Matrix RF - Still Waiting to See Results on Scarring - Scottsdale, AZ

I was put to sleep on my second treatment. I couldnt bear the pain during the 1st treament.

You look good! thanks for this! keep us updated! :)

I just goggled 'rf matrix pain' and found you. I just did this for the first time. Half way through, I was crying and shaking uncontrollably out of pain and fear. It was so painful and I would NOT advise my worst enemy to do this. I cringed when I saw you did it on your neck, too. I paid $3000 for 3 treatments and I'm ready to donate $2000 to exit out. 2 days later I'm still in panic mode & my heart races at the thought of doing it again. What pain killer did you use??! My skin is like yours. In my worst acne years I had cystic acne and took accutane. My face would bleed with a smile and people would ask if I was burn victim. Its' best to start loving myself as I am and know that my scars make me different for a good reason.

i'm so sorry to hear about your experience. As you my 1st time - i bursted into tears from the pain and agony. On the second treatment, i felt like pushing the tech away from my face and walking out several times. then, i asked about taking painkillers and they agreed to prescribe them for me. for the anxiety part - (racing heart before & after 5-10m of Valium took care of it) for the pain - well, i'm allergic to everything but water (kidding) i took 1 viacodin 1/2 hr prior treatment - another afterwards. Once, i got home (i took another 5m valium to go to sleep and help me stop starring at my face for the evening). Plus, i negotiated to pay as i went... I believe practices make you pay upfront because they know folks cant tolorate the pain. I hope you fight for your money back - because they dont disclose the truth of the severity of the pain during the session. I believe that they minimize the experience to do whatever it takes to get your money upfront.

I took a look at your pictures after the third treatment. First without any topical anesthetic it can be a painful procedure. Typically I use a topical anesthetic such as lidocaine and BLT. Just with the use of the topical anesthetic it is a very tolerable procedure. I also give people who have a low tolerance for pain an oral pain medication and sedative. The second thing to be aware of is the settings they used. The higher the settings the more ablation which occurs and the more results you get. Third, looking at your pictures for the third procedure (if it was the same day) there does not appear to be a uniformity to the grid marks. Basically, the entire face should be red and the grid marks should lay next to each other. I am sorry you had a bad experience. Matrix RF has a place in facial resurfacing especially someone with darker skin, such as Fitzpatrick IV to VI. At the heart of any ablative procedure whether it is laser based or Matrix RF is the controlled wounding of the skin to allow it to heal and the scars to fill in with collagen to smooth out the skin texture. The best results are at 6 months after and evidence suggests collagen remodeling continues to 1 year. Any technology is as good as the technique. Also Matrix RF may not be aggressive enough for deepers scars which may required treatment with a CO2 laser or an modified erbium such as Cutera's Pearl Fractional.

I am considering treatment to my face. I do not have acne scars but am 56 and have lack of elasticity and wrinkles on face and eyes. What treatment has shown to have the best results: the MatrixRF or the Sicon Profractional???? I think they both are a different type of treatment. One is Erbium with light and heat and the other radio frequency. I do not have the money to make the wrong decision. Do both of them require several treatments? Please help before I pick the wrong thing and wished I didn't. Also are they both the same amount of pain???? Please email me.

Thank you for going into such detail about the procedure. You look wonderful and I am hoping and assuming you'll improve even more.. A month ago I started a treatment very similar to yours. It's the Affirm C02 laser resurfacing. I've had one treatment so far and go in for the second in a few days. It'll be 3 1/2 weeks between treatments. Although the doctor helped with the pain by putting lots of numbing cream on my face, the procedure was still pretty uncomfortable. A little scary quite frankly. I think the hardest thing for me was the greasy metal protective shields they put on my eyeballs; I've never worn contacts so this frightened me a bit. I'm glad they did because it protected my eyes. I figure Hollywood actors have had to wear this sort of thing for movies so I should just try to buck up. My eyes are fine now although the eyelids are still a bit tender from the lasering. It also stung pretty good near my hairline so either they didn't put the cream up into my hair enough or that area is just very sensitive. The scariest part for me was the 1 1/2 hour drive home. I kept putting ice on my face but I was a bit in shock still and kept worrying that something might go wrong with the car because than I would have to stop and deal with people while my face looked awful and was burning terribly. Mainly it was a fear factor. I'm trying to get someone to drive with me this next time so I can take a pill to relax me. After the procedure, my faced burned like crazy for a good solid 24 hours. The best help was spraying water on my face while sitting in front of a fan. Ice worked too, and just rubbing bare ice cubes over my face. This time I will also try a bag of frozen peas. The scariest thing, after the drive home, was the swelling that occurred that evening. My eyes almost swelled shut so before bed I had to grope around and lay out everything I might need in case of emergency in case I couldn't see at all in the morning. I slept with my head elevated and in the morning I was still swollen but my eyes did not swell shut. The doctor told me that the second treatment is usually the worst for some reason so I am trying to get everything prepared this time. This time maybe my eyes will swell shut but I figure blind people have been dealing with this for a lifetime so I should take this time to increase my compassion and see what it feels like. I hid out for four full days, it took that long for the swelling to go down. My face stayed red a few more days and now, three weeks later it is still pinker than normal but not bad. I have olive skin so I actually like that it is a bit pinker. As the next treatment day approaches I realize that I am getting a little panicky about it so that's why I'm calling friends to see if someone can take a half day off to help me drive. Medicine would probably help... Let's see I think that's all I can report for now. I am 57 years old and am doing it for skin firming and smoothing mainly. I've never done anything like this before. I have a few acne scars near the hairline, usually hidden under bangs, so I'll watch those and see if they disappear and report back. I don't see much in the way of results yet but I'm told I shouldn't until after the other treatments. This makes sense to me because skin takes at least a month to completely regenerate and it has been less than a month. I'll try to remember to report back here because I think this sort of thing is very useful to patients. Wish me luck! ~Robin

robin- thanks for your sharing your experience. Do you have any before and after pictures that you can share? I wish i was a candidate for CO2, but because of my dark skin - they wont risk doing the procedure on me. I didnt go back to get my fourth laser procedure. I no longer see any improvements on my skin - i kinda think it went back to it's original state. I want to do something more drastic with better results for the money - i am paying and pain that i am undergoing. i'd love to see your picture comparisons. Is it possible for you to take some kind of pain killer and relaxer before and after your treatments? If you ask - you'll get a prescription. Lastly, i was asked not to keep ice or water on my skin for too long after the procedure - because apparently it will decrease the healing and results. For optimum results, i was adviced to keep my face dry in order to have the burnt area dry up and flake. Where you asked to keep your face damp?

I am scheduled to begin my first Matrix RF treatment on Jan. 8 for lines around my lips. I am 56 years old now and the rest of my face still looks good. The person that will be doing the procedure said that it would be tolerable with the topical cream for pain. Since I am only doing the peri-oral area can I expect the same level of pain they you all seem to have had? Does anyone have something positive to say about this experience? I'm getting a bit nervous after reading all yuor posts.

I am the owner of Synergy Laser Esthetic Solutions,and I use the Matrix RF system 100 percent sucessfully and with no complaints of pain even with the most sensitive of patients only of course the warm hot sunburn feeling which is expected and normal. I was looking at your pictures and I hate to say they charged you way to much for a proceedure that was horribly executed. the "boxes" so to speak are not supposed to be so spaced out but consistent and side by side. Which is of course why your not seeing the results you should see with 2 treatments or even 1. The treatment is not supposed to be as painful as described. Which tells me due to your scarring they blasted you on the highest setting which requires without question a topical anesthetic and it is a treatment level that can only be performed by an RN. I am sorry you had to have such a terrible experince on a rather revolutionary and amazing piece of equipment. From the dates this was posted i can see you were also treated when the Matrix first came out and with the old tips that were not consistant in emitting proper and equal energy for the best results possible which we now have and have updated. This is such a shame Im located all the way over in NY, I beleive firmly in results results results and back everyhting by a 100% money back guarantee because thats my establishments reputation and were in this to offer indivuduals such as yourself the very best and results that we are not only promising and anticipating but that you all pay for. I know I could have gotten the result you were looking for and spent your hard earned money on. I wish I was the person that treated you. With that said if you are ever in NY I would be more than happy to give you a matrix treatment even 2 completely free so you can have a result and experience you deserve. Things like this and facilities that represent a treatment so unique and revolutionary especially for darker skin tones that have no other options in such a bad light by lack of experience and care frustrate me. I hope this doesn't sound like a gimmick or scam to you I sincerely would treat you personally and completely free. Also its a complete lie about keeping the skin dry they have no idea what the hell they are talking about and if i knew where they were i would tell them off myself. Ugh im so sorry you had to experience that. You can visit my website at www.synergylasersolutions.com I would be happy to show you some amazing before and afters from scarring far worse than yours and the results within just 2 treatments. SO if your ever in NY keep me in mind. For anyone else that may read this please for your sake since this is your face and the first thing people see and your hard earned money look well into the experience and knowledge of the facility treating you, as well as testimonials, see it for yourself and never be scammed into a sales pitch don't let anyone take advantage of you.