How long should I wait after having my baby to get Fractional CO2 on my stretch marks?

Fraxel laser resurfacing requires topical anesthesia for patient comfort. All anesthesia will be absorbed into the blood, and therefore into the breast milk. It may make sense to wait until you're finished breastfeeding.  although its very rare anything topically will truly affect your baby. Stretch marks can also be improved with microneedling/prp, lasers, RF devices like intensif.. See an expert for a formal evaluation. Best, Dr. Emer

Fractional laser is an amazing and highly effective treatment in our office. We use the laser treatment to help with acne scars, large pores, fine wrinkles, tissue collagen loss, scars, sebaceous hyperplasia, active acne, and for brightening dark pigmentation. Although there are very strong fractional lasers such as CO2 laser, we use lighter treatments for corrective skincare and maintenance of results. Our Thulium fractional laser, clear and brilliant laser, and Ultra Thulium laser are excellent options in our clinic. We also perform CO2 fractional and erbium depending on skin tone and tolerance for downtime. Patients do have to use a Melarase cream before and after treatment to help further reduce pigmentation after laser. Dark spots can improve with these treatments. I recommend fractional laser for incisional scars as well, especially after plastic surgery.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

First congratulations on the baby!

There are many treatments for stretch marks but I agree that pulsed dye laser first for the redness followed by fractional radiofrequency (such as eMatrix) tend to work well.

I agree with Dr Emer, I find that microneedling with PRP works better for stretch marks, with less downtime than CO2 fractional laser. If your stretch marks are new (red, purple, pink), then V Beam laser without local numbing gel can be used. If you do require numbing gel, you can express your milk, have local numbing gel and have a 'washout period' of 6-8 hours before breast feeding again. All the best, Dr Davin Lim.