Fraxel laser - how painful?

Fraxel is a laser skin rejuvenation treatment that resurfaces your outer skin, erasing imperfections. It also encourages the production of collagen, a protein found in connective tissue.The result is clearly visible lines, folds and wrinkles. Fraxel laser skin rejuvenation is a non-invasive technique that affects only about 20 percent of the facial skin exposed to it. The most common side effects of Fraxel laser treatment are swelling and skin redness, which should subside within a couple of days. Other temporary side effects may include minor itching, dry skin, peeling or flaking, and a bronzed skin appearance. The risk of infection or scarring is very limited. You should stay out of the sun 2-4 weeks. You do put numbing cream on for one hour before this procedure so it should not be that painful. 

We use a great Fractional Diode here in our office called Clear &Brilliant by Solta. There is little to no downtime with it, which makes it so remarkable and sought after. Your skin type and the texture & tone of your skin determine which hand piece will be used. The Clear&Brilliant is 1440nm, and the Permea is 1927nm. We like to use topical numbing cream for 30+ minutes prior to treating, and the procedure itself should only take about 30-40 minutes. We treat at the HIGHEST level with each treatment, and use 100% of the tip. I hope this helps you make an informed decision.Be well.#fractionaldiode   #finelinesandwrinkles   #decreaseporesize

all my younger patients do fraxel as a preventative treatment for wrinkles/folds, complexion and pores.  Movement lines are treated with botox.  Best, Dr. Emer.

There are various types of Fraxel lasers, and the pain level and downtime will vary depending on which one you choose to have. Ablative CO2 lasers are the most painful, but also give the most dramatic results after a single treatment. The Fraxel Repair is an ablative laser, and most people will require a numbing cream, oral medication, or local injections in order to manage the pain level. The recovery time should not be too painful as long as you are diligent about keeping out of the sun and using over the counter painkillers as necessary. Full recovery may take up to a week, during which time you’ll appear red and sunburnt. Fraxel Restore and Fraxel Dual are less intense and do not require a long downtime. Visit a board-certified dermatologist for an in person consultation to see if you are a candidate for a Fraxel treatment or another kind of laser resurfacing treatment, and discuss with them your expectations regarding pain and downtime as well as the specific skin issues you’d like to have treated.

There are different types of lasers that are useful for skin rejuvenation. Fractionated laser can be ablative, meaning that it removes the superficial layer of skin and works by the body creating a new superficial skin layer or non-ablative which is a less deep laser treatment. The deeper treatments are better for wrinkles, the less deep treatments are better for skin texture.  Superficial treatments are not painful and only result in pink color of the skin that goes away within a few hours after the treatment.  Ablative Fraxel treatments usually require application of the topical numbing cream to make the treatment less uncomfortable and for highly sensitive patients we use local injections of the anesthetic.  Oral medication is also available to pre-treat the pain.  Hope it was helpful and good luck.