Posted January 11, 2010 in Blog, Fraxel Laser Treatment, Uncategorized
The Fraxel Dual Laser is the latest and most effective improvement in laser therapy for the treatment of bothersome brown spots. Certainly, Fraxel Dual is not as exciting, romantic, or dangerous as the “duals” created by Alexandre Dumas in his classics, “The Three Musketeers” and “The Count of Monte Cristo”, but when treating brown spots on the skin, worthy of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis’ motto, “One for all, and all for one!”
Fraxel Dual is a quick, easy, and painless laser skin rejuvenation safely performed in the office. Downtime is minimal involving 2 to 3 days of redness and swelling followed by another 4 to 7 days of peeling (like after one of those early summer sun burns when we were sun worshipping teens). The face, neck, chest, hands, and any other area of the body can be treated. The laser is 25% faster than previous technologies. Depending upon the degree of sun damaged skin and fine wrinkles, patients may require 1 to 3 treatments separated by at least one month.
Patients comment that their skin looks and feels rosy and fresh, and that even fine wrinkles are improved. One of our most recent patients who had previous experience with multiple series of IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) laser treatments remarked, “The Dual is great, it is like IPL on Steroids!”
Check out actual patient diaries and photos about their Fraxel Dual experience …
Frequently asked questions:
What is different between the new Fraxel re:store Dual and the older Fraxel re:store?
The Fraxel re:store Dual is a combination of the 1550nm laser which the older re:store had, and the Thulium (1927nm) laser, which is the only laser on the market with this wavelength. With the older Fraxel re:store, 4 treatments were recommended, now the same correction with the Dual can usually be done in only 3 treatments. The improvements in the 1550nm are:
• Faster Treatment Times – With upgrades in the software, you can cut treatment times by about 25% and have no change in effectiveness
• More Comfort – The new handpiece has an integrated Zimmer Cooling Device (cold air) which allows for the skin to be chilled directly where the treatment is occurring.
The 1927nm wavelength allows for:
• Groundbreaking pigment eradication – The 1927 allows for a very superficial resurfacing which can eliminate pigmentation from melasma, hyperpigmentation, sun damage, actinic keratosis safely in all skin types, on all parts of the body.
• Extremely comfortable – very little, if any topical anesthesia is needed for using just the 1927nm laser. This allows for large surface areas to be treated in a single session.
• Superficial resurfacing similar to a superficial CO2 laser resurfacing – without the downtime or wound care. It is partially ablative, partially non-ablative.
• When used simultaneously with the 1550nm laser, you get more effective resurfacing – a superficial and deep resurfacing – leading to less treatments for the same results.
• Safe for all skin types and all body surfaces
Please explain further the Fraxel Dual 1550nm non-ablative fractional resurfacing?
Fractional laser resurfacing is treating a fraction of the skin with the laser and leaving the majority of the skin unaffected. Typically about 20-70% of the skin is treated with microthermal zones (MTZ’s). These MTZ’s are columns of tissue heated by the laser that are one tenth the diameter of a hair, microscopic. By only treating a portion of the skin, the downtime and risks are minimized but the treatment depths can actually be higher – leading to more effective treatments. The 1550nm laser is an Erbium laser which is a rather “cold” laser. It causes very little “peripheral” damage when creating MTZ’s, and just heats the tissue. This is non-ablative resurfacing. In contrast, the CO2 laser vaporizes tissue (removes tissue) which is ablative resurfacing. Typically, non-ablative resurfacing will require multiple treatments, and will have minimal or no downtime.
What can this laser do?
FDA indications include treatment of pigmented lesions, acne scars, melasma, mild to moderate periorbital rhytids (wrinkles), surgical scars and actinic keratosis. Physicians have been using the 1550 nm restore for stretch marks, burns, improvement in pore size with great results. The addition of both wavelengths in a single treatment makes the improvements faster and increases its effectiveness.
For pigmentation, should I do IPL or Fraxel Dual?
An IPL is limited by the natural pigmentation in the skin. If there is a large difference between the area of pigmentation which one wants to remove and the natural skin color, IPL is effective. However, if the pigmentation is light, or very close to the skin color, an IPL has trouble safely removing the pigment. The Fraxel Dual does not care what skin color you are or what color the pigment is. It works by going down to the layer of skin where the abnormal pigment is, and renews and resurfaces it. An IPL can take up to 4 treatments to remove pigment and the Dual should take 1 or 2.
What can I expect after the procedure?
You will have pinkness and mild swelling for about 3 days. . There is no wound care, and no dressing changes. Your skin will feel dry and we recommend a moisturizer such as Cetaphil or Aquaphor. After a few days your skin will bronze and feel rough. On the third day your facial skin will look like it is “dirty”, like when you were about to peel from a sunburn. It is about to peel at this time, and the peeling will take about 2-3 days to complete. Your skin will then look very refreshed and pink and will return to its natural color in about 5-7 days.
What are other physicians saying about the Dual?
“With the new technology I can offer my patients the safety, comfort and minimal downtime of a non-ablative treatment and achieve results comparable to superficial fractional CO2 treatments.” Dr. Vic Narukar, San Francisco, CA
“The expanded versatility of the Fraxel re:store Dual System, with the addition of the new 1927 nm wavelength, increases the number of patients I can treat by providing a safe and very effective treatment for the pigmentation and actinic keratoses associated with photodamage.” Dr. Roy Geroneumus, New York, NY
Picture Above After 3 Treatments with the Fraxel Dual. 80 years old Courtesy of Steven Weiner, MD Destin, FL
Dr Persky is located in Encino, California but services all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Including, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Malibu, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana and Agoura Hills and more.
