Will Fraxel Laser Work on Stretch Marks? (photo)

Fraxel has not been successful in our practice for stretch marks.  We do use Vbeam laser to reduce the red color and tried Pelleve as well which shows some promise in helping them.

stretch marks are like scars in the top layer of skin. and scars are permanent!

Fraxel if used in younger stretch marks can help to improve the skin texture and their appearance but to this day there is nothing that can earase the stretch marks for good and with certainty.

Fraxel is outstanding for fine wrinkles, mild skin laxity, irregular pigmentation, acne scars, surgical scars, enlarged pores, stretch marks, age spots and Rosacea. It can be used safely on the face, neck, hands, arms, and chest.

Fractional nonablative laser treatments like Fraxel ReStore will tend to fade, although not erase, stretch marks.  A series of treatments is needed, typically 6.  Red stretch marks are probably best treated with pulsed dye laser.  Unfortunately, typical reductions in the appearance still leave the stretch marks much more visible than most people would like.  Still an unsolved problem in aesthetic medicine. 

Stretch marks are notoriously impossible to "cure" but improvements in texture and color can be achieved using tretinoin topical cream and a few rounds of fraxel or other type of fractionated laser skin resurfacing.  The therapy will "IMPROVE" the stretch marks but not "ERASE" them.  I would expect 25-50% improvement with a series of fraxel treatments.  I agree with Dr. Feldman - pulse dye laser can be useful to treat red stretch marks.

The natural evolution of stretch marks are to start out red, then fade to thin white lines.  When your stretch marks are red ( and it appears that yours are from the photo), the best way to treat them is with a Pulsed Dye laser.  This will help them fade to thin white marks faster.  Also topical Tretinoin might be helpful as well.   Unfortunately there is nothing that is guaranteed to remove them completely.

fraxel is useful for improving the appearance of any scar, and stretch marks are a form of scarring. this improvement is quite variable in my experience, so it's possible to spend a fair amount of time and money for what could be a very modest improvement. on the other hand, occasionally you get a very pronounced improvement and a very happy patient!