Fraxel re:pair CO2 Lasers

The Fraxel skin tightening system includes three machines in its arsenal. The Fraxel re: fine and the Fraxel re:store are both non-ablative laser treatments best for collagen restoration. The Fraxel re:pair treatment is an ablative laser that reduces the effects of photo damage on the skin.

You may run into "ablative" and "non-ablative" in your skin tightening research, so let's look at what those terms mean. Ablative lasers are more severe than their non-ablative counterparts and affect both the epidermis and dermis layers of the skin. Photo damage tends to occur higher up, so a laser that affects the epidermis is important. This can be good for sun spots and acne scars where discoloration mars skin tone. However, the strength of the ablative layer can leave more discomfort.

If skin tightening alone is the goal of treatment, non-ablative systems are preferable. This prevents the heat and discomfort from affecting the upper layers of the skin and instead targets the lower layers alone. Non-ablative lasers only affect the dermis and subcutaneous layers of the skin, which is ideal for treatments that only seek to stimulate new collagen production.

Your physician will decide which Fraxel machine is best for your particular skin tightening needs. Each will have their own recovery time and number of required treatments. Like other systems, results improve over the subsequent six months following treatment.