Is Fraxel re:pair different from fraxel laser?

Well after reading all the comments I am unsure of how much pain I am willing to endure, although the advice of numbing cream and pain blockers are certainly an option. I am in my early 50's and have minimal wrinkles (good genes), but starting to experience loose skin on the neck area and wondered if anyone has had Fraxel on the neck area and their results? Thanks for a great site!

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Hi Lee, Sounds like you are aging well, much better than the rest of us baby boomers. Fraxel re: pair is a fractionated carbon dioxide (CO2) that actually vaporizes skin. Although Fraxel repair is new, we have had experience with the existing CO2 lasers for the past 20 years, and know that they were the gold standard for tightening lax skin. The problems with those older CO2 lasers are that they can only be used safely on the face, cause hypopigmentation of the skin (whiter skin in the treated areas), and in many patients have prolonged erythema (redness) and in some permanent scarring. Physicians using the Fraxel re: pair who also had experience with the traditional older CO2 lasers are seeing even greater tightening with the re: pair laser because it can go 5-6 times deeper than previous CO2 lasers. You will definitely need numbing cream, an oral analgesic, Xanax, a nerve block, and in the neck a small amount of lidocaine. Early paitnet and physician response has been very promising. Good luck. Dr. P

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I wish Fraxel re:pair had been available 3 years ago when I had what is now called Fraxel re:store. I had 4 treatments and while my skin definitely improved, it did not help my age/sun spots very much. Now I am looking to improve the skin tone on the lower 1/3 of my face, as well as address wrinkles, and it sounds like Fraxel re:pair may help. Since it is a relatively new procedure and due to the pain and recovery factor, I may wait a while until it is more widely used and reviewed. I had a lot of pain for about 24 hours after my first Fraxel re:store treatment. It felt like my face was on fire. I also had a lot of swelling and spent days with bags of frozen peas on my face in between applying Aquaphor. I did some research on the Internet and discovered SinEcch (Arnica Montana). SinEcch prepackages a 4 day regimen of arnica to be started the day prior to surgery or treatment. Even though each Fraxel treatment was progressively stronger, the swelling and recovery period for each was greatly reduced. Many plastic surgeons prescribe this to their patients prior to surgery to reduce bruising and swelling. I recommend doing your own research and discussing this option with your doctor before any laser and/or surgical procedure.

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Thank you for taking all the time to reply to these posts. We all know how valuable you time is. Will Re:pair treatment reduce my pore size? Fortunate me, I grew up around the beach in Hawaii, however now my skin is paying the price. I am hoping to remove wrinkles under my eyes as well as on my forehead and reduce the redness on my face. At 46 are these reasonable expectations? Aloha

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Hi Todd, Re: pair should help to decrease the size of your pores. Re: store has worked well in the past 3 years, and now with fractionated carbon dioxide re: pair there is much more shrinkage of skin especially in thicker sun damaged male skin where the energy levels can be turned up. Re: pair should be ideal for repairing sun damaged skin. It also helps diminish red areas that are due to small superficial blood vessels under the skin. At 46 your skin is still young enough to respond very well to the treatment and should heal very well. Once you are treated, you should maintain your investment by avoiding excessive sun, and by using sun block daily. Please take a swim for me. Aloha. Dr. P

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Hi Sandra H, Good news for you. The early reports on patients who have already had a series of Fraxel re: store who then have Fraxel re: pair is very encouraging. The results on these patients have been excellent. You should expect more pain during the re; pair treatment, but after the first few hours patients are reporting minimal to no pain. The same things that you mention that made your last few recoveries easier will also help you with the re: pair recovery. Much good luck. Dr. P

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Hi there, I had fraxel re:pair in Mid March. I unfortunately had a very severe allergic reaction to aquaphor (I assume to lanolin). I didn't know that I was having that reaction because sadly the "swelling and redness" that are to be expected in the week after the procedure is not emphasized as to degree. I assumed I was healing and didn't realize until almost a week later that my swelling and redness was completely abnormal. The swelling resolved rapidly after I went on a steroid medication but the redness.... I still have it. I have been in good spirits up until now --- my doctor prescribed hydroquinone 4% this past Friday which really has made me that much more nervous. I walked out without asking the right questions and now I wonder: Is my redness a major complication? Will it EVER resolve? I'm fair skinned and I'm in a total panic because this is only under my eyes and not my whole face. Although my wrinkles are dramatically improved, I look awful. I'm really scared and my doctor just gave me the prescription and told me to use it and I never qualified what went wrong here. I didn't ask how long it would take to resolve the redness with the hydroquinone or whether this was a normal reaction to Fraxel Co2, or whether the allergic reaction has permanently given me red stripes an inch think under my eyes. I'm so scared and I just want the real deal. I was told originally the redness would resolve within a month and it's a month now and I'm not nearly resolved - and have been prescribed a bleaching cream. Does that mean without the bleaching cream my skin wouldn't have resolved on its own? Please help. THANK YOU!

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Hi SRG, There definitely have been some allergic reactions to post treatment ointments. Bottom line is that your redness will likely resolve over time. You need to call your doctor, and ask the "right" questions that were not addressed at your last visit. Your physician has diagnosed you to have post inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) and is treating it with hydroquinone. Patients treated with the old CO2 lasers had redness for weeks to many months after treatment, but in all of the cases that I have seen, the redness ALWAYS resolved eventually. Unfortunately, we cannot give an exact time as it differs from individual to individual. Most likely the redness would resolve on its own, the bleaching cream may help resolve it a bit faster. Most importantly, please call your doctor and have all of your questions answered. Keep your spirits up and be patient. Please keep us informed of your progress. Be well. Dr. P

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Hi, Today I booked an appointment to have my face, neck and chest done with the Fraxel re:pair laser,in two weeks. But after reading all the correspondence above, I am wondering if it is wise do do all three areas at the same time. It sounds very painful to say the least,and I am worried about the healing period.Is it too much?? Would you suggest doing just the face, or face and neck first, and the chest at another time?I am very fair-skinned and 71 years old. I did do a full face CO2 laser-surgery 15 years ago, and had a wonderful result.Would love to hear your opinion about this... Thank you.

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Do most doctors give valium or some kind of oral pain killer for this procedure?

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