Dermabrasion - Bismarck, ND

Muncy02
Worth It
Cost: $2,700
Dr. Becker, 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.

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 tmes

Comments (43)

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mfan17
March 5, 2014

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.

Muncy02
March 8, 2014

See newest post above.

mfan17
March 10, 2014

Thanks for the update. So do you still rate the improvement to your acne scars at 50% now that you are a couple of months out from the procedure?

Muncy02
March 16, 2014

I'd say yes - I believe I had about a 50% improvement. What have you decided for yourself?

mfan17
March 21, 2014

I'm going to bite the bullet and do it. Thinking of this famous plastic surgeon here in LA. Spoken to one of his patients and he highly recommends the doctor for dermabrasion. It's certainly not cheap, but it's my face. Probably only going to do spot dermbrasion to most prominent scars. Glad to hear your improvements are still holding at 50%.

Muncy02
March 25, 2014

I'm excited to hear about your results!

lef0x
March 5, 2014

Hi there, I read below in the comments you did a chemical to shrink your pores, are they back to normal now? Best wishes.

Muncy02
March 8, 2014

See newest post above!

DimitriY
February 16, 2014

Hi Muncy, I have a similar history of treatments for my acne scars expect for injectibles. I'm planning to have dermabrasion later this year. How long did you wait after your laser procedures to have the dermabrasion? You seems to be happy with your results. Do you mind sharing your before pictures?

Muncy02
February 19, 2014

I will have to dig up some side profile photos, my scarring didn't always show up in front view photos.

DimitriY
February 21, 2014

That would be great! Thanks in advance. I've read that pores size return to normal over time after dermabrasion. Did you have any textural change after Fraxel? My pores became 2x the size after 4 session of Fraxel.

Mandy12
(RealFriend)
February 21, 2014

Same here but I believe mine are laser holes not pores. Are yours all over your face or are they the old pores looking larger now?

Muncy02
February 22, 2014

I didn't have any changes in pore size after fraxel. I did an at home chemical peel and my pore size is nearly back to normal. :)

Muncy02
February 22, 2014

I experienced a change all over my face. The pores in my t- zone were larger and the pores everywhere else were definitely exaggerated. I did do am at home chemical peel and I'm almost back to normal.

Mandy12
(RealFriend)
February 23, 2014

Ok glad to hear you are back to normal I'm stuck with these holes , so damn annoying and depressing. What sort of peel did you do?

kimmie63
February 23, 2014

Hi Muncy02! Can you still see yoiur scaring? Are you happy with the results?

Muncy02
April 7, 2014

Hi! I posted some before pictures

mfan17
February 10, 2014

Thank you very much for this journal of your treatment. I've been going back and forth on the idea of dermabrasion for so long, and the information available online is very conflicting, both good and very bad. How would you characterize your level of scarring prior to your treatments?

kimmie63
February 10, 2014

I can tell you that i had my procedure done on December 19th and on February 10th every single scar is still there as if i never had dermabrasion done. The only thing that i can hope for is that the collagen isstill building. My complexsion prior to this procedure was nice all but for my scars that were not real noticable to others not like they were to me. I was told by everyone that i was crazy for doing it but i just wanted a flawless complexsion and now that my face has healed all but some pinkness i look exacly like i did before. The only difference is I'm 2000.00 dollars poorer. Hope this helps you. If things change for me I'll post it.

Muncy02
February 14, 2014

Hi mfan17! I've had a very different outcome from kimmie63. I am extremely happy with the results so far. I'm just over a month out from my treatment and I'd say I have about a 50% reduction in my scarring. That's being conservative. I want to wait until the pinkness has subsided before I give you a solid percentage of scar lessening. I've had many scar removal treatments to know that a single procedure isn't going to give me perfect results, however, dermabrasion has given me near perfect results considering the state of my scarring prior to the treatment. Let me know if you have any more questions! :)

kimmie63
February 7, 2014

Hi there!!! So happy for you. Ive been thinking of you and finally took the time to pull you up on my phone and read all your updates. Please keep me posted.

Mandy12
(RealFriend)
February 6, 2014

Hi glad you are healing well! How does your skin texture compare before and after, do you have normal texture with less deep scarring or do you find dermabrasion changed the texture as well ?

Muncy02
February 14, 2014

Dermabrasion hasn't changed the texture of my skin, not permanently anyway. It is currently a little more rough than before the procedure. My PS said that it was normal and that by the 3rd month mark, my skin should be back to normal texture.

Mandy12
(RealFriend)
February 14, 2014

That's good let us know how you go in months to come all the best!

IceAge
February 6, 2014

Hi Muncy, Congrats on your success! I'm wondering, why didn't you try a more aggressive laser (i.e. CO2) instead of mechanical dermabrasion? I'm debating both procedures and your perspective is appreciated. Thanks!