Fraxel Repair Recovery and Healing

I inform my patients that Fraxel repair recovery generally takes 7 to 10 days before patients can comfortably plan on returning to work. The best news is that there is no pain involved with the recovery, at all. Immediately after treatment, the skin looks scraped with a small amount of pinpoint blood spots. There is slight "weeping" of the skin for the first 36 to 48 hours, then the skin is completely re-epithelialized. The skin is very red and swollen, maximally between days 3-5 after treatment. By day 7, most swelling has resolved, the skin looks very sun-burnt. Somewhere between 7-10 days, as the redness fades, the skin begins to look great, like you have just returned from a nice "sun" vacation. At this point, female patients usually just wear eye make up and lipstick because the skin looks so good. I have had some female patients apply some concealer after 5 days to get back to work, but usually it is best to wait about 7-10 days for make up. The skin is extremely fragile for about 3 weeks, so be very careful both applying make up and especially removing make up to avoid abraiding your skin.
Good luck and be well.
Dr. P

Some patients heal faster than others, and it depends on a variety of factors like how aggressive the treatment is. Even after an aggressive treatment, you can usually wear makeup after 7 days. Consult with a board-certified dermatologist who can assess you in-person and can give you a better idea of what your recovery time will look like. Thanks for your question!

Healing time depends how aggressive the treatment is.  Consult with a board-certified dermatologist who can assess you in-person and can give you a better idea of what your recovery time will look like. Thanks for your question!

The pain after a laser procedure is quite variable and it depends on a great deal of things ranging from how deep your surgeon is going to your particular pain threshhold. While some of my patients breeze through it, some are in quite a bit of pain and itching after it and I would rather tell them straight up that they may be discomforted than to give them a rosy picture that misleads them into thinking they are the only weirdos who have pain.
Additionally, I don't encourage any patients to plan any social functions in the first week or two after one of these procedures as they may be very disappointed if they can't go due to a slower recovery (which sometimes does happen).
I do love this procedure and 90% of my patients who do it love it as well, but it isn't what I would ever call painless if it is done at a stronger settings which will lead to more improvement. Good luck!

Even after an aggressive Fraxel Repair treatment, you can usually wear makeup in 7 days, give or take a day or two in either direction. Some patients heal faster than others. You will find the rest of the answers at our website above.
Take care,
Dr. Groff