Fraxel^® Laser Skin Resurfacing

Fraxel® Laser Skin Resurfacing Key Points:

• Dramatic improvement of fine lines and wrinkles
• Rejuvenates facial and neck skin, especially due to aging & sun damage
• Improves wrinkles around eyes and mouth
• Reduces appearance of acne scars
• Can improve skin texture and tone, and reduce size of pores
• Can improve brown spots
• Works on all skin types
• Minimal down time

For Before and After Images of Fraxel® Skin Resurfacing, Follow This Link: http://www.Fraxel.com/photo-gallery/

Visage Medical Skin Care is the only Cosmetic Medicine office in Cape Coral to offer Fraxel® laser skin resurfacing. Visage is also one of few medical offices in Southwest Florida to offer Fraxel® laser skin resurfacing.

The Fraxel® Laser Resurfacing Process is a revolutionary non-surgical anti aging procedure. Fraxel® laser treatments can take years off your skin’s appearance. Normal aging, sun exposure, acne and smoking can take their toll on your skin. The result is fine lines, wrinkles, brown spots, scars and sagging of the skin. Until recently, the ability to reverse these signs of aging and sun damage was limited to an older laser technology that had a high complication rate and significant down-time.

The Fraxel® laser has moved to the forefront of Cosmetic Medicine as the first choice of a technology to treat these skin conditions:

1) Fine lines and moderate wrinkles
2) Irregular or rough skin texture
3) Areas of skin discoloration, sun and age spots, hyperpigmentation and melasma
4) Sagging skin
5) Acne scarring

The benefits include the development of smoother, fresher, younger appearing skin with less lines and wrinkles. The skin will become tighter and brown spots will improve. Skin improvements, especially due to new collagen formation, will continue for several months after the treatment.

After a series of treatments the skin becomes softer, smoother and fresher. The fine lines around the eyes will improve dramatically. Brown spots caused by aging and excess sun exposure will decrease significantly. And, unlike older skin resurfacing treatments, there is minimal down-time involved!

How Fraxel® laser skin resurfacing works

The Fraxel® laser is an FDA approved laser that produces thousands of tiny columns of Microthermal Treatment Zones (MTZ’s) in your skin. Skin surrounding the treated areas is unaffected. A “fractional” treatment approach allows the skin to heal much faster than if all the skin was treated at once. The Fraxel® laser is non-invasive, so it does not break the skin’s surface. This greatly decreases risk of infection and other related side effects. Following each treatment, natural skin healing makes new healthy tissue to replace the treated skin.

Microthermal Treatment Zones (MTZ’s)

This laser refines the skin in a precise fashion. A treatment course consists of 3-5 procedures, normally spaced 4 weeks apart. The Fraxel® Laser gently remodels collagen under the treated area of skin. Improvements in your appearance will continue for up to six months, or more.

Preparing your skin for Fraxel® laser skin surfacing

Your skin should not be tan prior to undergoing Fraxel® treatment. If you have used Accutane in the past, you cannot have Fraxel® treatment for one year after stopping Acctuane. You should stop use of topical retinoids (e.g., Differin, Retin-A, Retin-A Micro, Tazorac) for at least 2-4 weeks before you begin Fraxel® treatments. If you are prone to cold sores more frequently than once every 6 months, or you get cold sores after medical/ dental treatments involving your mouth area, an antiviral medication such as Valtrex can be prescribed to decrease the chance of cold sores forming after treatment.

What to expect before and during your Fraxel® laser treatment

During your initial consult with the doctor, your skin will be evaluated with the Profect Photo Analysis System, a computerized digital imaging system that will not only establishes your baseline “Before” image, but also has the capability of seeing under the surface of your skin to look for changes that are not yet apparent. This is done with specialized ultraviolet digital photography. With this information and after careful examination, a personalized Fraxel® laser treatment plan is made for you.

Just prior to treatment, you will wash your skin. Then, a numbing medicine is applied to the treatment area for 45 minutes. We will place a blue tint on the treatment area. This allows the laser to see your skin contours and target imperfections. During the treatment, the hand piece of the Fraxel® laser is precisely guided over your skin. There can be slight discomfort at times. Patients have sometimes described this as a “prickling” sensation. Most patients tolerate the Fraxel® procedure very well. The Fraxel® resurfacing procedure usually takes about 30 minutes. After the treatment, you will again clean your treated skin, and a sunscreen/ moisturizer will be applied.

What your treated skin will look like after Fraxel® treatment

You may feel like your skin has a mild sunburn, since it may have a mild burning sensation and a pink color. Occasionally, skin swelling occurs. These sensations may last for 1-5 days. Often, they last for a shorter time. Mild skin reactions like these occur when the healing process is underway. Some flaking of skin can occur; this is the older, damaged skin leaving the surface. Skin can feel “gritty” for 7-10 days after treatment. Moisturizers are important and should be used twice or more daily. Sunscreen (SPF 30-60+) is very important and should be applied at least twice daily for the first week, regardless of sun exposure. However, there is no oozing, crusting or bleeding.

Are there limits to my activity after Fraxel® treatment?

You can resume normal activities right after treatment. Makeup can be applied whenever you like. However, you will need to protect your skin from excess sun exposure, especially in the weeks after treatment. Since a laser is an intense light source, and we live under intense Southwest Florida sunlight, protection from the sun is very important. Even if you are not exposed to direct sunlight, sun block (SPF 30-60+) should be applied twice daily for the first week after treatment, and once daily for the second week after treatment.  In addition, sun exposure should be minimized for 10 days after treatment. If you must be exposed to sunlight, sun block should be applied every two hours when exposed to sunlight.

Complications after Fraxel® laser resurfacing

Side effects are very uncommon with the Fraxel® laser, since the resurfacing process is well controlled and predictable. With any laser treatment, there are the risks of side effects. These include short term bruising, swelling, tenderness, and temporary or permanent hypo- or hyper-pigmentation and scarring. The laser can be used in all skin types, but it is used with more caution in patients with the darkest skin types.

Number of treatments needed

The total number of treatments you will need depends on the extent of wrinkles, scarring and sun damage at the treatment area. The range of treatments that is typical is 3-5, usually spaced 4 weeks apart.

Treatments that can improve results with Fraxel® laser resurfacing

Botox® can reduce lines in motion at the upper face. Lines at rest can be filled with Restylane®, Juvederm® and Perlane®. Microdermabrasion can assist Fraxel® treatments in removing fine lines and wrinkles, and improves skin texture, especially after Fraxel® treatments. IPL/ Photo Facial treatments can work with Fraxel® to reduce brown spots. All these procedures are available at Visage Medical Skin Care.

How to get started

Contact us for your consultation today. Dr. Caschette can then determine if you are a suitable candidate for Fraxel® laser skin resurfacing. He will discuss the procedure with you and answer your questions.