I Think I Really Needed This!

I admit, I almost cancelled my appointment after reading some of the horror stories on this board, but I decided to forge ahead. I had my first fraxel treatment today. Yes, it was a little uncomfortable in spots, like around the lips and the upper eyelids, where it felt like nips of static electricity. But I hardly felt it on the rest of the face.

It's now 6 hours later and I can hardly see that anything was done to my face at all, except for a little redness. And the technician told me she was pretty aggressive for my first treatment. The other reason I'm glad I went was that I got my first really close look at my own skin, after they took the photos and showed them to me.

My gosh -- at age 55, I have a lot more sun damage than I really appreciated. I lived for a number of years in the tropics, and always used sunscreen, but I guess it wasn't enough.

I have a lot of pigmentary changes plus some fine wrinkles around the eyes. But mostly, what I seem to have is incredibly dry and inflamed skin. The technician (she works in a practice supervised by two M.D.'s) spent a lot of time after the treatment emphasizing preventive skin care, and I came home with a number of moisturizing products, plus a recommended sunscreen.

After half a century of pretty much ignoring my skin, I'm now going to be scrupulous about taking care of it. Anyway, so far, I'd consider Fraxel a breeze. I'm going for the full five treatments. (They told me I need them. And I agree.) I know I'm supposed to answer the question: "was it worth it?" It's too early to say. But for now, I'll just check "yes."

Okay, it's now a day and a half since my first Fraxel treatment, and I have to say, I don't know what the big deal is with complaints of side effects.  I have only a little swelling, and I went around town to do errands today.  Prior to the treatment, I cancelled a social event for tomorrow, and now I'm sorry I did.  I'd be able to attend it no problem.  I'm just a little bit darker than usual, but only someone looking really closely at me would be able to see I was swollen.

My assessment:  so far, it's a piece of cake.  Just waiting to see what it looks like in a week!

 6 days out:  Skin is no longer red or flaking, and the "tan" is fading.  So far unable to see much difference since before Fraxel, although the skin does feel a little tighter around the eyes.  Still waiting to see improvement...