Well I've been in the medical field a while and aggravating damaged tissue during the healing process could cause scaring so scratching/scraping is never a good idea. Although I was encouraged to wash my face twice daily and apply creams whenever I felt dryness. But after day 5 I had very minimal scabs or dry skin. About 7-18 days later my skin looked amazing; no makeup necessary. Although now it's been about a month and aside from my reduced freckles I have about the same texture/appearance as I did prior to the procedure. Back to the original question; brown scabs probably won't last more than a week but everyone heals differently. Good luck!
Hi All,
I'm a 29 year old woman and I just had my second Fraxel treatment Thursday (it's Saturday morning) and had a huge break in treatment between the two (first was in mid-August) because of school. Although I'm olive complexion, I'm very fair and I have some acne scars and pitting on my cheeks (mild) from cystic acne resulting from PCOS. I also freckle a ton so I wanted both treatment for my hyperpigmentation and the scars.
This was my experience with the first:
Day 1: I put on Clinique Medical probiotic cleanser and creams (it comes in a package) post-procedure. I had tons of swelling and immediately noticed tiny pinpricks all over my face minus my eye area (which had been incredibly swollen anyway).
Day 2: Still no pain but the swelling around my eyes was incredibly frightening despite sleeping sitting up on pillows and taking dyphenhydramine. I also applied moisturizer every couple of hours and ice packs. The pinprick scabs literally covered every inch of my face and made me look very brown.
Day 3 and 4: No pain but it felt like my mouth was cracking from how dry my skin was. I didn't start peeling much yet, but I did notice some white pustules forming around my nose that were too small to be blisters. I'm thinking it's just trapped sebum under the dried skin from my pores. I continued to moisturize with Clinique but added Aquaphor to the dry areas to encourage their sloughing.
Day 5 thru 7: Incredibly peely. I've never felt such itchiness in my life. Thank goodness I was on Summer break since there was no way I was going outside. I was told that I had an intense setting (she said that for my age I'd heal well), but I looked like a monster despite my icing and creams and the pustules/blisters lasted around 10 days.
Before this last procedure I took inventory of my skin. A few weeks after the first procedure I had noticed some freckling under my eyes despite my religious use of SPF60 and limiting sun exposure. I used IS serums to help diminish pigmentation and continued with my Retin-A 0.1% almost nightly. Although my acne breakouts were far less because of my special care to my skin, the acne scars were still noticeable, my pores were still large, and my freckles were even more pronounced.
The second treatment (as I said before) was this Thursday around noon. I always use Carla at Marina Plastic Surgery, and she's a doll. Young, friendly, and super sensitive to what we want/need while in her care. The first procedure required nerve blocks (3 if I remember correctly that she injected under my lips/gums) but this time I told her I wanted to look human for Xmas so she went lighter and they gave me Motrin and Tylenol about 35 minutes prior instead. Yet again, some of the most painful "scraping" feeling of my life. Eyes, lips, and hairline are the worst.
Immediately after, they gave me an ice pack (my eyes get super huge from this procedure) and applied sunscreen all over. This time they also put me in front of this machine that blinks like a strobe and is used to reduce redness. I immediately drove home, took a Tramadol and Benadryl and fell asleep for about 5 hours. I'm a huge baby when it comes to pain but I have yet to really experience anything other than discomfort, swelling, and severe tightness.
Day 2: serious edema around my eyes and general puffiness throughout my face. I'm using Cerave cream per the NP's orders which is OTC. It doesn't feel like it lasts very long but I'm not peeling yet so I hope it's at least doing something to promote healing. I'm very afraid I'll get those "blisters" again around my nose and I want to stay away from the Aquaphor and the Clinique creams so that my pores don't clog any more than they already are.
Day 3: I haven't had much energy to refill my ice packs for my eyes but they're not as bad today. Still no peeling but my normally fair/freckled skin is literally brown from the pin-prick scabbing. My skin feels like fine sandpaper and no matter what I do, I'm constantly thirsty (I'm guessing from the ibuprofen and benadryl I'm taking religiously to help with swelling and itchiness). I plan on taking GNC healthy skin vitamin packets (It has fish oils, vitamin E, etc) and being more consistent with my Cerave applications and ice.
Recent comments
Posted to Fraxel: Restore - Painful on 11 Jan 2011
Posted to Fraxel: Restore - Painful on 18 Dec 2010
I'm a 29 year old woman and I just had my second Fraxel treatment Thursday (it's Saturday morning) and had a huge break in treatment between the two (first was in mid-August) because of school. Although I'm olive complexion, I'm very fair and I have some acne scars and pitting on my cheeks (mild) from cystic acne resulting from PCOS. I also freckle a ton so I wanted both treatment for my hyperpigmentation and the scars.
This was my experience with the first:
Day 1: I put on Clinique Medical probiotic cleanser and creams (it comes in a package) post-procedure. I had tons of swelling and immediately noticed tiny pinpricks all over my face minus my eye area (which had been incredibly swollen anyway).
Day 2: Still no pain but the swelling around my eyes was incredibly frightening despite sleeping sitting up on pillows and taking dyphenhydramine. I also applied moisturizer every couple of hours and ice packs. The pinprick scabs literally covered every inch of my face and made me look very brown.
Day 3 and 4: No pain but it felt like my mouth was cracking from how dry my skin was. I didn't start peeling much yet, but I did notice some white pustules forming around my nose that were too small to be blisters. I'm thinking it's just trapped sebum under the dried skin from my pores. I continued to moisturize with Clinique but added Aquaphor to the dry areas to encourage their sloughing.
Day 5 thru 7: Incredibly peely. I've never felt such itchiness in my life. Thank goodness I was on Summer break since there was no way I was going outside. I was told that I had an intense setting (she said that for my age I'd heal well), but I looked like a monster despite my icing and creams and the pustules/blisters lasted around 10 days.
Before this last procedure I took inventory of my skin. A few weeks after the first procedure I had noticed some freckling under my eyes despite my religious use of SPF60 and limiting sun exposure. I used IS serums to help diminish pigmentation and continued with my Retin-A 0.1% almost nightly. Although my acne breakouts were far less because of my special care to my skin, the acne scars were still noticeable, my pores were still large, and my freckles were even more pronounced.
The second treatment (as I said before) was this Thursday around noon. I always use Carla at Marina Plastic Surgery, and she's a doll. Young, friendly, and super sensitive to what we want/need while in her care. The first procedure required nerve blocks (3 if I remember correctly that she injected under my lips/gums) but this time I told her I wanted to look human for Xmas so she went lighter and they gave me Motrin and Tylenol about 35 minutes prior instead. Yet again, some of the most painful "scraping" feeling of my life. Eyes, lips, and hairline are the worst.
Immediately after, they gave me an ice pack (my eyes get super huge from this procedure) and applied sunscreen all over. This time they also put me in front of this machine that blinks like a strobe and is used to reduce redness. I immediately drove home, took a Tramadol and Benadryl and fell asleep for about 5 hours. I'm a huge baby when it comes to pain but I have yet to really experience anything other than discomfort, swelling, and severe tightness.
Day 2: serious edema around my eyes and general puffiness throughout my face. I'm using Cerave cream per the NP's orders which is OTC. It doesn't feel like it lasts very long but I'm not peeling yet so I hope it's at least doing something to promote healing. I'm very afraid I'll get those "blisters" again around my nose and I want to stay away from the Aquaphor and the Clinique creams so that my pores don't clog any more than they already are.
Day 3: I haven't had much energy to refill my ice packs for my eyes but they're not as bad today. Still no peeling but my normally fair/freckled skin is literally brown from the pin-prick scabbing. My skin feels like fine sandpaper and no matter what I do, I'm constantly thirsty (I'm guessing from the ibuprofen and benadryl I'm taking religiously to help with swelling and itchiness). I plan on taking GNC healthy skin vitamin packets (It has fish oils, vitamin E, etc) and being more consistent with my Cerave applications and ice.
Hope this helped!