Laser Resurfacing: Q&A
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I Did Laser Resurfacing on my Face 3 Years Ago and my Face is Now a Big White Scar? (photo)
I did the laser 2 years ago and the laser was way to aggressive for my skin I now have a very visible line between my face and neck. Im not able to have my hair up anymore because I feel so uncomfortable if people look at me from the side. Is there anything I can do to help my skin. When the summer is here as soon as I go outside you can clearly see the spots that was missed during the laser resurfacing and the line between face and neck.
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7 Doctor Answers |
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vompan
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Hypopigmentation from CO2 laser
The old fashioned deep chemical peels with phenol, dermabrasion (not microdermabrasion) and carbon dioxide laser have been noted to lighten the skin's pigment. The fractional carbon dioxide laser-induced hypopigmnetation has been noted to occur with a delayed onset, as much as one year after the laser treatment. The non-fractional CO2 laser has caused an earlier hypopigmentation. There has been some discussion whether Fraxel Restore laser can help repigment the lightened areas to some...
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Hypopigmentation is very common after traditional (non-fractionated) CO2 laser treatments
What you are experiencing is not at all uncommon after traditional CO2 laser treatments. With aggressive treatments such as this, hypopigmentation is frequent and proper placement of the demarcation and some blending into the neck can minimize the contrast between treated and untreated regions. There is no way to replace the melanocytes that are responsible for skin pigmentation. However, I agree with Dr. Ort's suggestion to conservatively treat the sun damage in your neck to minimize the...
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This is an unfortunate complication of laser resurfacing especially with fully ablative C02 lasers.
White scars are a complication of fully ablative C02 laser resurfacing. It may be possible to improve the scars with skillfully applied fractional lasers.
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So this is my third laser in the last 2 yrs. going through the itchy stage as I type this....
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Hypopigmentation after laser resurfacing
Hypopigmentation is a known complication of deep carbon dioxide full field resurfacing and its incidence is much less with erbium and with fractional devices. Treatment of hypopigmentation is difficult but an excimer laser may help as will blending into the non-white areas. In your area see Dr. David Goldberg in Hackensack.
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This is not scarring, but it is permanent hypopigmentation and visible line of demarcation from CO2 laser.
I am so sorry you have had this occur to you, especially as CO2 laser-induced hypopigmentation and visible line of demarcation between treated and untreated skin has been well-reported in the dermatologic and plastic surgical laser peer-reviewed literature for many years now. This is nothing new, and yes, you did have over-aggressive laser resurfacing.
Unfortunately, while this was an error of judgement, it is neither malpractice nor negligence in my opinion. Yet, you have this permanent...
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Allergies and Laser
Jan, I would have no reservation about lasering someone with allergies unless they had asthma. Even though we use a smoke evacuator I think that the plume from the laser might bother someone with asthma. I do not have asthma but can not do more than two lasers in a day as it seems to bother my airways. As far as skin allergies go, I would just make sure that your doctor is aware and uses very simple post procedure products.
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Demarcation Line after Laser Resurfacing
It appears that you have hypopigmentation (lighter skin) on your face from the laser resurfacing. Unfortunately, this is likely permanent. It is very difficult to restore pigmentation on the face. I would recommend treating the neck with IPL, chemical peels, or other treatments to try to reduce the sun damage there and lighten the color. This would help reduce the mismatch between the light skin on the face and the darker skin on the neck.
Lone Tree Dermatologic Surgeon
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