Very Happy After 4 Treatments

I'm recovering from my 4th fraxel right now. I have some pitted acne scars from when I was a teenager and they are definitely less noticable. I don't have any pigmentation issues because I'm fair skinned and I've stayed out of the sun most of my adult life. Overall, my skin is much fresher and smoother looking. I've been getting a lot of positive comments from my friends. I'm in LA and am going to a very well known cosmetic dermatologist whom I trust completely. I've done each treatment 4-6 weeks apart and she turns up the energy on the laser each time. Therefore, I get better results each time. She puts numbing cream on me for 1 1/2 hour before the treatment and I've had virtually no discomfort during the procedure. I just don't understand why I've read so many posts complaining about pain. Are you guys not using numbing cream? My first treatment required a full 5 days to recover. It was definitely the most difficult to recover from of the 4 treaments with the least results. I think I would have been discouraged if I had only done 1 treatment. I'm basically swollen for 48 hours. The day of the treatment the redness isn't that bad. On the second day I'm pretty dark and red with swelling. By the end of day 2 I start peeling. By day 3 I have no swelling and am peeling a lot. By day 4 I'm all peeled off. I think there are a lot of medi spas doing this laser, which I would be leary of. My dr requires that I start the anti viral rx valtrex a day before the treatment. She also does not use the laser directly under my eyes because she said the laser could damage my eye. I had inquired about fraxel at the medi spa where I get laser hair removal (it's staffed by a bunch of part time nurses who specialize in OB/GYN, etc and overseen by a dr I've never seen) and was told they use fraxel up to the lash line and they don't require any pre-op medications. This place was much cheaper than my dermatologist but I would rather pay more for somebody who is keeping up to date and values her reputation more than money. Overall I'm very happy. I will do more over time if my dr recommends it. My advice is: get at least 3 treatments, use numbing cream and go to a reputable dr.