Don't do it! - New York, NY

I did my research and went to one of the best laser practices in New York, and I think it was worth it. Here's how it went:

My doctor met with me to review the procedure and ask me if I had any questions before we got started. After the doctor left, a nurse photographed me for my "before" shots. Then she took me back to the treatment room, where I washed my face. She covered my entire face in a numbing gel, which felt kind of like vasoline. She also gave me an injection in my butt of a pain killer she said was like an extra-strength advil. It didn't hurt at all, I couldn't even feel it. She also gave me my first dose of some type of steroid, to help with the swelling. She gave me a packet with two more doses to take the next two days.

Then I waited an hour, while my face numbed. It was a strange sensation; I really couldn't feel my face. It was fine, though, I just sat and read.

After an hour, my doctor performed the Fraxel procedure. She handled the laser while a nurse stood by following the movements of the laser with cold air. The doctor made a first pass over my face to hit the deeper layers, and then a second pass for the more surface stuff. It didn't hurt really at all, but felt strange, like someone rolling a sort of prickly ball-point pen all over my face. It was not really comfortable, but I can't honestly say it hurt at all. The doctor explained what she was doing as she did it.

When each side of my face was done, the nurse applied an ice pack, which I held there while they did the other side. After the whole face was done (both passes), they had me sit in front of another light machine (I forget the brand), which the doctor said would help minimize any redness.

When the whole thing was done and I had put my sunblock on, I looked a little splotchy and a tiny bit swollen, but not like a freak or anything. Like a very mild sunburn, plus moderate puffiness. Honestly, if I had needed to I could have put on make-up and gone to work, and likely no one would have glanced at me twice. But my doctor said it was better to keep icing it for a while to reduce the swelling. So that night I just iced it for a while, chilled out and went to bed. For the first couple hours my face felt a bit hot, like a sunburn, but I had no pain whatsoever. My face continued to be a tiny bit numb until the next morning.

When I woke up the next morning I looked great. Hardly any swelling, and just a mild redness that I easily covered with light makeup. Plus my skin texture looked amazing. I went to work as usual.

That was 10 days ago. I will say, I can already see a reduction in my pore size, and some slight improvement in my acne scars, although it's not as extreme as it seemed the day after. I think the day after there was still a tiny bit of swelling, which made my scars seem more improved than they really were. I am looking forward to my next sessions, however, to see more improvement.

As for downsides, I would say I was not prepared for how rough my skin would feel. To look at, it's a bit smoother than before, but to touch it feels a little sandpapery. A couple of days after the procedure were worst in terms of touch -- my face felt like actual sandpaper. You couldn't see it, it was only if you ran your fingers over my skin. Strange. I also had some peeling at about day 2 or 3 through 5, and my skin continues to be a little bit flakier than usual. I just exfoliate in the morning and at night, and it's fine. The other main downside is that I broke out with small pimples all over my face, probably from that numbing gel. They are very small and surface, though, so easy to cover.

I assume the texture will smooth out as the healing process progresses. If it doesn't, I would question whether the procedure is worth it, on balance. I guess it depends on whether you care more about how your skin looks or feels. However, it's a little less rough each day, so I have confidence it will return to normal eventually.

I will post how my progress continues as I complete more sessions.

I just finished my third treatment -- here are the updates:

The second and third treatments went much as the first in terms of procedure -- chat with the doc, numbing cream, painkiller shot in the rear, steriods, then chilled for an hour, then the fraxel, then sat in front of the light machine briefly.  I tolerated it so well the first and second times that for the third treatment the doctor pumped it up to the strongest level.  The doctor and the nurse kept saying how tough I was, but I swear I just could hardly feel anything -- just some strange prickles, like static.  I guess the numbing cream and the painkiller work really well on me.  The worst part was that I was very cold and shivering from the cold air they blow on your face.

As for results, I am very happy.  I have seen very noticable improvement in my deepest scars.  What were deep, jagged ice-pick scars are more like small indentations now.  They are still there and visible, but much better than before.  I have not seen very noticable improvement in my shallower, more surface scars, but my doctor said those will take longer to show improvement.  She said most people don't see full improvement until two months after the last treatment.  So I have a few months to go.

Side effects were much less with the second treatment than the first -- I'm hoping the same will be true for this third time.  I think my mistake the first time was that I was basically afraid to touch my skin for the first couple of days, so the top layer of skin got rough and flaky since I wasn't exfoliating or anything.  The second time I used my exfoliating cream and all my usual topicals from night 1, and my skin never really felt too rough.  I also didn't break out the second time, probably for the same reason, that I didn't stop my normal skin care routine.  Two weeks after the treatment it was really smooth.

The only thing that annoys me a little bit is that although the redness goes away after a day or two, my skin continues to look slightly rosy in color (almost like I just stepped in from the wind) for a while longer.  This fades consistently as the days pass, but just when my skin is normal again, it's almost time for the next treatment.  So I guess I won't enjoy my fully normal skin color until after all my treatments are done.  However, no one notices it but me, so I guess it doesn't matter much.