POSTED UNDER Fraxel Laser REVIEWS
Fraxel Beware - Valparaiso, IN
ORIGINAL POST
I had read review after review on Fraxel for years...
7975anonMay 1, 2016
$1,500
I had read review after review on Fraxel for years. My skin in general was not bad, no acne scars, but I had noticed a change in texture with age & some minor discoloration. I'm fair skinned & freckled since I can remember. I'm pretty religious about SPF. Most of wrinkles, pretty mild for 49, are due to facial expression. I have seen my doctor for about 10 years & I trust him. However I did avoid the push for fraxel years ago. After seeing mixed reviews, I was really torn but I trusted my doctor's aesthetician that it would improve the tone & texture. I bought package for 3. The 1st time one aesthetician was quite mild as she wanted to get a baseline for my skin. I actually had little peeling & did have a weird area on my cheek that seemed "whiter" than surrounding skin. Wasn't really impressed but not distressed either. I waited quite some time for the 2nd treatment. The 2nd time, the doc's senior aesthetician went a bit more aggressively. They had even advised me to not cease my retinol. Which the 1st time I did. I had even consulted another doctor prior years & they said cease retinols, etc prior. So I was surprised I was told to keep using. I really only use quite sparingly anyways. Needless to say, I had the sunburn look & swelling all of which I expected. Actually the few days after I liked how my face looked full & young. Well, that didn't last long. There was an area around my mouth that peeled much worse & in fact became purplish. I was only using mild cleansers as instructed. The same area was very sensitive to heat or cold and for about 6 months appeared discolored. I suspect a broken blood vessel. 6 months later, I'm not happy. I still see discoloration and also have developed persistent blushing in my face. Not quite rosacea as its not bumpy but I'm tired of having red splotchy cheeks. Cover up helps only mildly. Before, I was able to go out with only a light tinted moisturizer or BB cream. Now unless, I want to look like I've been hitting the bottle all day, I've to apply heavy foundation. Maybe it's my unhappiness but in all honesty I also feel as if zapped some of the volume from my face. I've generally been lucky to have a full cheek. I know I'm aging but it seems to have sped up since the procedure.
Replies (15)
May 2, 2016
Hi..can you please tell me how my treatments u had and what type?..I think you still look good..besides the redness on your cheeks...Have you had any kind of follow up treatment? I just had one treatment of dual fraxel restore and my face is a mess..I have 2 more treatments left but decided not to do them..due to the first results....I wonder if anyone has had any good outcome from these treatments?
WISH I DIDNT HAVE IT.DONE....GOOD LUCK...
WISH I DIDNT HAVE IT.DONE....GOOD LUCK...
May 5, 2016
I bought a package of 3. It was recommended I do them 2-3 months apart. The 1st I did in January 2015. It was very mild, little peeling even- although I noticed one area on my cheek that seemed whiter than rest of face. The 1st aesthetician said she wanted to get a baseline & discuss results to get an idea of how she should proceed 2nd time. I ceased all retinol product on my face about a two weeks prior due to a previous consult with another aesthetician. Due to scheduling I was unable to schedule 2nd appt until Nov of 2015. This time I had another aesthetician at same office. She's actually worked in office longer- 10 years that I've gone to office. She said she was going to be a bit more aggressive. This time I had not ceased retinol product as I was told prior to this appt not to do that. They said I wanted to peel. I'm not heavy handed on retin-A either. I take frequent breaks from it & I only use it in cream at night. No other peeling product, no glycolics, etc as my skin can be on dry side these days. I knew I would be redder this time around & I was. But again, I noticed a weird patch around one side of my face that was more blue or purple. It actually would turn those colors for months after being exposed to heat or cold outside. However, at first my skin looked great. It was milky white as I hadn't seen in years. I developed freckles around 6 and they've been there since. I'm not a huge sun worshipper.
I backed off on 3rd appt. Even aesthetician said she wouldn't do it as my skin still seemed irritated 5 months later. They offered me to use my last treatment towards another laser service but in all honesty I think I'm going to ask for a refund. I've noticed a woman at work whom I know to use IPL for hormonal skin pigmentation. The pigmentation is mostly gone but she seems to have lost facial volume. I've always had healthy cheeks. Chubby cheeks you hate when you're young but grateful for when you're older. I'd rather not risk messing with something that isn't too bad. I'm ok with my freckles & mild pigmentation problems due to aging.
If you're going to do it. I'd lay off any retin products prior. Do 1st treatment as a baseline. You may only get mild results but you can't go back when it's over aggressive. I'd also highly recommend on insisting on same aesthetician from procedure to procedure.
I backed off on 3rd appt. Even aesthetician said she wouldn't do it as my skin still seemed irritated 5 months later. They offered me to use my last treatment towards another laser service but in all honesty I think I'm going to ask for a refund. I've noticed a woman at work whom I know to use IPL for hormonal skin pigmentation. The pigmentation is mostly gone but she seems to have lost facial volume. I've always had healthy cheeks. Chubby cheeks you hate when you're young but grateful for when you're older. I'd rather not risk messing with something that isn't too bad. I'm ok with my freckles & mild pigmentation problems due to aging.
If you're going to do it. I'd lay off any retin products prior. Do 1st treatment as a baseline. You may only get mild results but you can't go back when it's over aggressive. I'd also highly recommend on insisting on same aesthetician from procedure to procedure.
May 5, 2016
Your face looks exactly the same and very pretty. I don't see any loss of volume. You do look a bit more pale but that can't possibly be due to a laser treatment.
July 5, 2016
The redness on your cheeks is quite visible in the photo. Others have reported serious inflammation after laser treatments which can take months to subside. They recommend using only a few, mild products to reduce inflammation like raw honey, montana emu oil. If interested, you can search for 'orange peel texture' on this site.
July 6, 2016
Hi thank you for the review , im so sorry your experience has not been a pleasant one . Like you ive been looking at reviews for awhile now & they are so mixed. But im now convinced to leave well alone & just continue to use botox & fillers as lasers are just to abbravise for most people skin. Im 47 years & like you have no scarring & not much pigmentation as religious about spf. My issue is volume & tone elasticity & dentatation under eyes ..... you are a beautiful woman before & after I mean that. Try & use very natura soothing skincare to heal & calm the skin nourish the skin from within with complete vitamin B foods as this effects our skin....I wish you the very best & thank you for your review as it has made me realize it is not worth ir. Lasers should be taken off the market completely. Take care of yourself :-)
UPDATED FROM 7975anon
2 years post
16 months post 2nd treatment
7975anonFebruary 24, 2017
Well, the redness I had in my face & the small broken vessel eventually went away, so I wasn't left with anything permanently damaged. Facial volume is difficult to gauge. I feel like I've lost it but photos don't really show what I see. I find once you start futzing with your face, you are rarely ever satisfied - especially as natural aging rears its ugly head. Sometimes your aging face is like Facebook & your life, you're more satisfied when it's not under a lens for constant inspection and self-critique. I'm not anti tweaking my looks or doing things to slow down aging, but I'm finding some of that has to come from within. I didn't notice a huge benefit for the cost of this procedure...no benefit more than an average peel would give and the annoying daily redness & purple discoloration whenever the broken vessel was exposed to heat or cold outlasted the texture improvement. Texture appeared smoother for a month, the discoloration & flushing lasted 7-8 months. I think collagen production would be difficult to gauge & if there is, it's probably only minimal, if at all.
Replies (3)
February 24, 2017
What's your skin care regime? Plus your diet. Ever since I went through harsh acne topicals from over the counter to prescription my skin has never been the same. My skin has open pores, very sensitive and just doesn't feel healthy unlike my lads that have normal skin. I did notice some improvement with using very high quility skin care and hope it just gets my skin back to normal. Plus do you use serums that repair the skin. I am using Tammy fender skin care line it's very expensive but unlike the junk they sell at the drug store it actually is doing its job in repairing my skin. Once I started to use Quintessential Serum from this skin care line my face is defiantly seeing improvement and hope it can fully heal.
March 21, 2017
Up until recently, I never stuck with any expensive skin serums etc, just retin A on & off since I was young. I started it in my teens because of acne & used later as I aged. I've recently switched to Glotherapeuitcs cyto luxe cleanser. It's very mild and a little goes a long way. A tube will last 6 months easily using it 2 times a day. I use a clarisonic. I've switched to Neova products, one being a copper peptide cream & I do feel like it truly firms the skin. Again, after those products, always a good sunscreen. At night I use a fairly inexpensive derma-e product, DMAE cream. I've been using this for years on & off. I also occasionally make a homemade vitamin c serum but it often feels heavy on my skin. Homemade is the way to go with C serums as I really don't think you're getting a stable product from costly store serums. There are recipes online & way cheaper to make it at home. You can make enough for a week...so the stability is hopefully better. Vitamin c & copper peptides might be the way to go to help your skin heal.
I do think we tend to overproduct our skin sometimes. My doc was pushing retin A & hydroquinone - thin the skin to build collagen, but when I did that, I had irritation much of the time. An aesthetician recommended I cut out the hyroquinone & cut back on the retin A. I like my freckles, so ivory skin wasn't a goal I wanted anyway from the hydro. I also like redlight therapy for my face. It takes some dedication, but I think you will see healing & firmness. & a help with pigmentation. You can by inexpensive light bulbs for home use. You don't need to buy the fancy costly machines. Ruby lux makes a good large heat producing bulb or a smaller led red bulb which can be placed directly on your skin. Both are available for $20 each on amazon.
As for diet, I eat healthy 1/2 time and other times when stressed I don't. But I've never smoked, sunbathed to any extreme and alcohol is rare for me...other than red wine a few times a month.
I do think we tend to overproduct our skin sometimes. My doc was pushing retin A & hydroquinone - thin the skin to build collagen, but when I did that, I had irritation much of the time. An aesthetician recommended I cut out the hyroquinone & cut back on the retin A. I like my freckles, so ivory skin wasn't a goal I wanted anyway from the hydro. I also like redlight therapy for my face. It takes some dedication, but I think you will see healing & firmness. & a help with pigmentation. You can by inexpensive light bulbs for home use. You don't need to buy the fancy costly machines. Ruby lux makes a good large heat producing bulb or a smaller led red bulb which can be placed directly on your skin. Both are available for $20 each on amazon.
As for diet, I eat healthy 1/2 time and other times when stressed I don't. But I've never smoked, sunbathed to any extreme and alcohol is rare for me...other than red wine a few times a month.
May 9, 2017
I am glad you dont have any permanent damage. I have decided once I heal my skin from this laser damage, I am never ever doing anything crazy to my face again.
Good luck finding any proper help or real positive results for Fraxel damage on this site...