Have you had melasma laser treatment?

I had 4 fraxel treatments for melasma spaced 1 month apart. It has been 7 weeks since my last fraxel treatment and I have been left with more pigment spreading around the original area and extensive hyperpigmentation around other areas. The person treating me says to wait afew more months and it should lighten. I do not see how this can possibly happen as the original pigment hasn't gotten better since my initial treatment over 5 months ago so how can he suggest that the hyperpigmentation will automatically go away on its own.

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Melasma is hands down the trickiest skin condition to treat, because everyone reacts to treatments differently. I have very fair skin and have suffered from melasma for years. You cannot cure it, but you can control it. Here's my best advice: don't do things to aggravate your skin. That stress only causes more melanin production. Use both sunscreen and a meleanase inhibitor all the time, stay OUT of the sun, and wear a wide-brimmed hat when you are outdoors, and exfoliate regularly and gently without aggressive scrubs. Know that what works for one person may not work for another, who has the same skin tone and condition. If you are taking oral contraceptives, talk to your doctor about switching to very low dose or progesterone only pills, if that is safe and appropriate for you. Fraxel and IPL work for pigment, but again, with melasma everyone reacts differently and there is no guaranteeing results. From the comments above, I hope it was a doctor who recommended the treatment, albeit maybe a nurse or PA administering it.

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I have olive complexion and have mild break outs, which result in hyperpigmentation. I had an IPL treatment for my hyperpigmentation. It not only burned my skin, it left me with hypersensitive skin in the areas with the most hyperpigmentation, and worse hyperpigmentation than before the treatment. IPL is just another way for people to make money.

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I have had 3 Fraxel laser treatment for melasma. I am 32 and hispanic/irish mix. I have a light olive skin tone. I am so dissapointed with the results. I actually have new brown patches I didn't have before treatment. Some of my old patches faded a tiny bit but they are all still there! Now I am super sensative to sunscreen and I breakout with an itchy/red/bumpy rash when I use it. I am so frustrated. I am going in tomorrow to talk to the derm about what is going on with my face. My entire face is darker than the rest of my body now and I still have all the brown patches! I also got some hard rock pimples that have left hyperpigmentaion spots. Fraxel didn't do what I was promised. It actually is making it worse. I do not reccomend it. I have spent over $3000 and have nothing but a dark face, new dark spots/patches and a sunscreen sensitivity to show for it. It's been 3 weeks since my 3rd treatment. I am suppossed to have a 4th on the 28th. I am thinking about canceling it and saving the $1000. I keep thinking maybe the next one will be the one to get rid of the spots. I think they count on that.

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I have had three Fraxel treatments and am quite disappointed. My face is two shades darker (kind of an irritated redish looking color) and all of my freckles are still present. I was trying Fraxel for lines under my eyes and for freckles or hyperpigmentation, whatever you want to call it. I am very pale and always wear sunscreen. Now, and especially in photos, my face just looks irritated. I am scheduled for a fourth treatment, and I too, wonder if it will be the one miracle treatment that will finally show the results, or if it will be more of the same, a very red irritated looking face. I am very, very disappointed to date.

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I have melasma brought on by scrubbing my face while using prescription retin a. Then as I have every summer for the last 15 years I hit the tanning beds and there it was, brown leather splotches. A plastic surgeon who did two great cosmetic surgeries on me suggested chemical peels. The 30 percent left me with brown lines above my upper lip, as well as doing nothing for the melasma. I am medium skin. I then discovered ipl and hydroquinone by skinerase 4percent. After one ipl treatment I had black brown scabs for one week, and then they sloughed off. You can still see where the blotches were because they are slightly red, and it didn't get rid of the chemical peel scar, but what a great result it was, goodbye leather. I also use a 30 percent block with titanium under my makeup. I get lasered 2-3 times a year and it seems to help somewhat with the pours and fine lines. My ipl only cost 300 for full face, I am in KY. I was thinking of fraxel but not after reading these posts! I wish I had read about retin a and chemical peels so I wouldn't be in this mess, but thank you all for saving me the money and heartache of fraxel. I would be happy to recommend the lady who does my ipl. She has been telling me to forget about fraxel, and does a great job. She really cares - Janie at Dr.{EDITED} office (lexington, ky). He's a dermatologist. Still not sure what to do about the stupid discoloration above my lip! Editor note: you must join RealSelf so you can be contacted privately with doctor recommendations and feedback. This requires free registration for an account. When registering you must opt-in to receiving private contacts (a check box).

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I had 6 IPL treatments for melasma and rosacea 4 months ago.I tried Retin-A and meleanase inhibitor with no results. I have fair complexion. Great results for melasma, it desappeared after the first tratment, not so satisfied for rosacea.

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I have had three IPL treatments on my face and chest area for melasma and sun spots. I am thrilled with the results on my chest but my face is so much worse. I now have pigmentation problems where I never had them before. Now I don't know what to do.

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In order to treat melasma with the Fraxel, you must be very careful and very skilled. We have had great success with melasma, but we have had to go through a learning curve. Hydroquinone and Retin A can irritate the skin and worsen the pigment problem (PIH). Treating too strongly with the Fraxel can also worsen the problem by causing Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH). Patients must be premedicated with Retin A and Hydroquinone for 6 weeks prior to the first Fraxel. These meds must be started very carefully so they don't cause irritation (don't apply often (start every other day or less) and don't leave on for very long (don't leave on over night)). The Fraxel must be set properly. The energy level must be set low at 6 - 10 j/cm2 (I prefer 6 j/cm2) so that it does not go too deep and so that it "carpets" the epidermis and upper dermis more completely. You also have to do treament levels of 3-5 (no more than 15% of the skin at a time). This is especially important in patients with darker skin types (asians, hispanics, african-americans). If you have been hyperpigmented, it will go away eventually. The MedLiteC6 1064 Laser can help break up the pigment. We would treat hyperpigmentation with Hydroquinone, Retin A and a topical steroid. Good luck.

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I have had this problem for several years. It started after taking a "low dose" ocp. I had 1 photofacial thinking it would solve the problem but only brought out more pigment. I then found a medical aesthetician who recommended a series of IPL and vitalize peels. The IPL has still after 4 additional treatements brought up more pigment. I probably won't have another one but the vitalize peels did seems to help and aren't too expensive, only 95 bucks. Basicallly I've decided that I just have to live with the problem and use makeup to cover. Aveda makes a great tinted moisturizer that helps blend my "mask" into the rest of my face and then I use mineral powder over that. Thanks for the feedback on "fraxel" treatments. I thought IPL was going to be a "miracle" treatment for my melasma but after thousands of dollars and new pigmented areas I've resigned myself to just use sunscreen/hats and makeup as it's too expensive to experiment with procedures that just aren't what they promise to be. At least for my mixed skin (hispanic, german, native american, scottish)

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