Dermabrasion: Stories

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dermabrasion ruined my life - Naperville, IL

In 1995 (when I was young & stupid) I went to...

In 1995 (when I was young & stupid) I went to an acne skin care clinic and complained about my large pores, especially the ones around my nose. At that time, I never heard of lasers although they were already in use. The doctor, who represented himself as a dermatologist, told me the only option was something called a dermabrasion. He said I would need a week off of work and that I would be able to return to life as normal. I researched dermabrasions and it did sound like the answer to my large pore problem. It sounded a little deeper than a chemical peel.

He dermabraded my entire face, except for the eye area. After the dermabrasion, my face was blood red and raw. I then noticed the shape of my nose looked different, especially the tip area where he dermabraded a large pore. At my follow-up appointment, I questioned him about it. He said it was my imagination. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach and could do nothing but wait til I healed to see final results.

A week went by and my face was getting worse, not better. I had to call my employer and ask for another week off. The doctor who performed the dermabrasion had no explanation for why I was getting worse instead of healing. I was also certain the shape of my nose was changed and he told me he saw nothing wrong except that I was not healing.

I decided to get a second opinion. I still remember the look of horror on the second dermatologist's face when he saw me. I wanted to cry. He said the doctor dermabraded my face too deeply and that you should NEVER dermabrade the nose area. It did look like I would be scarred.

And indeed I was scarred. As a result of what I thought was simple procedure, I almost lost my job because I had to take a month off of work when I was told it would be only one week. I still was blood red and raw when I returned to work and everyone stared at me and asked what happened to me. I looked like a burn victim. It took one whole year for the redness to subside. Also, due to the stress of all of this, my hair fell out and I was diagnosed with alopecia. My hair has never regrown since 1995 and it is now 2011.

And, last but not least, my nose is deformed due to the dermabrasion on the tip of my nose and the large pores on the sides of my nose are more pronounced and the texture looks like wax. It looks like someone took a knife & sliced off the tip of my nose. I've been to plastic surgeons over the years and I'm always told there is nothing that can be done for that or I'll end up looking like Michael Jackson. I have to live with it.

The doctor who I got the second opinion from looked up information on the doctor who did the dermabrasion on me because I looked so bad. He found out he was only board-certified in bariatric medicine, NOT dermatology. It turns out doctors can go to a weekend training course on cosmetic procedures and claim they are board-certified to do them.

I have also had to pay thousands of dollars since then to try to correct what he did through lasers. It sickens me that I voluntarily chose to do a dermabrasion and I paid for this living hell. My life definitely went downhill from there.

I hope my story can help someone seriously reconsider this procedure and definitely do not have it done to your nose. Most importantly, check out your doctor's credentials and speak/see one of his other patients before you decide.

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Comments (6)

Sam48599 22 Jan 2013
What you need to understand is that it dermabrasion is an extremely invasive procedure in which most if not all of your epidermis is removed. If the person who is performing this procedure cuts into your dermis which is the underlying living layer of your skin then you will be scarred.
benfranklin 13 Jun 2012
@KMG109
please 'KNG109' do not ever tell anybody that their in control of fulfilling their own life when that person is delt an injury to their face. becuase I myself am 19 but I look very old and my facial obstructions are unavoidable to naked eye. I have a pock mark on my nose and one on my fore head the one on my forehead is huge my forehead is round from my eyebrows to hairline and were ever I am the light seems to shine directly on it and glisten around its corners and reflect no light freon it's center or outside its rim and also i have a wrinkle beginning right above it the veers around it outling it's presence even more. it's also centered perfectly in the middle of my head. the one on my nose is partialy scarred and fortunately hides on the left side of my nose from most angles. my head is odd and one side is noticable bigger then the other left side. my eyes are very much pushed over to the left side of my face. I have a pick mark above my lips that has turned into a saggy wrinkle. I have a huge extremely deep set wrinkle about 1 inch above my eyebrows that follows the width of my head. I am going bald.
so sad 28 Jun 2011
Hi every one out there that is considering Dermabrasion !first off I know exactly how Napperville feels. Here is my story! I started out with Fraxil in late 2006 through the the summer 2007. Fraxil is what I used , and it was great ! 4treatments there.And I still wasn't satisfied.The right side of me cheek was the worst! With Fraxil it made it better"real better I couldn't believe it ! Now I still wanted too do the Dermabrasion.2008 September (don't know the date)That day would change my LIFE FOREVER !!! that is the day of my horrifying exprience with Dermabrasion ! HORIFIFYING !!! I go too this plastic Surgeon name Dr.Mosser ..The worst plastic surgeon in the world ! I go too this Doctor too get my Dermabrasion and he tells me good things about it ! Little I would know " he would butcher my face and deform for the rest of my life . First off remember when I said earlier that my right cheek was perfect. Well what the Doctor did was dig too deep on my right cheek ,so know my right cheek looks sunken in like a old person or a heroin drug addict would look like .In certin lighting it looks like one big sunken hole on my right cheek ! the Doctor deform my face and butcherd it completely !! not too mention the down time was and still is trying too heel ! I got hyper pigmentation from this and before that " my face was so red like I had acne again ! my face color is Fitzpatrick type kinda dark ! This ruined my life so bad that I cannot do anything anymore ! listen too music, watch my favorite t.v.shows ,go clubbing , looking in the mirror , and most of all I treat my girlfriend really bad because of what had happen too me ! I am even not believing in god any more cause of this procedure and what the doctor has done too me ! Please do not do this Dermabrasion ! please do not ! I am left with one normal side face and the other side deformed and sunken in so bad that it looks like some one cut out the middle of my right cheek ! please do not do this !!!
kmg109 21 May 2012

Come on.....you can't stop believing in God over a bad circumstance in your life! If this made you stop believing then you never truly believed anyway. You are still healthy and able to live life to the fullest...you just have to make the decision to do so.

BrittB 30 Jan 2011

Hi Chicago,

Thanks so much for your review. I'm so sorry you have had to go through all of the problems after the procedure. I've never heard of someone being deformed from a Dermabrasion. I hope you find someone who can someday fix everything for you completely. Please keep us updated.

Thanks,

-Britt

kathi5981 27 Mar 2013
I don't think the general public understands the difference between dermabrasion and microdermabrasion, then add all of the different lasers and people are confused and uninformed. Dermabrasion is the oldest of the techniques, other than chemical peels. Many years ago, a friend from work asked me to drive her home from the dermatologists office after her dermabrasion. She had beautiful skin, but had lip lines she wanted erased. The doctor said the only way to do that was a full face dermabrasion, as "spot" dermabrasion would leave a demarcation around the mouth. I was shocked when she came out of the office. She was wrapped like a mummy, and was sent home to lie in bed and moan. She had to use abrasive scrubs to remove the scabbing, which made her almost pass out from the pain. Eventually she heeled, but she was left with discoloration from the "freezing" solution, that looked like white marbled into her natural skin color. The doctor simply said "Well, you always wore makeup anyway, use a little more!". Her first vacation post procedure, she wore her sunscreen and wide brimmed hat on a boat. She got the worst sunburn, and the doctor said "I told you no sun! What part didn't you understand?!". Dermabrasion is the most brutal thing you can do to your skin. Only the best of the best do it well. You will always have a line of demarcation around your jaw, as the skin on your neck can't take the procedure. Your face will be lighter than your neck. It's a GAWD AWFUL procedure. Just as bad are results of some of the phenol peels. Your skin is left so thin and shallow that it looks blue...you can see the veins running threw it! And, if you exercise, your face turns burning red, like you're having a heart attack! There is no reason to do these procedures anymore. There are superior choices out there. You can go slowly, doing milder peels and build up your skin slowly, over several months time. I feel so sorry for these people who have to live with these awful results. And the shameful doctors who treat them are careless and egotistical.

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