Fraxel Dual - Daily Progress - Atlanta, GA

I had my first Fraxel Dual laser performed yesterday by my dermatologist. I am 41 years old and have been plagued by acne my whole adult life. I had tried topical creams and antibiotics, but finally was prescribed spironolactin, as it appears that my acne is hormone-related. The spironolactin at 100mg per day has finally gotten my acne under control, but I have been left with slight indentation scarring in my cheeks and darker pigment from both where the acne was and from general aging. The texture of my skin is uneven and I have large pores, particularly on my cheeks. My goal is to smooth out the scars caused by the acne, reduce pore size, and improve overall texture and color. I also have fairly dep nasolabial folds, but realize that the Fraxel will not improve this and I will likely need to get a filler to see improvement in this area.

I decided to get the package of 3 treatments spaced about a month apart as recommended by my dermatologist.

Just having the first done yesterday, I am not sure what the overall results will be but wanted to post by daily progress with photos for those considering the Fraxel Dual and how the procedure went while it is still fresh in my mind.

The procedure itself was about what I expected. I arrived at the dermatologist's office approximately an hour before my procedure and was slathered up with lidocaine/benzocaine numbing cream. Sat for an hour and then it was removed with alcohol. Goggles were placed over my eyes and the procedure was done. My doctor started with the passes with the 1550 laser. She had the laser set at 50 for most of my face. The first couple of passes in each area felt like nothing more than someone rubbing a pencil eraser on my face but the 3rd was uncomfortable and the 4th was a bit painful - nothing I couldn't stand. There was an area on my nose that the numbing cream must have missed because that one spot hurt from the get-go - like someone snapping a rubber band on it. Lesson learned - make certain the numbing cream is EVERYWHERE. After the 4 passes with the 1550, the 1927 was used for pigment. This was less painful than the other, but still uncomfortable. She was a little more aggressive on my left side as I had more pigment issues there.

After the procedure I was given ice packs and told to put them on my face 10 minutes of every hour for the rest of the day, which I did faithfully. Also totake a benadryl when I got home.The swelling is not nearly as bad as what I expected after seeing pictures of others who have had it done, whether due to the ice or the benadryl.

The first day it was red in all areas except the eye area where she did not laser. Looks like I was out in the sun with sunglasses on and got a little burned. There are a couple of places where the swelling is worse than others, namely on my cheekbone and near the naolabial fold on the left side, which makes that fold look deeper. The pigment of the spots on my face has gotten much darker. The pain afterwards was not bad at all. I slept elevated last night.

Today, the red has turned to bronze, and my skin feels like sandpaper. I have done only mild washing with Cetaphil and moisturizer with Cerave. It is difficult to tell at this point what the results will be (I'm almost worried that because there's no dramatic reaction by my skin like bright red, swelling that I won't see enough improvement) but I will post photos daily.

The photo from last night shows the darkening of the pigment and the swelling in certain places, making my cheeks look sunken in.

Today's picture (day after procedure) shows the bronze-y tint my skin now has with the darker pigmentation and you can see some of the laser dots. The swelling has also gone down some so I don't have that "sunken cheeks" look anymore.

Anyway, I will try to be faithful about posting pictures and updates regularly, as I thought it might be helpful to see daily progress following Fraxel Dual.