What is Fraxel?
How does Fraxel Work?
What Does Fraxel Treat?
What Are Fraxel Alternatives?

. What Is Fraxel? Manufactured by Solta Medical, Fraxel is one of the most advanced laser treatments for skin available today. Often used to treat sun damaged skin, uneven pigmentation, and fine lines in just a few painless treatments. The family of products includes the re:store laser system, the re:pair laser system, the re:fine laser system, and the Fraxel re:store Dual. The line has quickly become the industry standard for fractional aesthetic skin treatments. Unlike traditional laser devices, this brand of fractional laser systems treats only a fraction of skin at a time, leaving the surrounding area intact for faster healing. In July, 2005 the laser famous for repairing skin by damaging "fractional pixels" was FDA approved for a condition called Melasma, a condition which occurs on the sun exposed face and nose of affected patients, typically women of child-bearing age. Since then the device has received multiple FDA clearances and have been found safe and effective in treating many areas of the face and body. The versatility of the product line ensures that patients can choose the best treatment for various stages of their lives as their skin care needs evolve.

Back to Top How Does Fraxel Work? Using a laser to treat damaged and aging skin by penetrating the outer layer of skin, but only in a precentage of the area (15-20%) during each session. This method protects the skin from enduring too much damage at once and eliminates much of the downtime associated with CO2 or erbium laser resurfacing treatment. The product line comprises of 4 different treatments and fall into two categories of laser resurfacing: Non-Ablative and Ablative.

Non-Ablative: Non-ablative laser treatments are used to treat mild to severe skin conditions without tissue vaporization and require little to no downtime. Several treatments may be necessary with non-ablative laser treatments to achieve results.

• re:fine (prevention and maintenance)
• re:store (mild to severe skin damage)
• re:store Dual (mild to severe skin damage)

Ablative: Ablative laser treatments, also known as CO2 (carbon dioxide) Fractional Resurfacing, treat the most severe skin conditions by vaporizing the top layers of damaged skin. While ablative treatments yield the most dramatic results in 1 treatment, more downtime is typically needed so skin can heal entirely.

• re:pair (most severe skin damage)

Your physician will help you decide which skin resurfacing procedure is best suited for you, depending on the severity and type of skin damage you may have.
Back to Top What Does Fraxel Treat? The re:pair laser is the breakthrough device in ablative fractional resurfacing, with the most clinical testing of any product in the category. re:pair treatment has been clinically proven to improve wrinkles, rhytides, furrows, fine lines, textural irregularities, pigmented lesions and vascular dyschromia in a multi-site, multi-phase study of more than 400 patients. The re:store laser, delivering Non-ablative Fractional Resurfacing (NFRTM) treatment, was introduced in 2004 and has been adopted by more than 1,500 dermatologists, plastic surgeons and aesthetic physicians worldwide. It is the accepted gold standard for treating acne scars and periorbital wrinkles, and for skin resurfacing procedures on the face, neck, chest and hands. The re:fine laser, offering superficial non-invasive skin rejuvenation, combines the unique method of fractional delivery with a lighter treatment. Performed in 20-25 minutes, re:fine treatment is excellent for medical spas and family physicians seeking a safe and gentle option. The re:store Dual laser is the latest addition to the Solta resurfacing family and has added a Thulium laser, to the original re:store platform. According to the manufacturer's website, this additional wavelength will enable physicians to better address pigmentation and other dyschromia on the entire body with minimal discomfort. Back to Top
What Are Alternatives? Since the device line contains both non-ablative and ablative laser treatments, there are several alternatives including:

• Fractional Resurfacing - see the list of devices
• Pearl Laser Skin Resurfacing
• ActiveFX
• Matrix or eMatrix

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