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Dermabrasion - Bismarck, ND

I've had acne since I was 13, but it didn't get...

  • 15 Jan 2014
  • 6 days post
I've had acne since I was 13, but it didn't get really bad until I was in college when I developed cystic acne. By the time I was 22, I chose to get on Accutane. I have since had microdermabrasion (12x), laser resurfacing (6x), and injectibles. I wasn't getting the results I needed so here I am waiting for my face to heal.

1 week out

  • 17 Jan 2014
  • 8 days post
The first 4 days weren't fun. Cleansing my face felt like scraping thousands of tiny needles along the side of my face. The weeping was messy - I carried a washcloth with me throughout the day so I could dab the drippings from my face. Around day 5 the weeping and oozing subsided and there was little build up to clean off when I washed my face. I'm happy with how quickly my skin is healing and am very excited to see the end results.

One week

  • 17 Jan 2014
  • 8 days post

Skin Irritation

  • 19 Jan 2014
  • 10 days post
For the past 2-3 days, I've developed extremely irritated patches. One on my forehead and another on my chin. They look like hives and are itchy. Could it just be dry skin?

Moisturizer

  • 21 Jan 2014
  • 12 days post
As of yesterday, I was given the ok to discontinue using neosporin and switch to a moisturizer. The positive of being able to switch is that I'm not sporting the neosporin-sheen. The negative is that I have to reapply moisturizer every hour. I'm using my normal sunscreen during the day and my night cream when I get home. I still plan to use neosporin while I sleep because I don't want my skin drying during the night. Also, as a follow up to my last post, the dry patches on my skin were just that. I may have gone too long without reapplying ointment causing those areas to dry out.

Minimal scarring showing

  • 24 Jan 2014
  • 15 days post
I wanted to share that I have very minimal scarring that is beginning to show. Compared to the depth of my scarring before dermabrasion, this is incredible! I am squeezing my cheek in the picture to help make the scarring more apparent for the camera.

3 weeks

  • 30 Jan 2014
  • 21 days post
I'm still very red, dry, and itchy. Trying to remain positive during this transition time.

Still red

  • 6 Feb 2014
  • 1 month post
My skin is still very red and the texture is rough - making it difficult for me to blend my makeup well. However, on a bright note, I'd say scarring is about a 50% improvement. I'm being conservative on the number as I'm not fully done healing and my doctor told me it would be about 6 mo until I see final results. My deeper scars are still very much apparent, but my more shallow scars are nearly gone. It's been a long road this far and I'm so ready to be back to normal. I do think this procedure was worth it overall (as of today anyway). :)

Large pores

  • 19 Feb 2014
  • 1 month post
Since I've started wearing makeup I've been frustrated with the unevenness. I realize it has nothing to do with the texture of my skin, but the size of my pores. I've NEVER had large pores and now my entire face is covered in large pores. Is this normal? Will my face go back to having "normal" sized pores?

Pores and more

  • 8 Mar 2014
  • 2 months post
It's been about two months and my overall appearance is close to normal. I'm still red and blotchy in some areas, but not bad. Makeup almost completely covers the redness. If you didn't know me, you might think I have a slight sunburn underneath. As you read in a previous post, I did have a change in my pores, but after I did an at home chemical peel, my pores didn't seem nearly as pronounced. It's been a couple weeks since I did that and I've noticed that they are more apparent than right after the peel. I will continue to use the at home peel. I leave it on for about 5 minutes and wash it off.

Pores

  • 8 Mar 2014
  • 2 months post

Before/After

  • 7 Apr 2014
  • 3 months post
These photos were taken before and after I had 2 rounds of fraxel, fillers, and 2 years prior to dermabrasion. The photos on the left are before and the photos on the right are after.

Final Result

  • 30 Apr 2014
  • 3 months post
Dr. Becker

He was great!

5 out of 5 stars Overall rating
5 out of 5 stars Doctor's bedside manner
5 out of 5 stars Answered my questions
5 out of 5 stars After care follow-up
5 out of 5 stars Time spent with me
5 out of 5 stars Phone or email responsiveness
5 out of 5 stars Staff professionalism & courtesy
5 out of 5 stars Payment process
4 out of 5 stars Wait times
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Comments (67)

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Hi guys. Sorry it's taken so long to get back to all of you. Overall I am very happy with the results. The scarring is smoother now. Still a 50% improvement. My pores also returned to normal so I'm thankful for that! I saw many doctors - ones in other states that I lived in. Dr. Becker just did my dermabrasion. My skin are regimen after the dermabrasion was to wash my face 2-4 times per day with Cetaphil. It's a gentle cleanser. I was very kind to my skin - I never rubbed or picked. I always blotted my face dry. Afterwards I put a thick layer of Neosporin on my face. I made sure to stay out of the sun!!! When it was safe enough (around 3 week mark) to discontinue Neosporin, I continued with the cleanser but applied a liberal layer of sun screen. I reapplied often. At night, same Cetaphil cleanser and Aquafor cream to keep my skin moisturized. Hope that helps!
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Thanks for your answer, I Am thinking of getting a dermabrasion after summer- and it's good to know how to care for the skin post procedure. Since your post procedure was succesful, I will try that next time! So happy for you, enjoy summer!!
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Congrats & glad to hear you are happy! May I ask what type of skin tone or type you have? Thank you for sharing your story.
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Oh yay! I'm excited for you! Good luck and let us know how it goes! :)
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My skin has changed over the years. I was very oily as a teenager and well into my 20s. After I took Accutane (about 7 yrs ago) my skin went to "normal". I find that my skin is now (at 30 y/o) normal/dry. Hope that helps
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Did your pores return to normal? Looks good.
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And what more than Becker is your doc name ? I think you look really good, with your beautiful featurs. Your scarring is much better after your dermabrasion!
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Hi, can I ask you how your post op regimen was like? Did you have to wash away scab all the time? I had laser some months ago and my surgeon was very stright about always wash away scab, after soaking it till it came off ( never force off). Since I scabbed a lot, it was a very!! heavy post op, and of course I forced some off the scab off... which means new scars...:( Can y tell a little bit about your post op regimen?? Thanks for chearing! ( sorry if some of my English is bad, I am French)
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What was your doctors reasoning of removing scabs?? I thought they were meant to stay until they naturally come off
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Yes, me too- he has this idea that if you wash the scab away before it is formed, it will heal much faster. This is provably true, but when y scab for days- it is difficult to keep up w the cleaning... And the area will be very irritated..
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Interesting , as I thought it would cause scarring. Keep us informed how you heal(:
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See my post above. :)
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I was informed post dermabrasion to cleanse gently and to never let the dermabraded skin dry out or scab / crust. Scabs prevent the skin from healing quickly because the new skin cells cannot migrate across a dry scab. If the skin is kept moist with aquaphor, the skin cells can "glide" across the slick surface easier. Also scabs can cause further scarring.
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I think this applies to my scarring as well, my laser holes scabbed but I was told it was normal and just let it be, no one adviced me to keep it from scabbing or anything. I believe this was one cause of the laser scarring I have niw
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Where you not told to put on anything to avoid scab, Mandy12-? I totally agree that it is most imporant to avoid scab. But when it is formed, Aquaphore will keep it moist. It is much safer, at least for me, than to wash/ moist and remove scab with vinaigre/ sterile water. You risk to force it off. I did Aquafore on a small area in my forehead, and it healed very well without any new scar formation. I scab a lot, so it could be washing/ soaking with water works better for others. After all the washing, my skin was super sensitive and I had to stop. Even if my suregon keept on telling me it was critical, and so on. Sooo stressful! When I finally left it with the Aquafore, it healed. My suregon told me to put on Vaselin, which also made me break out major.
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Just to clarify I had laser treaments but no, i was told I will scab but just not to pick them, that's all I was told plus to moisturizer but it wasn't treated as an important issue just something that will happen and you just wait till they come off. I wonder if this is why people have such poor results with lasers texture wise.
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That does make sense that you aren't happy with your results. My plastic surgeon in St. Louis, who administered my Fraxel laser surgery, told me to never allow my skin to get dry. I looked like a greasy pumpkin face for days! :)
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Yep that must be a factor at least. Although there is a woman who kept slathering her face but still got laser holes so it still might not prevent bad outcomes , however I'm horrified I wasn't told about this. Bugger
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It's definitely softened the scarring. How do you feel about your final results? Thank you for sharing your experience and giving everyone who is interested in this procedure a real world account of dermabrasion.
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Thanks for posting picture..its really look a lot better. How much do u think it bettered your skin??
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Hi Munch, Can you post some of your current pictures. Thanks Sohamb
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New picture posted
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Hey Muncy, So what is the current state of your skin? Has the roughness / unevenness improved? So the chemical peel ultimately resolved the enlarged pores you experienced post dermabrasion? How does the scarring looks now that all the swelling has long subsided? Thanks in advance.
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