So Far, So Good! - Beverly Hills, CA

I wrote a review for another website after my first treatment a month ago. Here it is:

This is my first Fraxel treatment and today is my fourth day. So far, so good.

The procedure was definitely not painless, so make sure you apply the numbing cream ALL over your face all the way to the hairline and above your lips. My esthetician recommended that I apply another layer 30 minutes after I apply the first one, so I will follow her advice next time for sure! The pain is tolerable, like a bunch of rubber bands slapping your face, but hopefully the results will be worth it.

Right after my procedure, my face looked like I got a sunburn. Nothing too bad, but I felt weird walking back to my car like that. I felt like everyone was staring at me, hehe. After the first day, my skin was no longer red and it just became a bit swollen and had a healthy glow. My friend who knows nothing about skin even commented on its glow.

I have had acne for about 12 years, from age 12 to 24 (I'm 26 now). Toward the later years, I began having cystic acne that left scars all over my face. The only part that escaped scarring was my forehead. The worst parts of my face are my temples, which have all types of ice pick and rolling scars. I feel like I've been battling acne for all my life, so I really wanted to do something about it.

About 5 years ago, I had 4 treatments of photodynamic therapy. I think THINK it helped my skin, but it also left my face a few shades darker than the rest of my body. The PDT helped my acne a little, but nothing drastic and I don't know if it was worth the $1000+. I'm hoping Fraxel will be worth the money though. I'll post pictures and I'll also post updates as the days go on and when I get my next treatment.

I had my second (of three) Fraxel treatments 5 days ago. Man, it was painful! I put the numbing cream on my face 1.5 to 2 hours before the procedure and I even reapplied after 30 minutes. However, the numbing cream didn't work this time and the procedure was extremely painful. I don't know why this happened, but I used a Dead Sea mask the day before my appointment. Maybe that's why my skin was super sensitive. My face even turned red from the numbing cream and that didn't happen last time. My esthetician even commented on how sensitive my skin was. My esthetician told me not to use anything with an active ingredient a week prior to getting Fraxel. I wish she had told me this before my treatment, but it's ok, I know now. And now you know too!

As for the procedure itself, it was painful, but bearable. I practically had no anesthesia on my face but I was able to bear it. However, my eyes watered involuntarily from the pain. According to my esthetician and other postings I've read, this is rare and most people are just slightly uncomfortable during the procedure. I just happened to have a poor reaction to the numbing cream.

During my last procedure, they didn't go too "deep" because I was in pain. So this second time, I wanted them to go all the way. However, I was in more pain this time than the first time! My esthetician and I didn't want to compromise the treatment because of the pain, so she went as deep as she could. I kept telling myself that the pain is temporary, but the results will last a long time. She focused on my problem areas and glossed over the rest of my face.

Overall, I am really happy I had Fraxel done. I've read other posts from people who have had a negative experience, and I feel really bad for those people. I've had similar incidents before and I know how outraged and helpless they may feel. However, many people have had positive experiences with Fraxel, so there is some good to the product. I don't think it's fair to make blanket statements saying Fraxel will ruin your face. After all, it has helped a lot of people. I think it is important to understand the risks and caveats of the procedure before going in.

Someone recommended that you take your time and research the office before getting Fraxel done. Though I think that is a great idea, I am ashamed to say that I did not do this. I looked on Yelp.com for Fraxel treatments, then called the different offices that popped up. In the the end, I chose the one that got the best reviews and had the best price. My office (in Beverly Hills) was having a special of 3 treatments for $1,500. That is a really good deal, especially for an office in Beverly Hills. I live in LA, and Beverly Hills is supposed to have the best doctors, so I thought why not.

I visited the office and the lady who administers Fraxel and I really liked them. My lady isn't an MD, but she's done this for years and she said she's never burned anyone. It might be important for some to have an MD administering your treatment, but I think having years of experience is also really important. I got a good and honest vibe from her, so I decided to proceed.

Though the procedure itself was really painful, I am happy I decided to have it done. This is my second treatment, fifth day, and my face looks pretty good. Here is a breakdown, day by day, for those who are interested:

Day 1: my face was RED and tight. On the way home, my face was burning, so I just aimed my air conditioner straight at my face. I didn't wash or put anything on my face for 2 days, according to my office's instructions. There was practically no pain, but my face felt very sensitive.

Day 2: this is the day of what I like to call "leather-face". My skin felt rough, like I was an old lady and I had been in the sun for decades. I wasn't as red as I was the day before, but you could tell there was something "off" about my face. I still looked sunburned. There was no pain at all, but my face just felt tight. There was no peeling. The good thing is that my face puffed up so much that ALL my scars were gone! It was amazing! So I had smooth, but red sun burned skin.

Day 3: my skin was still red and it turned bronzed looking. My face was darker than the rest of my body, which is my pet peeve. I still had leather-face, but no pain or peeling. I pretty much looked normal when I had makeup on, thank goodness. I did have the dark coffee grinds on my face, but nothing dramatic. My esthetician told me that the pigmentation on my face will "pepper" to the top, then flake off. So far, this seems to be the case.

Day 4: the coffee grinds are still there, but there isn't as much as the day before. The redness and bronzing went away and my skin pretty much looks normal. The puffiness that I had before has started to go away and I can see my scars returning (argh). However, I'm just glad my face is a normal color again. I also started to apply pure aloe vera gel to my face at night, right after cleansing. Then I apply moisturizing lotion on top of that.

Day 5: It's amazing how quickly my face changes from day to day. My skin is beginning to gain a healthy glow and the scars aren't as pronounced as they were before the treatment. I'm told this will go away though. My face is just slightly red, but it looks like a winter blush instead of a bad sun burn. Another thing I must mention is that I broke out slightly from the Fraxel. This didn't happen last time, but I read that it may happen to some people. It's nothing big, just 3 pimples on my upper lip (which is weird because I never break out there) and 1 pimple on my temple. It's not a big deal to me and if this is the worst of it, I'm not complaining. At night, I apply aloe vera gel and lotion. During the day, I apply lotion.

So far, everything has been going well. My recovery process has been less intense than other posters, so I'm not sure if this is normal. Maybe my lady didn't go too "deep" and that's why I was able to recover pretty well. I also want to mention that I am a dark-skinned Asian and I've fared pretty well. There were some concerns that my skin would get darker after treatment, but we stayed on the more gentle side because of the pain I was in, so there has been no hyper pigmentation yet. So far, so good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my third treatment will turn out well and that a year from now, my skin will look great! I'll keep my review as undecided until I get all three treatments and see the outcome 6 months to a year out.

I must have had Restore (not Repair). I'm trying to figure out how to delete this posting...