What Is Fraxel?
Fraxel skin resurfacing laser treatment targets aging and sun-damaged skin with microscopic laser columns that penetrate deep into the skin. The procedure enables our body to remodel collagen. The treatment resurfaces our skin by stimulating growth of healthy, new skin cells.
Areas Helped By Fraxel According To The FDA
- Wrinkles around the eyes (periorbital wrinkles)
- Acne scars
- Surgical scars
- Age spots/sunspots (pigmented lesions)
- Melasma (irregular patches of brown skin on the forehead, cheeks, upper lip and nose)
- Actinic Keratoses (skin condition)
- Skin resurfacing
Sounds easy enough. A no brainer, if you can stomach the price tag – averaging about $1600 a session. I use the term ‘averaging’ loosely because a great deal of it is dependent on the size of the area treated (hands versus face and chest) and where you live.
Other Variables To Consider.
Next, is planning the downtime. I don’t know many women, in our age demographic, who can go off-grid for a week. If it’s our chest and neck that we are addressing, winter seems to be the obvious choice for timing since we can keep covered up. At least for those of us north of 33 degrees latitude.
Lets’ say we’ve carved out our AWOL strategy, and we’re ready to hit the credit card. Next, we have to ask ourselves, how well do we tolerate discomfort? From what I read, and what Sonia shares on her StyleBeyondAge blog, the procedure can induce a ‘hottness’ feeling and/or sensation and that afterwards we might feel sunburned.
Sonia, @StyleBeyondAge’s Experience
I’m grateful that Sonia took the Fraxel laser plunge as it is something I’ve considered. I am even more grateful that she shared her experience with her followers. In turn, I wanted to share with our KUEL Community of women.
Fortunately, there is a numbing part of the procedure. Sonia says it worked very well and that her discomfort level was minimal.
“After the procedure was over and the numbing cream wore off I draped myself in cold towels. I was very hot. About an hour later I was feeling fine but my skin felt “stiff”. You are sent home with plenty of product to keep the skin pliable. This is one of the few times when I actually am glad to follow rules!” – Sonia, @stylebeyondage
After three months, Sonia, says she is thrilled with the results. I believe her, all I have to do is look at the before and after photo. Now I just have to save my pennies, find a week where I can disappear, and remind myself that giving birth probably was a great deal more uncomfortable than Fraxel….
About Sonia: Sonia Lovett, is lifestyle blogger and fashion influencer. You can follow her directly on @stylebeyondage ,read her blog, and catch her here on Kuel Life as an ongoing collaborator.