Laser Cosmetic Center at Dermatology Associates - Kalispell

I decided to have a Fraxel Dual laser procedure after I’d noticed several spots (both brown and pink) developing on my face over the past few years. I’m 56, and the years of sunbathing and spending summers outside without sunscreen we’re catching up with me. I had several small brown, “age” spots, and also several smaller pinkish-red marks that I assumed were just hyperpigmentation from scars. Nothing major, but I didn’t like going without makeup any longer, once I realized how obvious they’d gotten. I contacted Dermatology Associates’ Laser Cosmetic Center and met with their aesthetician, who highly recommended the Fraxel Dual laser for my particular concerns. She said the sensation of the laser had been described like that of a rubber band being repeatedly snapped across your skin, which certainly sounded doable. She also said that my spots were light enough that I would only need one procedure, so I scheduled a visit to treat my face, as well as a portion of my chest area (portion visible when wearing a “V” neck shirt), and one very small spot on my forearm.The day of the procedure, I was instructed to come in an hour early to get the topical gel anesthetic applied to all treatment areas to reduce the pain from the laser. The laser has a built-in cooling device that blows cold air on your skin at the same time as the laser is passing across your skin, which I can’t imagine not having, as those passes get hot in a hurry! She divided my face into different treatment areas, and would do each section completely, making 4 passes across each area, before moving on to another section. By that fourth path, my toes were curling and I was cringing at the pain, counting the milliseconds until it was over! She’d said that everyone handles it differently, and that some patients have skated through the procedure without as much as a twinge of pain, while others had actually made her stop mid-procedure because they couldn’t take the discomfort. At least I could be happy that I wasn’t one of those patients, but it definitely hurt more than I’d thought it would.Once the procedure was over, I was sent home with some very nice products to clean and care for my skin during the healing process, which could last anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month, depending on how quickly my skin healed. My skin began darkening by day two and eventually began drying up and peeling, which took about a week to complete.It’s now been two and a half months since my procedure and I can honestly say that I see absolute NO change in either the shade or size of my spots. I was very hopeful that even if they didn’t completely disappear, that they’d at least be lightened enough to not be so visible, but I’m really feeling like I paid $1,200 for nothing. In the research I’ve done since my procedure, it does seem that many providers make many more passes than the four I received, but as painful as that fourth pass was, I don’t know that I would have wanted more passes. I know some people have had great results from the Fraxel laser and I have no idea why mine was so disappointing. I’d love to hear from anyone with suggestions or comments that may shed some light on the reasons for my disappointing outcome.