablative, which is most comfortable and requires zero drugs and zero topical anesthetic, but delivers excellent skin texture improvement. You will have a mild crust for 7 days, and pink for another 7, but it delivers results and I have never seen any infections...it is very safe. Erbium Fractional lasers like the ProFractional and the Pixel work really well but have a smaller marketing budget than the Fraxel brand. No Fractional type is great for redness and facial capillary removal, so you still need a good IPL Photofacial. I like to combine IPL top-notch photofacial technique with RadioFrequency Skin Rejuvenation...more than using my $90,000 Fractional lasers. It is a great 45-minute treatment -- if you can find one of the very few offices who provide non-Thermage RadioFrequency and non-Fraxel/non-Syneron IPL. I never see people squirm inpain, and always see nice results - for a lower price than Fraxel providers charge. Also, Fraxel and Thermage charge your doctor a lot for single-treatment disposable supplies, so the doctor cannot offer a decent treatment fee to you!

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Fraxel is painful...don't let anyone tell you otherwise....yes, they applied numbing cream to my face for an hour before the procedure, and yet the pain was still intense. I attempted to "remove" myself and go to my happy place...this was not possible. As much as I wanted to have this procedure (I saved up for months) I almost called it quits midway through. I would recommend asking for some type of pain/anxiety medicine before...I will I had......I would think the doctor would advise patients as well. Today is day 5 and I am still locked up at home...the swelling has gone down significantly and the flaking has subsided but now my face is dry and red...a new discomfort!! I would advise anyone having Fraxel to consider the pain, downtime, and discomfort..only yeah, it ain't cheap!!!

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