Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is a LASER?

A LASER is a system in which we use light energy to create heat.  With this heat and energy, we can improve your skin's texture and get it looking its best!

 

What can FRAXEL treat?

In short, with FRAXEL, we can turn back the clock five to ten years for your skin.  FRAXEL can remove those sun spots and pigmentation irregularities.  FRAXEL is so good at removing pigmentation, it is one of the few lasers able to treat melasma.  At the same time and treatment, we are able to improve skin texture quality and reduce fine lines.  FRAXEL can also smooth out acne scars, soften surgical or traumatic scars and treat stretch marks. 

 

What is FRAXEL?

Fraxel is a brand name in lasers.  They are the inventors of fractionated laser technology.  What they have invented is a new method in delivering the laser's energy.  We could use a laser to resurface your skin and take off layers of skin.  This would leave you looking like a burn victim with red, raw skin.  Yes, you would get great results, but having a recovery time for months and having to literally take a couple weeks off from work is typically not an option for people.  What FRAXEL has invented is to fractionate the laser.  By creating tiny microscopic holes into the skin and leaving some of the normal skin behind, we are able to greatly reduce the downtime after the lasers procedure and stil get as good results as a full face resurfacing.

 

Where can FRAXEL be used?

FRAXEL can be done on almost any part of the body.  From acne scars on the face to sun spots on the arms to the scars from a car accident on the legs, we are able to treat almost anywhere. 

 

Why is FRAXEL better than getting IPL or other lasers?

IPL is a great treatment and can definitely help with pigmentation.  But IPL will not help improve skin texture like FRAXEL can.  Also by fractionating the laser, we are able to treat all skin tones with FRAXEL as opposed to IPL with people with darker skin tones or get a lot of sun, you run the risk of scarring.  Lastly, FRAXEL is so advanced and powerful, it is able to help smooth acne and surgical scars unlike IPL.   

 

What to expect after the treatment?

Immediately after you will be red.  However, the areas won’t be red or raw like a burn victim.  You won’t be scheduling a large dinner party or a wedding that weekend.  However, only a couple of days after the treatment, the redness has faded a lot.  You can go out and still run your errands.  Five days after, you can typically expect coming nearly back to baseline. 

 

Does it hurt?

Before the treatment, we place a topical numbing medicine on your skin.  This will sit for 60-90 minutes so please bring a book, your ipad (we have wifi available) or something to do.  This greatly helps with the pain and people rate it about a 2-3/10 as far as pain. 

 

Who performs the procedure?

Dr. Sato, a board-certified dermatologist, performs all laser procedures.  You will not have a nurse or a tech firing the laser on you. 

 

How do I care for the areas after the procedure?

We will supply you all the topicals you will need for FREE.  The topicals are either from Skinceuticals, Vanicream or our own private label.  It does cost us more money to supply these topicals, but by doing so, it will help the laser work better, the topicals will work better, and it will improve with your healing. 

 

How soon are the treatments separated?

The minimal time treatments can be spaced out is one month.  That doesn’t mean you have to do it every month.  If you have to be in a wedding or have picture takings for work, you can certainly take some time off and then restart when you are available.  By spacing it out further than a month, you do not lose any results.  However, people typically like to do the series as quickly as possible to achieve their results as fast as possible. 

 

How much does FRAXEL cost?

The cost for each treatment depends upon how large of an area we are treating and the energy used.  For a typical full face treatment, it is $900 per treatment.  We recommend a series of three treatments and when purchased together, we will discount the package 15%.  We are also partnered with Care Credit and our financing plans can stretch the cost up to two years. 

 

I still have more questions?  Now what?

I hope that the following has helped to give you more insight on this great technology and why FRAXEL is the name-brand, gold-standard in fractional laser technology.  For more information, you can visit www.fraxel.com or contact us for a personal consultation!