I'm looking to see where to get either procedure done & hopefully as soon as possible. I know that DeepFX, rather than ActiveFX, or Fraxel Re:Pair are the best chances to repair my scars in a short amount of time. Anybody know of a location of either lasers near Los Angeles, CA? Or anywhere in general? I would fly if necessary but I cant imagine not being able to find a user of this machine in the vain southern California area..

Your best bet is to go to the laser manufacturer's web site and look under the physician finder. In LA you should have multiple choices. pmdoc might know someone or he/she may have it. pmdoc is very knowledgeable in the use of lasers. You may be able to click on their name at the bottom of a post and sen info directly to them.

Lumenis web site for patients:

http://www.skinandhealth.com/locator/usStart.html

1) never let cost be the sole reason for choosing an office.
2) ask the physician how many has he/she done and see his/her before and after photos. NOT FROM LUMENIS
3) how much experience have they had w/ the new deep FX procedure and how long have you had the deep FX procedure.
4) are you board certified in your field? are you on staff at a local hospital just in case anything should arise?
5) are you the physician doing the treatment? (most states do NOT allow PA,RN,FNP to perform ablative procedures.)

can anyone help me find this in LA? I mean I know there are probably many options but I've gone to the Lumenis website & all places around here only offer ActiveFX as it is older than DeepFX

Okay I'm sorry for my ignorance & laziness as I had already found the site posted earlier, but was just confused as it said I could look up only ActiveFX practitioners while I wanted to find offices that did the TotalFX (combination of Active & DeepFX).

I am going in for a consult on Monday the 11th and am hoping to get this procedure done during the first days of my spring break, which lasts from March 21-31. However I have a few remaining questions, that I'd rather ask here than on Acne.org's messageboards as this place seems much more knowledgeable.

1) I am looking at either having it done at the offices of R. Patrick Abergel (quoting around 5k) or at the "Drs. Richard and Kenneth Han
Skin Nirvana Med Spa" (quoted around 3900). Are these reputable doctors & are these good prices for the treatment?

2) Since I am doing it in my spring break, do u think if I had the procedure on my 1st day of spring break that I would be able to come back to school 10 days post-treatment and look at least semi-normal?

Armon:
What is your age, your ethnic background?? Are you going for the DeepFX?? I went on the Lumenis website, it listed many clinics but when I checked them out, lots of them did not mention anything about having the CO2 machine except for Dr. Abergel, Nirvana and Dr. Raskin in Valencia. None of them had any pics of their own patients (not a good thing). I am not impressed by SkinNirvana website b/c of how they talked up Titan (under Events and Promotions) : "...Experience an immediate LIFT effect on sagging skin on the face, neck and upper arms without surgery. No downtime, safe and proven effective" Just in case you are not aware of: Titan is NOT FDA-approved for the above quote AND it at best a stretch to make such a boast and at worst making such reckless, misleading and unsubstantiated statement from a respectable group of such physicians. I see ad from Dr. Abergel on the LA Times often. I believed I saw an ad of his 2 weeks ago showing a before and after of his pt which looked quite impressive. Maybe it is worth it to go with him.
After 10 days, your skin might be pinkish/reddish but you probably can put make-up on by then.

Hi PMDOC,

Thank you for your tremendous help.I'm a 20 year old male. Ethnicity being half mexican & half iranian. From what it appears i believe i have somewhere between skin type 1 & 2 on the fitzpatrick scale and I am actually trying to go in for a totalfx procedure, which combines the two.

Dr. Abergel seems to be the more reputable doctor of the two, albeit based on only their websites & information provided by them. The difference in price is about 1000. I'm going to go to the consult at the Nirvana offices since it is free anyways and then after askign him the above questions along with others decide.

Anything else I should know about the treatment and how viable i am for improvement? I have shallow boxscars, along with ice picks and very little rolling scars that could still be improved making a noticeable improvemnt in texture.

Thanks again!

Armon:
You would be Fitz III or IV. I must tell you the good news is that at your age and b/c of your sex, your recovery time will be about 3-4 days LESS than average and with less risk of post-procedure complications. My personal theory for this is b/c younger and male skin has more collagen and much less exposure to previous chemicals (peels, make-ups, abrasions, etc) I see this phenomenon consistently in skin resurfacing and thermage.Good Luck.

I HAD DEEP FX PERFORMED IN SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY ON FEBRUARY 19TH AND WENT BACK TO WORK ON FEBRUARY 25TH. BE PREPARED TO HIDE OUT AT HOME FOR AT LEAST 5 DAYS AFTER THE PROCEDURE. I SEE NO IMPROVEMENT YET, BUT AM HOPING TO SEE SOMETHING SOON. I AM A FAIR, YOUNG LOOKING 47 YEAR OLD, BLONDE/BLUE. I PAID SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN $5,000.

Ok so I have a TotalFX procedure set up for Tuesday, March 25. I have only a couple more worriesome questions:

1) Am I jumping at this treatment too fast? I mean I dont really have high expectations, as I have shallow, some moderate boxscars, very tiny but sometimes noticeable rollingscars & ice pick scars (which i dont expect anything out of to improve really). I'd be happy with anywhere from 30-50%. That would be amazing.

2) What should I be doing pre-treatment? He told me to apply hydroquine a lot to ease the fact that I am a Fitz Type III, but what else shouold I do before the treatment?

3) PMDOC. The guys at Skin Nirvana, "The Han Brothers", claim to be the 1st people to really have the DeepFX laser in California. Does anybody know if this is true? I dont want to doubt them, but I think I would like to check up on it.

Thanks a lot again everyone!

anybody?

Thanks PMDOC!

Thank you so much for your knowledege and time. I really appreciate it. I have also been researching Deep FX and was wondering if you knew an experienced physician in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area that currently performs this procedure. I know there are a few that have the Active FX platform, but I haven't found one that has Deep FX for the combined "Total FX" treatment. I would really appreciate any insight that you may have into this question. Thanks again.

University of South Texas Dr. Jeffery Kenkel

Jane,
Did a physican perform the procedure? Did you get both Active and Deep FX ? How reputable is the place in S. Orange County? Is the physician board certified ? I dont want a nurse or PA doing an ablative surgical procedure on my face, I dont think its even legal in California.

DeepFx: It is actually legal in CA thu I personally don't hire RN nor PA to do skin resurfacing for me

Me2: Thanks for your kind post. Make sure you ask for the facility's own before and after photos not those from the company supply

Armon: Just b/c someone bought the first device does not necessarily mean much. In 2005, our office where I worked at got one of the first Plasma Rhytec machine. It has sat collecting dust the last 6 months. Ask them for THEIR patients' before and after results. Incidentally, I saw Dr. Abergel's ad yesterday on LA Times with before and after of (I believe CO2 laser) treatment of lower eye's bag, it looks very impressive. There's no clear benefits of using HQ prior to treatment. Just stay out of the sun and no other laser treatment for now until your CO2 date. However, make sure you use HQ after the laser treatment. If it took Jane 6 days of downtime, you should expect the same or maybe less than 6 days of downtime. Maybe you should try to speak to Jan since she just had it and lives in SoCal also.

Allan Wirtzer in Van Nuys uses Active Fx/Deep Fx

pmdoc: In your opinion, which procedure do you prefer: Total Fx or Fraxel Re:pair

Why?

Thank you,

MrPaulc:
In an experienced hand, I would surmise that DeepFX is better since a total ablative CO2 is better than a fractional one.

Dear all,

I am writing from Russia and am interested in DeepFX for the treatment of post-acne normotrophic scars on my back. Does anybody know whether DeepFX procedure could be performed on the back and if yes
1) what results one can expect
2) what are the associated risks of performing it on the back
3) who does it in the US

Many thanks

Alex

I am also very interested in total fx (deep and active) for my acne scars. I am a young looking 41 year old with olive skin. Does this procedure work? Has anyone seen results? I have been doing a lot of research,but I haven't found any answers yet. I went to Masos center in Winter Park, Florida for my consult. They also were not able to show me any before and after pics. I thought that was peculiar. Also, the PA is the one who does the Deep fx. I thought this was my answer, but maybe it is just a hype.

Sorry, it's spelled "Mesos" Center. The price seemed very reasonable.

Hmmm...I live in Central Florida too, and haven't heard about the "Mesos center". Did you find out who the supervising physician is?
Maybe they are new? - their website doesn't work yet. No before and after photos?

Those sound like some red flags to me - be careful.

Mesos center looks shady at best. The only listing Said "Our Physicians, PA's, NP's........ Doesn't mention ANYONES name at all.

Is it possible a fractional CO2 can damage the nose cartilage if one goes too deep?

Any suggestions for a Chicago physician to do a Totalfx treatment? I am a 53 year old guy with typical aging and sun damage. I would like an aggressive treatment because results are more important to me than downtime.

I have tried the Physician Locater, and there are only a few offices that show up for Activefx (Options for Deepfx and Totalfx aren't provided). Of the few on the list, one office switched to the Palomar and the other never heard of Activefx. The remaining ones are 30+ miles away and as far as I can tell are Activefx only (no Deepfx).

Fraxel Re:pair is even worse! The Physician Finder shows NO Re:pair available in Chicago at all! Huh? Chicago is huge city and there's NO Fraxel Re:pair in the entire city?!?

I called up both manufacturers and they are clueless about who has their equipment. I am considering going out of town to have it done if I can't find a local provider I'm confident working with. (one doctor I'm considering is Dr Zachery at UCI).

Going out of town for something like this is a huge pain and I would love to have it done locally. Or within a reasonable driving distance.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

Just an update: it seems both manufacturers databases are not up to date or complete with regard to the physicians using them.

Instead of using a database that they neglect to maintain, I wish they would provide an up to date pdf file with the latest information.

If I were a physician I would search the physician finder database to make sure you are included in it. You might be missing a lot of referrals because the physician finder database hasn't been updated.

The physician referral people aren't being informed by the sales people who has bought the systems. If you paid the big bucks for the systems you better make sure you are in the database for referrals.

Im a male pro body builder looking to have Active/Deep FX done for acne scars. I'm on prohormones such as Andro-1 test and 4AD and I dont feel like getting lectured by my derm so I havent said anything. Would these testosterone boosters affect my treatment in any negative way?

If it in fact works to increase testosterone levels, it could have an impact on bleeding and healing times

i too am in chicago and looking for a doctor that does either fraxel re:pair or Total FX. They don't exist apparently. I'll let you know if I find any but in the meantime there is a spa in Austin Texas called Westlake that seems reputable and offers fraxel re:pair for a reasonable price and offers transportation to a nearby hotel for recovery.

good luck!

HI JC,

I was able to find a Doc that does Re:pair in the Chicago area, his name is Getz and he is Dundee. He doesn't show up on the Reliant physician finder because that is limited to 25 miles. Dr. Getz doesn't have a website but he is on acnescars.com, his phone # is 1-224-293-0163

I'm driving to Dundee to see Dr. Getz next week.

I was also researching Northern Indiana for Deepfx. Its about the same distance as Dundee. A few docs down there have ActiveFX but haven't determined if they have Deepfx or not.

It is so weird that 1) Chicago is so lacking in the laser technology that other big cities have, and, 2) it is so hard to find where the specific lasers are.

good luck

dz

Looked into Getz and decided to keep looking.

May have to go out of town, looking for a good place with substantial re:pair experience. Also a place that can accomodate the out of town situation without it being a huge pain would help.

anyone,
I will be seeing Dr.Donald F. Roland, MD,FACS here in NYC for totalfx soon. The cost is 5k. Any thoughts about the doc or if I'm paying to much???? Open to seeing another doc. please help

I'm about to pay 3700 for TotalFX of face, neck and chest. They were more than happy to make price accomodation for the current economic crisis, knowing that these are normally high ticket items. They have also thrown in, one follow-up with Fotofacial at some point in the future, and an oxygen therapy session to help speed healing, and I think something else. This is performed by a physician who has been using this precedure for the past two years. I've known him for 7 years. His work is good. He's in Scottsdale, AZ

Hello jezebel
I read ur post I live in Phoenix and i havent been able to find someone that performs the totalfx procedure in fact im currently looking to travel to california to get it done there just because there are so many more options. im looking into skin nirvana or dr Rivkin. however, it would be great to get it done locally could you please tell me the name of the dr u are having ur procedure with..Have gone thru wiyh it? What results did u get?
Thank you
Ayana

Ayana
On the Lumenis website you may be able to find physicians near your area, many physicians do perform the procedure themselves. You may also certainly stop by the office for consultation and/or email myself with any questions re: fractional resurfacing with Lumenis Active and Deep FX as well as other non-ablative options. We have had extensive experience with the FX in darker skin types due to our location here in Southern California. Good luck. Best wishes. --- Dr. Kenneth Han Skin Nirvana --- Anaheim Hills 714-283-1433.

I am looking to get Deep FX done in Washington D.C. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

Does anybody know if any doctor in Portland Oregon is doing the Total FX Laser?

Hey guys, I am also interested in fraxel and fx. I know a doctor by the name of Dr. Omeed Memar. I am thinking of using him for my procedure..