Active FX versus Fraxel

Active FX is a new laser skin treatment technology which offers improvements in skin texture, tone, and firmness in just one treatment. But just because it's newer, does that mean its better? Let's compare Active FX with Fraxel, another form of laser skin treatment.

Active FX and Fraxel both employ "fractional" methods, which means they work on a fraction of the skin, skip a small fraction, and then work on another fraction of the skin. This creates treatment "dots" on the skin- each dot of treated skin is next to a dot of untreated skin. A "fraction" of the skin's surface is treated rather than the entire surface. This allows for faster healing, while reducing collateral skin damage, swelling, and redness.

That may be one of the only similarities.

Active FX covers about 80% of the skin's surface, while Fraxel treats only about 20% of the skin's surface at a time. The 80% coverage by Active FX seems to provide a good balance of desired results with amount of down-time.

Working with only 20% of the skin's surface at a time (as Fraxel treatments do) means that you will need to go in for multiple treatments to get the same effects as 80% coverage. So, although 80% coverage sounds like a lot, it is actually creating more results in less time.

The downtime (time to recuperate) from an Active FX procedure is about 3-7 days. Most women can wear makeup at four days after the procedure, and all pinkness/redness has completely diminished by one week after.

Active FX results also indicate that there is less pain associated with this procedure; most people can drive themselves home after having it. With Fraxel, pain is higher and patients may not be able to drive themselves home.

Fraxel has other limitations; it's heat can penetrate too deeply into very thin layers of the skin (such as on the eyelid), so Fraxel can't be used for eyelid tightening. Active FX can. Studies indicate that multiple Fraxel treatments may be required to get the same benefits as one treatment with Active FX.

One other issue to consider: Fraxel requires the use of blue gel and a special tip- both of which are needed for every treatment. This means the base cost of Fraxel treatment is higher than that of Active FX, which does not require additional equipment or 'consumable' items.

Given that Active FX gives good results in fewer treatments, with less downtime, less pain, and potentially less cost, it will likely become the treatment of choice for those considering a little skin improvement aided by a skin laser treatment.