Fractora for Skin Tightening

As I was approaching my mid-50's, I was noticing my eyelids get crepey, my marionette lines coming into view, the elevens above my nose, and my undereye bags getting bigger, despite filler. After researching my non-surgical options, I chose Fractora. I bought a series of three treatments, and have done the first one. I'll keep adding to the review as I do the other treatments (4-6 weeks apart).

I chose ProSkin because Bob, the tech, was the first person in Minnesota to get a Fractora machine, and he's well-trained by the manufacturer of the machine. He's also done this procedure for about ten years, so he knows what he's doing. He spent a lot of time with me at the initial consultation, before I bought the package, explaining how the procedure worked and what I could expect. He was both realistic and reassuring. He explained that this procedure could be used around my eyes, unlike laser treatments, and I was sold.

The day of the procedure, he numbed my face and neck with a numbing cream for 25 minutes; then he put more numbing cream on for another 25 minutes. At that point, he began the procedure. My face felt like it had a heavy plastic mask on top of it (numb). He explained exactly what he would do, and what parts of my face would be treated in what order. He warned me that the last part would hurt the most - over my lips.

The procedure was more painful on one side of my face than the other; Bob said that was normal. The machine makes a double clicking sound as it needles the face and initiates the radio frequency. It sounded like a staple gun, and kind of felt like one too in a couple of places.

Despite Bob's warning, I did not think the last part hurt the most; the most tender part was my jawline, but that part is treated more than the rest of the face because sagging tends to happen there.

Right after the procedure, Bob put Aquafor on my face and told me to continue to put only Aquafor or Vaseline on my face for the next 48 hours.

Afterwards, I felt fine. I got in my car and drove home. I looked slightly sunburned, but felt and looked good enough to drive my kids the their activities (I didn't have to go to work for a few days). My skin got very itchy on Days 1 and 2, but I just took ibuprofen, which took care of it. By Day 3, I was using makeup and though there were a few tender places, no major pain.

Now, two weeks later, my skin looks fresher and a little tighter. From reviews and information I've read, I won't see full results until a few months after my last treatment. I'm planning on doing another treatment in late November, and my final treatment in late December, so that means I'll see full results around Feburary of 2020. I'll update this as I go forward!

This time, the treatment hurt more, even though everything was done the same way. Maybe I was more tense, or anticipating the pin-prick feeling, I don't know, but I was more uncomfortable than I was the first time. Because we knew where I experienced the most pain last time, we slathered that part of my face with numbing cream, and it didn't hurt as much. However, the part that he warned me would hurt most, my upper lip, did indeed hurt the most (and was done last).

I'm thinking next time I will take ibuprofen a couple of hours before the procedure and see if that helps.

I'm writing this just two hours after the treatment, and now I feel great. I came home, took two ibuprofen, and just feel slightly numb still from the numbing cream. My face looks flushed, like I have a sunburn. My next appointment is in early January, six weeks from now.

My skin is a little pink, but otherwise looks great— I used Vaseline in my face the first 48 hours and took ibuprofen a few times for soreness and itching. Some skin pilled (like a sweater) when I removed and reapplied the Vaseline.

Today, I put on some moisturizer and took this photo before putting on my makeup for Thanksgiving Day.