Fraxel is a laser treatment, developed by Reliant Technologies Inc., to treat the signs of aging skin.
There are 3 levels of Fraxel treatments available:
- Fraxel Refine (the gentlest)
- Fraxel Restore (the most often used)
- Fraxel Repair (for severe skin damage)
All 3 laser systems are utilized in different ways to treat a variety of skin conditions. The most common uses of Fraxel are for the treatment of:
Wrinkles
With age, your skin's collagen and elastin break down, causing a loss of elasticity. This process can lead to fine lines and wrinkles. Fraxel can be used to treat wrinkles in a gentle and effective manner.
Age Spots
These brown spots are typically caused by over exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Fraxel can be used to treat these annoying spots while leaving healthy tissue intact.
Melasma
Melasma is often caused by hormonal fluctuations seen in pregnancy or with contraceptive use. It's sometimes referred to as "the mask of pregnancy," because it often shows as hyperpigmented areas of skin on the nose, cheeks and forehead areas. Fraxel can be used to reduce the discoloration of this often hard to treat condition.
Skin Resurfacing
Skin imperfections can be caused by environmental factors such as pollution, sun exposure or smoking. Over the years the skin's color, tone and texture are affected. Fraxel can be used to address these issues by stimulating the body to produce younger, healthier looking skin cells.
Acne and Surgical Scars
Scars can often remain long after acne has stopped being an issue. These can look like indentations or raised red marks and can give a wavy appearance to the skin. Surgical scars are a natural result of healing after an incision, but they can sometimes be more noticeable than people would like. Both these types of scars can be addressed with Fraxel treatment. Damaged tissue can be removed while keeping healthy skin intact.
Actinic Keratoses
More than 10 million Americans are thought to be affected by this precancerous skin condition, which is caused by too much sun exposure. Actinic Keratoses often looks like red, scaly areas on the face and body. Fraxel treatment can be used to remove these lesions and may prevent future damage to the skin.
Sun Induced Redness
The technical name for this condition is vascular dyschromia. The skin takes on a mottled appearance, from vascular changes brought about by too much sun exposure. The Fraxel Repair laser is the only FDA approved, non-ablative laser device that can be used to treat this condition.
Recovery time for a Fraxel procedure will depend on which laser was used for treatment.
- Fraxel Refine: You may return to routine activities right away. 4 to 6 treatments are recommended for maximum results.
- Fraxel Restore: You may return to routine activities the next day. 3 to 5 treatments are recommended for maximum results.
- Fraxel Repair: You may return to routine activities in 5 to 7 days. One treatment is usually all that is needed to achieve desired results.