Was Worth It for Me

Maybe I would need multiple procedures to really see a difference. I didn't notice much of a lightening effect on my dark spots after all the scabs had fallen off. And honestly, I don't think I could handle the downtime of doing multiples of these.

I was nervous about doing this treatment from the other reviews I read here, but I really wanted to get rid of some of the sun damage on my face. I decided to do it because I knew the person very well who did it--she is the owner of the place who has been doing this for years, and I'd had other treatments with her before and had been going there for 2 years for other things (botox, fillers, etc.). I would really recommend that anyone thinking of doing this procedure take the time to get to know the place and people first (have other less risky things done, etc.). I would not have trusted someone I didn't know to do this.

This is what my recovery has been like:
Day of the procedure: She went over my face twice with the laser. It hurt, but it was bearable. My face was very red for a couple hours after, but it stopped hurting pretty much after the procedure was done. Later that day, I noticed a big wrinkle at the bottom of my face that had never been there before, and then the bottom of my face got saggy and jowly. It was awful to see, but I just kept in mind what Naomi had told me, which is "your face is going to look different every day as you heal." She had told me about the risks of the procedure (burning, hyperpigmentation), and permanent sagginess wasn't one of them, so as panicked as I felt, I tried to chill out.
Day 1 and 2: The weird wrinkle/sagginess is gone, but now my face is swollen. The sun damage has turned dark and come to the surface as expected, but the swelling bothers me the most--my face looks fat and jowly (apparently swelling happens for some people but not all). But I go to work anyway and just try to wear my hair in my face. I call the place just to make sure this is normal, and Naomi reassures me it is and recommends taking acetaminophen, which helps a little with the swelling.
Days 3 and 4: The swelling starts to go down, and some of the dark spots start to flake off.
I'm on day 4 now and my normal face shape is starting to reappear. For the spots that have flaked off, the skin underneath is improved--some spots have gone away, and others are lighter.

My advice to anyone considering this procedure is, again, really take the time to get to know the people and the place and make sure you feel like you are in good hands if you have this done.