Fraxel Repair - My Face is Still Raw After Several Days. What Can I Do?

I had one Fraxel treatment 9 days ago on the upper lip and around the mouth area. It was a very painful procedure to me (I describe it as a fire goatee) even with the numbing cream. It burned (the pain could only be controlled with direct ice application) for about 3 hours. I swelled terribly, and the surrounding skin turned dark brown. As the brown skin came off, the skin underneath oozed, blistered, and turned raw. It's still crusty and blistering.

Please help. I'm young, 38, medium skin toned, and would not consider my skin to be sensitive. I call the doctor (MD Plastic Surgeon, but a technician actually performed the procedure) and they said just to keep regular moisturizer on it. Nothing is working.

Tags:

4 days post-op normal side effects

Comment on this

3 Doctor Answers | Asked by Michelle1234 in Chicago, IL

Doctor Answers (3)
Community Comments (0)

Fraxel re:pair should be performed by a qualified physician

Hi Michelle, Sorry to hear about your experience. You should return to your physician's office and have the doctor evaluate you and recommend treatment to get you through your healing phase. Your skin should definitely not be blistering and crusty 9 days after a Fraxel re:pair treatment. Depending on what is going on, Biafine ointment is a good product used on burns to decrease redness and help with healing. Make sure that you are not having an allergic reaction to the products that... more

Michael A. Persky, MD

21 reviews

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

drpersky.com

I've had laser surgery by the wrong person and now realize I made a mistake

Your question tells me that you had surgery with the wrong person. Fraxel re:Pair is a major procedure that should have been performed by a real doctor and NEVER a technician. While it is a good idea for the plastic surgeon so he/she can be doing breast augmentations for 'real' cosmetic surgery patients, it is a horrible idea for you because you now have no one to turn to and are in this dilemma. Additionally, no one that is truly interested in a patient such as yourself does partial... more

Fraxel Repair recovery should not be drastic when performed by experienced doctor

I am sorry to hear that your Fraxel treatment did not go as you were hoping. After nine days of the treatment, these kinds of effects should not be happening. My first advice to you is to go see your doctor. Schedule an appointment as soon as possible for he or she will have a better idea as to what happened with your procedure and provide a treatment plan. Your doctor, might consider the possibility of a complicating infection as well as reactivation of herpes type 1 infection... more