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Thread: Fraxel or Laser Peel

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    Featured Member tRoUbLeMaKeR's Avatar
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    Default Fraxel or Laser Peel

    So i think I'm ready to admit that I need to do something about my acne scars I met with a doctor who said fraxel was an option that wouldn't leave me with a lot of down time but that a laser peel would produce better results but would have a lengthy recovery time. Does anyone have any experiance with either of these specifically for acne scarring? I've heard of fraxel not working for everyone and I've also heard of people having bad laser peels done . I was hopign you ladies might have some input.
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    God/dess Zabrina's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    I don't have experience with those, but I'm glad to see your already past the stuff that doesn't work: peels, microdermabrasions, smoothbeam laser

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    Yeah, I have a few scars i'd like to take care of too. I'm going to talk to my dermatologist in about two weeks to see what she can what I need to do. Since i'm already done with my med. treatment today.

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    Featured Member tRoUbLeMaKeR's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    I've tried microdermabraison and it didn't do anything for my scars
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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    ^ Yeah same here. I had several microdermabrasions combined with acid peels on the same day and it still did nothing for scars.

    There was a member on SW a while back who had laser resurfacing for scars and she said it worked wonderfully. I don't think she has posted recently, but at the time we pm'd and she only had the best things to say about the laser.

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    Featured Member tRoUbLeMaKeR's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    You had an acid peel and it didn't give decent results? Wow...I always thought acid peels were the most effective!
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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    A co-worker of mine used faxel and she had great results. It took like 5 years off her face. I think she did it for minor wrinkles, few acne scars and freckles. The whole process took about a year doing them every 3-4 months I think. It was well worth the money from an outsiders pov.
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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    Quote Originally Posted by tRoUbLeMaKeR View Post
    You had an acid peel and it didn't give decent results? Wow...I always thought acid peels were the most effective!
    I have some poc-mark scars on my temples. Yeah all those peels with micro did nothing for the little indents. At the same time, I was also doing smoothbeam laser which is supposed stimulate collagen growth to fill in the dents but none of it worked.

    The only thing I've found that gets rid of the dents is collagen or restalyne fills. The doc takes a needle and injects a little bit of filler into each lil dent. For a day or two its lumpy but then it smooths out and looks fabulous....for about a month or two. The filler eventually gets absorbed and the skin goes back to normal. This is about $400 each treatment. It's no cure, just expensive maintenance. But it is an option if you happen to have the cash for upkeep but fear the laser.

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    I have been having IPL treatments for pigmentation using the harmony laser. Sorry I can't say anything about scars but it's had a great effect on pigmentation, broken veins and redness. It can also be used to treat scarring too. Fraxel is supposed to be good too and a bit stronger than harmony I think.

    The great thing about getting laser treatment is that it stimulates collagen production. I have noticed my skin looks fuller and smoother - bonus.

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    Quote Originally Posted by Vyanka View Post
    Yeah, I have a few scars i'd like to take care of too. I'm going to talk to my dermatologist in about two weeks to see what she can what I need to do. Since i'm already done with my med. treatment today.
    I think you have to wait 6 months after finishing Accutane to do any laser or chemical procedures on your skin. I really want to take care of my scars now, but my derm told me to wait.

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    Yes, you should definitely definitely definitely wait at LEAST 3 months after finishing accutane...or else your skin won't be able to heal well...and perhaps even the microdermabrasion or whatever you choose to do won't work as well because your skin hasn't regained its ability to heal very well.

    For me, I used to have horrrible cystic acne, went on accutane, which was a blessing despite the dry lips and perhaps some of the brain growth stunting it did, lol (they use accutane for people with brain tumors, helps slow the growth of the tumor, I've heard). Then I had the pock marks...not that bad, but they were noticable. I did lots of microdermabrasion and it actually helped me. There are all kinds of microdermabrasion. Sometimes there's "polish peel," which is a tame version of microdermabrasion. Not all microdermabrasion is created equally. They use different strengths of abrasing power. Some places want you to keep coming back, its' great for their business, so they use a low strength of abrasion, so it'd take you many many more sessions for you to see results. <<remember to wait I think 4 or 6 weeks in between each session>> Microdermabrasion over a period of 2 years helped a lot. I didn't do it every month. Just went to a place where they gave me a lot of bang for my buck. Yes, it hurt a bit on my skin, I was red afterwards,but it helped it a lot, and I couldn't afford to do pricier peels/laser resurfacing, etc.
    Maybe microdermabrasion hasn't worked on some of you because they used such weak abrasion power, or used crappy machines...It all really depends.
    I still have verrry verry shallow pock marks, maybe just 3 or 4, that I can notice on the side of my forehead, only when i'm in certain light, and it's really not that noticable at all anyways,but the deep ones are gone...
    Oh, and maybe taking good vitamins, minerals would help with your collagen production after the microderm treatments. If you don't fuel your body right, how can it heal to the best of its ability? Thus, maybe being on a super-strict, limiting, diet of let's say 1400 calories a day might impede good results? I'm just speculating...
    Keep shopping around, trying diffferent things... If you have very deep scars, you might want to opt for the other treatments, because microdermabrasion probably will not do the trick (unless you do it let's say every 6 weeks over a cours of a year)...Not sure if you have the patience to wait that long.
    But yeah, having face scars, it can be such a big thing for your self-esteem. It wasn't fun for me in those days with the pimples and then the scar pock marks...but hey...my skin is very nice now, so just realize that it issss possible to get nice skin again...but of course also remember that having nice skin isn't the be-all-cure-all of our daily life problems. but it's a nice boost

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    Quote Originally Posted by xxambyrrxx View Post
    I think you have to wait 6 months after finishing Accutane to do any laser or chemical procedures on your skin. I really want to take care of my scars now, but my derm told me to wait.
    Oh yeah, I know that. I just want to see which one is suitable for my type of scarring.

    BTW, I don't know what pit, rolling, pocket scarring look like? I mean, which one is which?

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    ^Yeah that was always confusing to me too. I never really found any good pics on acne.org.

    I'm pretty sure though, based on descriptions, that rolling scars are the shallow dents. You can pull the skin taut around a rolling scar and it smooths out. <--These are what I have at my temples.
    Pit scars I think are deeper but less wide. Like someone stabbed you with an icepick. WTF is pocket scarring, I have no idea.

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    Well, if my acne would ever truly go away instead of just looking gone, I would love to try this.
    I went to a specialist last year and bless his heart, he wouldn't do the treatment until my acne was completely gone. Now, if I could just accomplish this without accutane.
    And hey, I've tried everything else but tane for the last 10 years. Persagel thankfully keeps it incognito.

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    How do you treat hypertrophic scars.I have a few deep in my cleavage.I thought they were still small pimples,but they never went away.So now I know taht they are scars .What can I do to get rid of these?

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    jezebel,

    hypertrophic scars are the ones that are raised? like keloid scars?
    If that's what you mean, usually they can be cut out, and sewn back, except during the healing you have to make sure to use these flat silicone-ish sheets to help it heal flat.

    Or, get hydrocortisone injections. They help atrophy (another word for weaken/wear-down) the raised skin, make it flatter. Dermatologists do this. It's around 100 per shot depending on the doc. They inject you, wait 4 weeks or so, to see how flat it got, then might do more injections to help it get flatter even more if the first one didn't take care of all of it

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    Featured Member tRoUbLeMaKeR's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    So no one has had a laser peel? Faxel is lime $900 per treatment and I don't even know how much laser peels are...i'm just trying to figure out which is the best use of my money....it's comforting though to know I'm not the only dancer with acne scars! (yay!) sometimes it makes me very self concious
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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    Thanks da.Yeah those scars are raised but not as bad as keloids.Plus they never grow as big as keliods.Mines look like the pimple is still there just without the pus or reddness. Im going to look into the hydrocortisone injections because mines are too small to cut out.I think.

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    hey j,

    Visit a dermatologist...specifically one that advertises that they do a lot of "cosmetic dermatology" ...there's a big difference between those and the ones that do regular derm stuff...because regular derms might not be that experienced with stuff like scar removal, collagen, botox, freckle removal, etc... You want someone who is experienced with the hydrocortisone stuff...because if they inject too much, then it might cause the scar to over-atrophy...so then you'll get a depression there...a dipping or like a little pot hole, so to speak...but I guess that's if it's over-done...
    Look them up in the yellow pages...and call up for prices beforehand, because that kind of procedure isn't likely to be covered by insurance.

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    troublemaker,

    there are some dermatologist websites online...go google.com it, and you can probably find message boards where people are talking about how much they paid for laser peels, their results, different types of lasers used, their outcomes, etc... maybe google into "laser peel results" or "laser peel message boards."

    do your research beforehand, see the pros and cons of each type...you don't want to lay down money and find out it doens't work well for you (this is sorta a different-topic example, but....I paid a lot of money for some Retin A cream, which is for acne...it helps speed up skin turnover which helps with wrinke appearnace, collagen production, and scar decreased look, and pimple prevention), didn't do enough research beforehand, found out it turned me red like a tomato...even after a couple months of use...so i stopped using that stuff and witched to Differin.)

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    Default Re: Fraxel or Laser Peel

    thanks da!

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