Fraxel™ - Related FAQ's

Q: Does Fraxel™ help scars?

A: One of the most common treatments that occurs in my office is my Fraxel™ Restore laser and Fraxel™ Repair laser for acne scars and traumatic scars, whether from accidents or surgical scars such as reconstruction after skin cancer and Mohs surgery. The Fraxel™ Restore does create very significant improvement in the appearance of scars in the majority of patients with minimal down time. Patients do get slightly red and notice slight flaking and minimal bronzing sometimes, but they are able to go out to dinner and socialize immediately! The Fraxel™ Repair laser induces significant downtime and socialization is typically not considered for about 10 to 12 days after the procedure.

Q: Does Fraxel™ need to be done in a series every three weeks?

A:Although most patients want to get the best result as soon as possible and schedule the next Fraxel™ Restore as soon as we allow which usually is three weeks, many patients' schedules, and some patients' finances, don't allow for a regularity of this schedule. It is still acceptable to schedule followup treatments whenever they can be done as the collagen that is produced from one laser is not temporary and the next one will build on this.

Q: What is the cream you recommend after Fraxel™ Restore?

A: I have studied, exhaustively, many different creams in the past several years. Bio2, Elta, Aveene, Clinique, and Skin Medica are usually well tolerated, but the Ceramide is the best after Fraxel™ Restore for most patients. And some who undergo significant resurfacing with high density settings in Fraxel™ Restore do well with using the Skin Medica Restorative Ointment for the first couple of days followed by Ceramide.

Q: Do I need general anesthesia to undergo resurfacing?

A: In the "olden" days, I used an anaesthesiologist to put my patients under. I rarely do intravenous sedation for my patients and Fraxel™ Restore is so well tolerated with the cold air delivery by Zimmer that no other anaesthesia is needed. Skin Medica has such a great research team and has found that Ceramide cream helps the healing phase.

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