Microneedling can be an alternative treatment since you are increasingly getting more sensitive to fractional CO2 laser. However, it must be known that you may need many more treatments and it may not be as effective for deeper scars. In my personal opinion, I do not think the cost will be a lot lower given the more sessions you may need but if sensitive skin is a major concern, then yes, it can be an alternative treatment.
Although fractional CO2 laser does not thin the skin, it certainly can make your skin more sensitive in some cases. The way to overcome that is not to do the fractional CO2 laser too closely and give enough rest time in between. The other important thing to note is the aftercare after fractional CO2 laser is of paramount importance in avoiding or reducing the chance of sensitivity. The power and level of fractional CO2 laser are also very important and depends on the expertise of the doctor in knowing how sensitive your skin is and what you will be able to handle for optimal results and yet with good safety margin.
From the thousands of fractional CO2 lasers done, I have only seen a small handful of patients getting sensitive and proper counselling, intervals of treatment and power used are very important.
Other alternatives to scar treatment include subcisions (for the brave ones) and dermal fillers. I do not think there is a place in fractional radiofrequency as the results are poor and I have seen the trend died almost as quickly as it appeared. Buying some of these machines is a waste of money and I think if we have a useless machine, we should just write it off instead of passing the cost to patients. As such if you think of the price, it's certainly not even cost-effective as well.
