What Laser Best for Freckle Removal?

asked 7 months ago by maya1979
Latest answer by M. Christine Lee, MD
Question viewed 519 times
Tags: freckles, options

I want to get rid of my freckles/ I have tried IPL- w/o success. What laser should I go with? I am looking at Fraxel, Medlite C6, Gentlemax... cant decide which one would work the best? (by the best I mean: the best results, fewer treatments, less downtime? dont have a whole lot of money to spend...fraxel=more expensive but is fraxel=most effective also true? thanks for any suggestions..

6 answers to What Laser Best for Freckle Removal?

Best Laser for Freckle removal...

Fraxel is an excellent laser that helps patients with freckles, sun damage, wrinkles and mild to moderate skin damage. Most patients do very well with three treatments in the begining, with an occasional maintenance treatment thereafter. There is very little downtime associated with Fraxel. After the procedure you are left with what appears to be a bad sunburn which can be covered up with concealer. The Medlite C6 or YAG laser is great for individual... more

Shain A. Cuber, MD
Marlboro Plastic Surgeon

Many options for treating freckles

An invasive laser such as CO2, fractional CO2 (ActiveFX, DeepFX, Re:Pair, CORE), Erbium, Fraxel or a chemical acid peel would remove a freckle or an area of freckles faster than a noninvasive laser such as KTP (Aura, Gemini, Iriderm), Q-switched KTP (Medlite, Revlite), Alexandrite, or Ruby lasers but there is a downside if you have darker or tan skin or live in a sunny region and are very active outdoors. The invasive lasers by causing an injury to remove the freckle can cause... more

M. Christine Lee, MD
Walnut Creek Dermatologic Surgeon

www.eastbaylaser.com

Freckle treatment with lasers

The Alexandrite or frequency doubled Neodynium Yag lasers, and the glass tip V-beam lasers are very effective to reduce pigment that is focal. Possibly a few treatments may be necessary, but many patients need only one or two. There may be some slight scabbing for five days that require oinment or cream to be applied for good healing for five days or so. Certainly the pigment should be evaluated to make sure that the freckles are OK and not showing any atypical presence... more

Ronald Shelton, MD
Manhattan Dermatologist

How to get rid of freckles?

For freckle removal, pre-treating the skin with hydroquinone and Retin-A is important. Lasers are very effective at minimizing freckles, specifically a fractional CO2 laser such as the ActiveFx or Fraxel. Chemical peels also can be helpful. To assure your satisfaction and achieved goal, it would be best to schedule a consultation with a Board Certified Dermatologist to see what procedure and/or products would work best for you.

Timothy Jochen, MD
Palm Springs Dermatologic Surgeon

Freckle Removal

In my opinion, a Q switched laser, such as the Q switched alexandrite laser (with a wavelength of 755nm) is the best laser for removal of freckles. Make sure you consult a board-ceritifed dermatologist, skilled and experienced in laser. If any of the freckles appear to be "abnormal" to the trained eye of a dermatologist, they should be biopsied first before eradicating them with laser.

Deborah Sarnoff, MD
New York Dermatologic Surgeon

Pulsed dye laser, laser resurfacing, active fx are other options

The pulsed dye laser, laser resurfacing, active fx are other options for freckle removal. It really depends on how deep the freckle is. Most of the time the freckle originates from the epidermis and hence will have a very superficial component. You can resurface your whole face or just go after the freckles themselves. Intense pulse light is another option and if it didn't work, it could mean that the wrong settings were used. Below is a video on laser resurfacing; see video

Philip Young, MD
Bellevue Facial Plastic Surgeon

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