POSTED UNDER Fraxel Laser REVIEWS
Fraxel 1540 XD - Mild to Moderate Acne Scarring- Lehigh Valley, PA
ORIGINAL POST
I am a 27 year old Caucasian female with light...
Lindsey8885June 3, 2013
$400
I am a 27 year old Caucasian female with light olive toned skin. I have mild to moderate acne scars on my cheeks and chin. Most are just rolling and box scars. I just recently had my first treatment with the fraxel 1540 xd hand piece this past Friday. Before the procedure, I got injected with lidocaine to numb my face. Wasn’t too happy getting 10+ needles to the face, but the doctor reassured me that it would make the procedure 95% more comfortable for me. WRONG. Wow, I did not expect this treatment to be so painful! I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, in my opinion.. but, I feel like getting tattooed on the face would hurt less. LOL. I got 6 passes for each spot on my face. It feel like electric burning bee stings. Thankfully, it only took about 20-25 minutes. Afterwards, my face felt very hot and puffy and the technician gave me an ice roller to roll on my face.. I was practically drooling while rolling it on my face because it felt so good.
Afterwards, I did not look as bad as I felt or thought I would I looked sunburnt, but that’s about it. I even went to grab a bite to eat afterwards. I iced my face every hour for about 10 minutes that night. In the morning, I actually looked fine! My face wasn’t even red. I had tiny little etch marks from the laser, but I don’t think anyone would notice but me or if they were staring right at it. I was fine to be in public.
Yesterday and today my face looks the same. Still no swelling or added redness. I think the etch laser marks are a bit more prominent, they just look brown. It looks like very mild brush burn. For some reason, it’s mainly on my chin, my cheeks are fine. I was able to go to the gym yesterday, sweating didn’t bother me at all. I am at work today and no one noticed a thing. I still didn’t put makeup on, because I feel like it would look worse than slight brush burn. I broke out very slightly on my chin – just minor, very tiny bumps/whiteheads that I gently brushed to remove. Nothing upsetting!
I will keep everyone updated on my progress within the next month or so. I know that it takes 6 weeks to start seeing improvement and can continue seeing improvement for like 6 months. I have a follow-up with my doctor this Friday.
PS – I am not sure how many treatments I will need. My doctor originally said 1-3 because he thinks I will see pretty good improvement from only one. He wants me to wait a while before scheduling another treatment.
Afterwards, I did not look as bad as I felt or thought I would I looked sunburnt, but that’s about it. I even went to grab a bite to eat afterwards. I iced my face every hour for about 10 minutes that night. In the morning, I actually looked fine! My face wasn’t even red. I had tiny little etch marks from the laser, but I don’t think anyone would notice but me or if they were staring right at it. I was fine to be in public.
Yesterday and today my face looks the same. Still no swelling or added redness. I think the etch laser marks are a bit more prominent, they just look brown. It looks like very mild brush burn. For some reason, it’s mainly on my chin, my cheeks are fine. I was able to go to the gym yesterday, sweating didn’t bother me at all. I am at work today and no one noticed a thing. I still didn’t put makeup on, because I feel like it would look worse than slight brush burn. I broke out very slightly on my chin – just minor, very tiny bumps/whiteheads that I gently brushed to remove. Nothing upsetting!
I will keep everyone updated on my progress within the next month or so. I know that it takes 6 weeks to start seeing improvement and can continue seeing improvement for like 6 months. I have a follow-up with my doctor this Friday.
PS – I am not sure how many treatments I will need. My doctor originally said 1-3 because he thinks I will see pretty good improvement from only one. He wants me to wait a while before scheduling another treatment.
Replies (4)
June 13, 2013
I am so sorry to hear you guys in pain. I had Fraxel on May 17. The treatment took 3 hours. On the first hour I was given a Motrin and axiclovir to prevent any blisters which are known to flare up with this procedure. This is standard practice for all patients. I was then smeared a topical numbing cream all over the face. No needles at all. It took one hour to numb completely. I could not feel a thing. They covered my eyes and started the laser. I could not feel anything except when he was reaching the area just beyond the numbing cream. After the procedure, the assistant cleaned my face, blew my face with a cooling wand and put a cooling plastic face mask for a while. I looked red as a sunburn but no pain at all. I actually went out that night. The results were ok. I went for hyperpigmentation. The coloring improved slightly. The texture improved significantly. I knew I had to get several treatments and the doctor recommended the next one in 2 months so my skin is not damaged. Also a week prior to the treatment I had to stop all vitamins and bleaching creams. After reading the horror stories I am glad I went to Dr. Nowak.
October 6, 2019
Do you mind if I ask who you went to? You can send me a message if you don't want to publicly post. Thank you
Thanks for sharing your story. How long are you waiting to see if you need another treatment? Please keep us posted on your progress.