Fraxel Laser: Stories

I am a chinese male, 32yo, generally light-tanned looking skin, and at the cusp between Fitzpatrick III and IV. I have a few medium/deep scars and many shallow ones, but I think that the residual light red color of the scars make them more noticeable.

I have "just" had my 3rd Fraxel restore ($600/treatment for the first 3. $450 each treatment after the 3rd) for acne scars and so far, I love the results. The first treatment, my doctor used a power level of 65 out of 70. Because of my good tolerance and good results, he has used power level 70 out of 70 for the 2nd and 3rd treatments and even applied more passes in certain trouble areas.

My review here is based on my past 2 treatments, 3 weeks after each treatment so it's a fair evaluation. Both deep and shallow scars are definitely smaller and much lighter in terms of redness. The deeper scars are still there but less noticeable and seems smaller in circumference. The shallow scars are even harder to see and less visible than before. A few of the really shallow scars "almost" seem to have disappeared.

For me, 3 days after treatment, my skin looks bronzed (which is normal); I can go outside but people would probably ask me what happened. After 5-6 days, there would be a residual pinkness but hard to notice. After 7 days, I can go outside without others knowing that I had Fraxel.

Negatives but I'm ok with it: The Fraxel treatment does make my face/cheeks look puffy and swollen so it makes my face look chubbier and it takes a few weeks to return to normal. During the Fraxel treatment, there is stinging and some pain but I can tolerate it for the sake of better skin. I didn't need to take any pain medication as some other reviewers have mentioned. About 3 hours after treatment, there is absolutely no more pain but face is sensitive to heat (eg, if I were to open the oven, my face would feel the pain from the heat alot more than usual).

I am not expecting to have perfectly smooth skin and those who expect smooth skin have unrealistic expectations. So far, I am very happy with the improvements.