What is Fraxel Laser Treatments?
Fraxel is a cosmetic laser treatment for problems associated with aging skin and is effective at temporarily erasing signs of wrinkles and other skin problems. The Fraxel laser is a fractional laser which causes the treated skin to rejuvenate much faster using the body’s natural healing process to create new healthy and tighter tissue.
What is it Good For?
Fraxel stands out from other cosmetic treatments such as popular skin injections like muscle relaxing injections like Botox®, by offering a solution to age spots and brown spots. Fraxel treatment is also used for treating acne or facial scars, removing sun damage including freckles and brown spots, erasing wrinkles and lines from the neck, face and hands, smoothing rough skin, improving skin texture and the treatment of melasma. It has also been used to improve the appearance of stretch marks in patients.
Laser skin resurfacing will help with wrinkles, skin tone and texture, as well as sun-damaged skin, but will not help with excess or sagging skin. If you have sagging skin, jowls or furrows, you might consider a lifestyle lift, endoscopic lift or a traditional face-lift. Supplemental treatments like chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and dermal fillers may be necessary to maintain results.
What is Fraxel Laser
Fraxel is a relatively new laser that many cosmetic treatment experts believe is superior to older laser technologies and Fotofacials (like IPL) at revitalizing the skin. There are some benefits to using lasers: they are non-invasive procedures with a lower risk of infection, they are relatively "bloodless" surgeries, they reduce the potential for scarring and can be less painful. Fraxel skin resurfacing is an out-patient/same-day surgery.
Fraxel is a minimally invasive or non-ablative laser therapy that uses heat to stimulate cells to thicken the underlying collagen resulting in skin tone and elasticity improvement. Since the Fraxel lasers do not remove the top layer of your skin, like alternative laser skin resurfacing treatments such as Carbon Dioxide Laser skin resurfacing, there is minimal swelling, redness, and recovery time. Fraxel is different from other laser procedures in that it treats a small fraction of the skin in a treatment area. The skin is left in place, allowing surrounding healthy tissue to grow into the heat damaged areas.
Benefits of a Fraxel Laser Treatment
Benefits with Fraxel is a short recovery time, you can return to regular activities immediately, there are no open wounds, and it works on all skin types and colors.
How does it work?
A blue tint ointment is applied to your skin. The tint highlights tiny folds in your skin's surface, allowing the Fraxel laser handpiece to pinpoint these areas. A topical anesthetic ointment is also applied to the treatment area approximately 60 minutes prior to treatment. The procedure usually takes between 20 to 25 minutes for a full face. The blue tint and anesthetic ointment are washed off immediately after the treatment. Patients describe Fraxel feeling like warmth and prickling on their skin, rather than sharp pain. It is common for patients to notice skin tightening following each treatment session.
It is recommended that a course of 4 treatments be undertaken to obtain an optimal result. Clinics generally charge depending upon the size of area to be treated. i.e. a full face can be £800 - £1,000 and a face and neck £1,200-£1,500
Complications associated with laser resurfacing may include burns or other injuries from the heat, scarring, and skin discolorations. In some patients, reactivation of a herpes simplex cold sore may occur and your doctor can give you a medication to prevent an outbreak. Some redness may linger for 2-to-4 days and then your skin may be dry and flaking for up to a week.
Other types of laser skin resurfacing include Erbium Yag, Intense Pulse Light IPL, Carbon Dioxide Laser