Fraxel Not Worth It - San Diego, CA

I am 51 years old.

I had 4 treatments of Fraxel restore, and 2 IPL's were included in the price. I chose this Dr. because the price was good compared to others, close to my house, and I had had IPL with her before. She recommended I have thermage, which was cheaper, but after reading reviews here I was scared of that, and had seen more favorable worth it reviews for fraxel, so I chose Fraxel. She is a sweet Dr. and the help is nice.The office required me to come in an hour before and used a numbing cream. The Dr. performed the actual procedure. Once I was numb I was treated with the Fraxel. Pain was minimal, but it is not comfortable. I could compare it to heating pinpricks on your skin in small selected areas, and the Dr. went over and over some spots. Afterwards my face was super red which subsided by the next day.I also had swelling especially around eyes which was ok because it looked just a little temporarily plumped, and less wrinkled. I looked like I had a sunburn for a few days. After 2-3 days the peeling starts. I had 7-10 days of peeling and mild scabbing after each treatment. I still went about my day and wore makeup, but I do not work so I may have felt differently going to a job. I didn't think it looked that bad, just super dry. My kids never said what happened to your face or anything, and normally they would! After the second treatment I got a blister on one side of my nose where my eyeglasses pad had rubbed. This same side still has a red scar, and also under eye area is crepey looking and has a small brown spot. I do not know if the settings were too high, if it was the Dr. or just my skin's reaction, or what? I It is not severely disfiguring or anything, but my goal of having smoother younger skin, and wearing less makeup is not going to happen. I actually have to wear a little more to cover areas. I also hoped that this would minimize my pores, but it definetly did not. One small area of faint acne scars seems better, but it is hardly worth the trade off of these other scar and brown spot. BTW I faithfully wore sunscreen and followed Dr. orders following procedures.