Fraxel® a new approach to facial skin resurfacing and rejuvenation
Fraxel®, and the Lux 1540 are new weapons in the arsenal for fighting skin aging and photo-aging of the facial skin, is a new laser designed to shorten the down time associated with laser resurfacing of the facial skin.
Laser resurfacing is a technique which removes wrinkles and brown spots, and tightens the skin. (See Chapter 8 High Tech facial Rejuvenation, and Chapter 9-What can Plastic Surgery Do For You in my book “Save Your Face”).
Originally laser facial skin rejuvenation was done with the CO2 laser and more recently with the Erbium laser. These lasers are used to strip the outer aged, damaged skin layers off of the face and following a period of healing, the results are frequently spectacular, with new fresh youthful tightened skin free of pigment and age spots.
Laser Resurfacing-Contact Dr Seckel
The problem with laser resurfacing is that it is a surgical procedure and there is significant down time or recovery time. There is an initial 8-10 day period during which the skin is raw and “oozing” fluid until new skin covers the surface of the face. Following this healing period, the skin is very pink for three to six weeks requiring the patient to wear make up. Although the results are beautiful many patients cannot take 2-3 weeks out of their life to have this procedure done.
The traditional laser resurfacing is called an ablative procedure meaning the old skin is ablated or removed so that new skin will grow back on to the face. Because of the down time associated with traditional ablative resurfacing scientists have developed “non-ablative” lasers which attempt to rejuvenate the skin without removing or ablating the outer layer.
IPL(Photofacial) , Cool touch®, Gentlewaves®, Titan®, Thermage®, LuxIR, and laser photo-rejuvenation are some examples of non-ablative facial skin rejuvenation therapies which you may have heard of.
The problem with older non-ablative skin therapies is that the results or benefit, if any, are very minimal and only occur after many treatments over a period of 6 or 7 months. Improvements of 20% in wrinkling after 6 or 7 months and thousands of dollars are hard to justify in my opinion.
All resurfacing techniques work by injuring the skin and causing the skin to form new collagen to replace the old damaged collagen in the skin. This process is technically called selective photothermolysis (see Chapter 8-High Tech Facial Rejuvenation in Save Your Face for a thorough discussion). Laser resurfacing with the CO2 and Erbium do this in a very dramatic way all at once. The non-ablative therapies do it slowly over time but not nearly as effectively.
Fraxel®, a laser, and the new Lux 1540 by Palomar use a new approach called fractional photothermolysis (FP), also called fractional skin rejuvenation. Fraxel® and the Lux 1540 are non ablative lasers, the laser beam is broken up into tiny beams which are spread apart so that not all areas of the skin are treated. Rather tiny “cells” of skin called microscopic treatment zones or MTZ are heated but not ablated beneath the skin leaving the surrounding skin intact.
The result is that the skin is inflamed so that new collagen will form but much of the skin stays in place-so the face is not left raw and recovery time is shorter.
Down time is less than that with traditional laser resurfacing. However multiple treatments are required to get a result. So expect that after each treatment you will be red and may have bronzing and some flaking skin for several days.
Early results with Fraxel and the Lux 1540 are impressive and similar to what is achieved with the Sciton®Erbium Microlaser peel (see chapter 7-Save Your Face).
Photos courtesy of Palomar and Dr Dwight Scarborough-Lux 1540
Fraxel® is a very exciting new concept in laser technology by Dr. Rox Anderson in Boston, who is the brilliant scientist who first conceived the theory of photothermolysis and started the whole laser facial rejuvenation field.
Fraxel® and the Lux 1540 are certainly more effective than the “non-ablative” therapies available today. The benefit to the patient will be similar to that of the Microlaserpeel performed with the Sciton® Erbium laser which I use.
Just don’t plan on going to a social event the evening after having this procedure done. If you want honest unbiased information about the confusing array of facial rejuvenation treatments and wrinkle cures offered today please read my new book Save Your Face, it will make sense of all the conflicting information you read.
Contact me for more information on any of the procedures mentioned above.
Boston, Massachusetts