Laser Treatments
Fractional ablative resurfacing. Collagen remodeling at the dermal level.
What it is
Profractional uses a fractional ablative laser to create microscopic treatment channels in your skin.
Each channel drives a wound-healing response: your body generates new collagen and elastin to fill and repair the treated zones, while the undamaged tissue around each channel accelerates recovery.
The collagen response builds over weeks. Texture and scar softening continue to improve as tissue remodels.
Profractional on the Sciton Joule allows precise control over channel depth, density, and coverage percentage. These parameters are adjusted based on your concern, skin type, and downtime tolerance.
Who it's for
Profractional is not the starting point for most concerns.
Icepick, boxcar, rolling, and old textural acne scarring.
Scar texture that needs dermal remodeling.
Especially perioral and periorbital lines.
Skin laxity and crepey surface quality.
Uneven, rough, or thickened skin surface.
What to expect
A series of 2 to 3 treatments spaced 6 to 8 weeks apart is typical for structural concerns.
Topical numbing is applied before treatment. During the session, you feel heat and a prickling or stinging sensation in the treated areas.
After treatment, expect redness and swelling, more pronounced than microneedling. Skin feels tight and begins to bronze or peel over days 2 to 5. Visible downtime is typically 3 to 5 days depending on depth. Deeper settings extend the recovery window.
Results are not immediate. Collagen remodeling happens over 4 to 12 weeks.
Aftercare
Follow post-care closely while the treated channels heal.
Avoid sun and tanning for at least 4 weeks and stop retinoids 5 to 7 days before treatment.
Antiviral prophylaxis may be prescribed if you have a history of cold sores.
Use gentle cleanser and prescribed post-care only.
No retinoids, acids, or vitamin C for at least 7 days.
Wear SPF every day and avoid direct sun for 4 weeks.
Care depends on which laser you had, but the foundations are the same.
Wear a physical (mineral) sunscreen daily, no exceptions. This is the single most important thing you can do to protect your result.
Counterintuitive, but less hydration on the front end actually means better tone and texture in the long run. Follow the plan we give you.
BBL and Nano are minimal: BBL sun spots darken to look like coffee grounds for 5 to 7 days, then flake off. Resurfacing lasers like Micro, Profractional, and TRL run from a few days of flaking up to a week or more of real recovery.
Each laser has its own protocol. Do it to the letter. This is where good results are won or lost.
Lasered skin is heat-sensitive and pigment-prone. These all wait.
Stay out of direct sun through your whole recovery and beyond. Sun plus fresh laser equals rebound pigment and ruined results. This is the rule we're most serious about.
Whether it's flaking skin or darkened spots after BBL, let it come off on its own. Picking risks scarring.
Keep retinols, acids, and active ingredients off until we clear you. Your skin is mid-repair.
Skip saunas, hot showers, and hard workouts while you're healing. Heat aggravates already-warm skin.
What healing looks like depends on the laser. After a BBL, sun spots darken and look like coffee grounds for about 5 to 7 days, then flake away to reveal more even tone, so don't be alarmed when they get darker before they clear. With resurfacing lasers, expect redness, swelling, and a sandpaper texture that smooths out over the recovery window, anywhere from 3 days for a Micro peel to 7 to 10 days for a deep TRL, where you'll genuinely look raw. Plan around the heavier ones.
Almost everything we do is a series, spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart for most modalities and longer for deeper resurfacing. Laser is fall and winter work in Texas, roughly October through March, because sun exposure is the enemy of a good result. We'll schedule your next session once your skin has fully recovered. If you see signs of infection, blistering beyond what we told you to expect, or worsening pain, that's not normal, so reach out.
Is this for you
If your concern is acne scarring, significant texture, or collagen loss that microneedling alone is not addressing, this may be the next-level option.