What you need to know about using fraxel laser to remove your acne scars

Last month Norah R., who is one of Beauty Match’s readers, gracefully shared her first session and first experience with fraxel laser to help her erase acne scars that have been bothering her for decades now.

I don’t have the type of scaring that Norah has because mine are all at the surface, but because my scars are dark, I have to say that they really bother me. It was so bad this past summer, that it affected the way I dressed because I wasn’t willing to expose my shoulders which were covered with dark hyperpigmentation spots.

I can surely sympathize with Norah and her quest for perfect skin and relief from acne scars.

If you didn’t have a chance to catch Norah’s first post, I’d recommend that you start reading that post first: Have you considered laser resurfacing to get rid of your severe acne scars?

Story submitted by reader Norah R.

New year, new me! Or, at least, that’s the idea.

After my first Fraxel treatment in November, 2008, I can’t honestly say I was looking forward to the next one. It’s painful! And for someone with a low pain threshold like me, the pain was almost unbearable the first time around … how would I react with a higher setting on the laser, as the technician mentioned the last time?

The night before my treatment, I was so nervous about the pain, I couldn’t sleep. I woke up almost every hour on the hour, until it was 6.30 am and time to get up for real.

I booked a morning appointment this time. There is one key benefit to a morning appointment — for Fraxel, your skin has to be make-up free and as clean as possible before the treatment begins. My first appointment was in the afternoon, and I felt the tiny sink, rough paper towels and Cetaphyl cleanser at the hospital didn’t really get all my make-up off that I had been wearing all day.  The benefit of an early-morning appointment is that you can go straight from your home after a pore-opening hot shower and not have to bother with make-up in the first place … your skin is already clean and ready to go. So I would recommend that!

Unfortunately, even though my skin was clean, it wasn’t really cooperating with me. Holiday stress led to a minor breakout on my chin — two or three pimples I had hoped to get rid of before my treatment began (the procedure doesn’t work well unless the skin is blemish-free) but, of course, they didn’t go away. (I wondered if maybe the heat and power of the Fraxel laser might blast them into oblivion, but unfortunately not.)

I showed up at the hospital by 8.30 a.m., my appointment time, only to be told the technician didn’t come in until 9 a.m.  In the interests of saving time, the receptionist put the numbing gel on my face straight away — it has to ‘set’ for an hour to truly numb your skin — and I waited for the technician to arrive.  I was also given a prescription for Percocet this time around, as the Tylenol 3s from the previous appointment didn’t really take the edge off the pain.  Except, the hospital pharmacy didn’t open until 9 a.m. either, so I wasn’t able to fill the prescription until then. I didn’t actually take the Percocet (just one, to start) until 9.15 a.m., and I was supposed to have the procedure at 9.30 a.m. Fifteen minutes is not very much time for a drug to kick in, even one as strong as this. I asked the technician (who had arrived at work now) if we could wait a little bit longer to see if the Percocet would take effect.

We wound up doing the procedure at about 9.50 a.m. My face was fully frozen by that point and the drug was starting to take effect, so I had hoped we would be good to go. I have never taken Percocet before — I didn’t like the way it made me feel, like my limbs were made of lead. Everything felt heavy and my brain felt slow, but I was still able to chat and fully converse with the technician throughout the procedure. I was hoping the Percocet would knock me out (especially as I hadn’t had much sleep) but the pain from the laser was so intense that there was no way I could sleep through it.

Last time, the setting for the laser was apparently at number 6. This time, the technician upped it to 7. Not a tremendous increase, and to be honest, it didn’t hurt any more than it did the last time (which is to say, it hurt A LOT). When you’re dealing with that kind of pain, incremental increases are negligible!  Again, the procedure lasted about 25 minutes. The first pass-through, where the laser was moved over my skin in vertical movements was extremely uncomfortable, but I could get through it.  The second pass-through, where the laser was moved over my skin in horizontal movements was unbearable. I had to ask the technician to stop twice throughout the procedure so I could take a mini-break (but at least I didn’t tear up this time).  All the time, I was supposed to hold this cooling air pipe and aim it on the skin that was being lasered, but my eyes were closed and protected by pads and goggles, so I couldn’t actually see the path of the laser to follow it with the air pipe, I had to just go by where I felt it, and my reaction/response was delayed because of the Percocet.  Finally, the technician took pity on me and held the air pipe herself to cool my face down as we were going along.

The procedure took exactly half an hour, and by 10.30 a.m., I was in the back of a private car service, being taken back to my house, with ice packs to cool my face down. Once I got home, an hour later, the Percocet really kicked in (but by this point, I wasn’t feeling any pain — the pain for me was only during the procedure, not afterwards) and I fell asleep for nearly 3 hours.

Like last time, the next day was worse than the actual day of the procedure. My face swelled up like a tomato — I didn’t even recognize myself in the mirror. But it’s three days later now and the swelling is almost gone, just the redness remains. My skin is starting to crust and flake, and I’m trying to resist the urge to scrub the flakes off (that might expose me to infection) and just use Cetaphyl moisturiser on the affected areas.

Did I notice a difference after the first treatment?

No, not really. But then, I see my face every day and I suppose it’s harder for me to see the changes. I’ve only told three girlfriends about the procedure, and all three of them swear they can see some changes on my face, but I’m not convinced yet. Still, I know there are three more treatments to go, and the changes happen very gradually, beneath the surface of your skin. I just have to be patient — not one of my stronger points, I’m afraid!

My results one week later:

All the swelling has gone now, and I think I can notice some improvement in the scars on my cheeks. They’re still there, just maybe not as pronounced as before … or maybe this is wishful thinking on my part — it’s so hard to tell when you see your own face 24/7/365!

>>>> If any other Beauty Match readers have any great beauty experiences to share with us or even before and after photos of great accomplishments, don’t hesitate to email me with your idea, and I can write a post on your behalf and share your outcomes with our other readers.

I think it makes such a huge difference when you realize that you’re not alone and that other people are also dealing with some of the same beauty or aging issues than you!

>>>> Don’t forget to leave a comment below if you too have undergone any laser resurfacing treatments.

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Photo by Bitterjug