Can you have Fraxel on a small area only? To treat some mild scarring?

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. Melarase AM, Melarase PM, and Melapads can seriously improve surface sun damage and UV related pigmentation. 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

Yes, you can have a Fraxel treatment on a targeted area where you want to improve scarring. However, if you do not work with a board-certified dermatologist with extensive training and experience in this procedure, it may be easy to see where the treatment was performed after the fact. Make sure you choose a qualified provider who will know how to blend the treatment area into the untreated areas of your skin so the border is undetectable. This should ensure a very good result. 

Thanks for your question. It is quite common to use Fraxel to treat isolated areas in need of rejuvenation. However, I encourage you to find a board-certified physician with extensive experience in this treatment to avoid visible lines between areas that were treated and those that were not. This experience professional will also be able to ensure your procedure is both safe and successful.

Hello Edie.  Absolutely.  We use fractional technology every day to treat small areas like temples, cheeks and jawlines.  

Yes, you can have targeted Fraxel Spot treatments however, this is typically only recommended for problem areas such as small scars, indents, etc. If you are looking to have your entire jawline done, it is best to have the entire face done to ensure evenness throughout your face. See an expert. Best, Dr. Emer. 

Fraxel is a non-ablative fractional laser treatment that treats signs of skin aging such as fine lines, wrinkles, scarring, sun damage/age spots, brown spots, laxity, crepiness, pore size. It creates focal zones of thermal injury which causes intense collagen stimulation and growth of new cells. Assuming this is the best treatment for you, yes it could be applied to small areas only. Please contact a qualified provider or a board-certified physician with extensive experience in these procedures.

Thank you for your question.  It is absolutely possible to do partial treatments of the face with any resurfacing laser or device. However, the best results and seen with full face treatments. This is because the energy settings used will have to be modified and turned down to avoid noticeable visible results between the treated and untreated area.
Best Regards,

Monica Bonakdar MD

Small areas can be treated with Fraxel. Lighter settings may be used to lower the chance of lines of demarcation. Multiple treatments may be required for optimal results. 

Yes, it is certainly possible but it is important to blend the treated and untreated areas so you do not have a line of demarcation. 

Yes you can. Easily blended with less passes. The approach however is to find the best METHOD for your set of scars. In most cases Fraxel may not be the optimal solution for scars.Acne scar revision comprises of many specialised procedures. For the best results, one should target the acne scar type with appropriate treatments METHODS. Using one or two devices is not optimal. As everyone has a unique pattern of acne scarring, the best solution is a tailored one. Remember, scar revision is a medical procedure that is technical to perform. It is not dependent on the clinic, branch, machine, or laser but by the skill of your dermatologist of plastic surgeon. 



Take for example deep ice pick scars, and narrow box car scars. These are best treated with TCA CROSS and focused angled CO2 fractional laser in low density. Deep narrow scars respond better to this treatment than even the most expensive lasers. On the flip side, rolling, and atrophic acne scars can improve with fractional devices such as Fraxel, fractional lasers, ProFractional erbium lasers, Infiini –Intensif –Intracel radiofrequency microneedling. Atrophic scars (depressions) can be treated with either fat graft, PRP or dermal fillers. Tethered and anchored scars are best treated with surgical techniques such as subcision. Other surgical techniques that I use include punch elevation, surgical elevation, punch excision and traditional excision for focal scars. Early and very mild acne scars respond well to eMatrix and non-energy microneedling, as well as vascular lasers. Skin colour changes such as PIH or dark marks respond best to sun protection, creams, and Q switch lasers in the nano and pico pulse durations. 



In the vast majority of patients, different patterns of acne scars will be present. Monomorphic acne scarring (scars of the safe subtype) are extremely rare. Careful examination, especially under angled lighting with scar mapping will give you an understanding of what are the best options for your scars. Additionally tactile examination namely touch will give me an understanding of the amount of subdermal fibrosis, as special equipment is needed for this sub-set of acne scars.  In the majority of patients its finding the correct combinations that yields the best results. It is never about the device, it is about the specialist behind the equipment that will deliver the best outcomes. 

Global leaders in acne scar revision will always use manual methods to revise scars, and employ lasers and energy devices as instruments to assist. All the best, Dr Davin Lim. Acne scar dermatologist specialist. Brisbane, Australia.