Fractional Laser

Marcia Bracken, a Fractional Laser Patient, says, "Behind the mask I can be perfect because [people] can't see the flaws. [This is because] I'm showing my true talent and I'm good at what I do."

Bracken is confident in the operating room. She's a surgical tech at the Eye Institute of Southern Arizona. Behind the mask, Marcia's got it all together.

But something has made Marcia's confidence takes a hit.

She had acne in her twenties that has left her scarred in her thirties. She says it's especially bad on her cheeks. She tries to cover it up with heavy makeup and never leaves the house without it.

Mena Aldulaimi, a "Visual Expressions" aesthetician, tells Marcia, "When we finish [the procedure] your skin will be a little puffy. It's normal."

Marcia is trying the latest weapon on the laser market. The Palomar Fractional Laser is a gentler alternative to traditional laser resurfacing. It works to correct a number of skin problems.

Aldulaimi says, "It's great for wrinkle reduction, acne scarring, pore size, and people who have melasma [which is] a discoloration of the skin."

Ideally, Marcia would like to see all the scarring go away. But she's realistic. She says, "I'm just happy if they would be really reduced. I could walk around without makeup. [I wouldn't] have the feeling that everyone is staring at [me]."

Only half of Marcia's face is done so News 4 can see what the skin looks like after one treatment. There is some redness, but that should fade in less than 24 hours.

Previous resurfacing lasers have taken off the outer layers of the skin leaving a big open wound that requires weeks to heal. The difference with this laser is that it only takes a fraction of that layer of skin in the form of tiny plugs underneath the skin. This makes for quicker healing so there is less downtime.

Aldulaimi says, "If you have an injury in a microzone and then you have healthy skin in between, the healthy skin is going to help heal the [injured] skin faster."

Marcia will require a total of four treatments once a month at a cost of $1,000 for each treatment. This is an investment of four months and $4,000.

Marcia says that seeing is believing and she's a believer. She says, "It may not be a lot to [other people] but it's a lot to me. It's a huge difference and it makes my confidence boost way up. It makes me a lot happier and I feel good about myself now."

Aldulaimi says, "People continue seeing results about six to nine months after [they] finish the treatments because the collagen and elastin continue to regenerate inside the skin."

These days when Marcia is putting on makeup, she's no longer hiding the scars of her youth. Instead, she's enhancing her new look.