Laser Resurfacing: Stories

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Disaster :::: Hypo & Hyperpigmentation and Raised Scarring - Fla

catparkmor
posted 4 months ago
updated 1 month ago

Not Worth It
Cost: $5,000
Sarasota, FL

It has been a year and I still have raised...

25 Jan 2013

It has been a year and I still have raised "whisker-like" horizontal marks on my cheeks. 2-3 on the left side and 4-5 on the right cheek. You can feel them easily. The "marks" standout visually when I put on make-up. :(

My skin is really blotchy -there is a ton of hyperpigmentation issues. I have been out of the sun for a whole year!! "track marks" vertical ones on my forehead and horizontal ones around my face and jawline. I work from home and have been out of the sun the whole recovery time. I put on 90 broad-spectrum sunblock diligently. The worst part are these hypopigmentation scars on either side of my face. It has been a year and they are sooo bad still. They are permanent. The melanin is gone. The laser did little or nothing for my wrinkles around my eyes and creepy skin. My skin is just worse. I am not imaging this. Friends and family have seen me all the way through and see the different changes. My pores have enlarged greatly and have not decreased in size. It has been a year since this procedure. The doctor gave me my money back but my face is ruined and a whole year lost as well as my confidence.

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Overpriced and not experienced with Laser surgery. Scarred for life. Lost a whole year with recovery. :(

Comments (39)

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Furms 22 May 2013

Please please do not have CO2 laser. It is the most deveststing thing I have experienced in my life besides death of a family member. It has been nine weeks of hell and there seems to b absolutely no improvement. My skin is bright red, scarred, bumpy, waxy, shiny, sticky and open looking. It is a HUGe disaster. I'm completely consumed with the damage I elected to do to myself. I live in Atlanra and went to a reputable doctor. It is the worse decision I have ever ever made.

Furms 22 May 2013

I had CO2 and it has been 9 weeks. My skin is tacky feeling in some areas w white waxy looking raised skin in some areas and extremrly dry raised bumps/ scars that I originally thought was dry skin that would expholiate off. I slowly am learning that the dry raised stuff is not dead skin but appears to be raised dry scars that feel like sand paper.Also, I'm still very, very red. Flares up at drop of a hat. Csnt find a moisteriser that works either. My eyelids feel like sand paper and look like old dry skin. I cant wear makeup well. It sticks and clumps in the tacky areas and builds up in the dry areas. Looks like 80 year old eyes. Only thing my surgeon says is I need to go to a makeup artist downtown from New York. First of all I have no more time off of work to go to a super expensive makeup artist to cover my $3;000 worth of laser. I have been hiding in my house for 2 months and I'm soooooo sick to my stomach that I ever did this to myself. I live in Atlanta and went into Buckhead to do this. I thought I had a great doctor. If you are considering doing this I BEG you not to. It is the most emotionally deveststing thing ( besides losing a loved one ) that I have ever gone through. I feel like I've lost so much of my life and worry about getting a REAL sickness from the internal stress this is causing. Hard on my family, too. I wait for the weeks to pass so I can have a weekend to try different things to see if I csn FIX or hide the flaws. If you chose to do this, know you have been warned. Pease do not I have a feeling I will regret this forever.

GeorgiaB210 21 Apr 2013

I had Erbium Resurfacing on January 3, and it took a full 8 weeks for me to be able to leave the house with makeup. I have waffling on my forehead and what looks like stretch marks on my cheeks. The dermatologist who performed the procedure says he needs to do a more aggressive treatment on my forehead. He believes the waffling is the result of too light of an application and wants to do everything again. I am afraid to go back to him and depressed to have to hide out in the house again.

catparkmor 21 Apr 2013

screw that - get your money back - all of it and go somewhere else. I had improvement from in skin texture with ematrix. It helped my raised scarring blend into my skin.

marilyn horween 2 May 2013

Don't do anything else.

catparkmor 21 Apr 2013

Not really - I got 3 ipl's but it is soo expensive for what is accomplished. The skin bleach - hydrocodone 4% has helped make the contrast less but once a the sun hits for a sec - or you stop using it it's right back where it was. Now a vampire for life. Make up. That's all I can do to look sort of normal. Wearing my hair down to help cover the scarring.

C1 21 Apr 2013

Also, you are beautiful, even with the hypopigmentation.

C1 21 Apr 2013

Have any of the other treatments helped with the hypopigmentation? Did I read above that you had some hypertrophic scarring also?

catparkmor 25 Mar 2013

No - Loss of volume yes - Maybe ematrix could help?

susyb 25 Mar 2013

I notice that under your eye in teh after photo there is some sagging- did this improve- did you find something that owrked? My neighbor has a loss of volume from laser- I am tryng to help out- thank you

Think 26 Feb 2013

I'm glad I read this thread. I am on my way to Thailand on the weekend, and was fairly certain I would have treatments with the CO2 fractional laser to lessen deep acne scarring. Now I am having major second thoughts.

co2laservictim 13 Feb 2013

I am 4.5 months following a CO2 laser treatment. It has been the worst experience of my life. I get 2-3 panic attacks a day. I had it done to reduce moderate scarring on my cheeks and forehead; mostly depressed scars but one keloid on my forehead. It created 3 large rough, raised skin tissue areas on my forehead, with gashes in the raised scarring that look like scratch marks. And the raised areas have lots of little pimples all over them. I also still have dents and track marks in my cheeks where it appears the laser ablated away more skin tissue. And my pores have gotten larger. I was told that this texture change would even out, but I haven't noticed any changes at all in the texture in over 4 months! I'm starting to get massively depressed and I get panic attacks when looking in the mirror.

catparkmor 13 Feb 2013

Find out what the laws are in your state with cosmetic malpractice. It still is healing . . . . If yours turns out like mine after 6 months if anything get your money back for sure. I wasted whole year and lost lots of money. I know how sad, embarrassed, and hopeless you must feel. I was there. These doctors need to stop the lasers.

co2laservictim 13 Feb 2013

Yes, I feel all of those things. And the worst part is, I searched for an extremely experienced dermatologist/plastic surgeon afterwards and he said he could have corrected the problems easily with far less downtime and complications. So I have been beating myself up about it for weeks now and crying a lot. "If only I had found him first I could have avoided this mess", I keep telling myself. It's a living nightmare. I am going to wait about 6.5 months and if the problems still exist, then I'll do something about it. What I assumed about the procedure was that it would be bad for 1-2 months, then start healing and look much better than before. But at 4.5 months and all of these complications, I'm worried sick and starting to doubt a decent recovery. I wish I could get my money back, but I had to sign this paperwork that had lots of small print about laser complications, so I'm not sure...

Lil Kim 23 Apr 2013

OMG. I am so sad to read about your experience. I had a Fraxel like treatment done several years ago now (it was called Dot and my doctor said it was more gentle that some others). I had a terrible experience. I know what it means to have terrible anxiety attacks and to be a vampire (in other words, avoid the sun at all costs). My face looked like I had been playing waffle iron tag for at least 3 months. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't look in the mirror, I was ashamed to be seen in public. I went into deep depression, wondering if I would ever be the same again and cursed myself for being so vain as to hope to remove my freckles and improve my skin tone! I went to other specialist (dermatologists and mostly they prescribed hydroquinone). I had to even go on a steroid creme for close to a month after my initial treatment (probably because my treating doctor didn't know what else to do). He seemed a bit shocked (but he tried to hide it from his expression). I had before and after photos taken. Photos were taken at 1 week, 3 weeks, 1 1/2 month. After that I started buying crazy sunblock, big hats, protective clothing and hiding from the sun like a freak. The good news is that I am 3 years out and although I do still have hypo and hyperpigmentation issues (expecially on the sides of my face, at the jaw line and some on my forehead), I can say I am finally doing a bit better. I have come to accept a bit of the aftermath. But I do look better than in that first year after the treatment. Hang in there. I do know how you feel. The same thing happened to me. It took many months to heal. My best advice....... Sun protection (hats, sunblock, avoidance). Over time my situation did get considerable better, but it nearly wrecked my personal life in the process. I couldn't sleep, I had major anxiety, I was fixated. I pray you try to relax and don't look in the mirror so often. Keep your skin clean and hydrated and try to focus on something else for now. I just recently (after 3 years) started a very gentle laser (ND yag) to remove some of the pigmentation. This has helped some (as well as hydroquinone 4%, I use obagi C C-clarifying serum). Back to what your going through now, I would make sure you are getting some rest (even if it requires sleeping pills, possibly an antidepressant/just for the short term). Aso as far as the wierd texture, that eventually will fade (or it did for me). And I agree, it did seem like there were both raised and depressed areas with small bumps in those red whelped up areas, that is new skin forming). I felt so traumatized by my experience. I felt nobody I knew could understand, because it was happening to me. I do know how you feel. Please let me know if I can be of any help to you.

Furms 22 May 2013

I feel the same way. I am 8 weeks out. My face is horrible. I am so depressed.

co2laservictim 23 May 2013

I am 8 months out now and my skin has only improved slightly. It still looks terrible, and the raised areas are still there, the track marks are still there, the bumps are still there but less bad. I still have a pretty bad indentation like catparkmor under one of my eyes. And now I am starting to notice hypopigmentation since the hyperpigmentation has calmed down a bit. I am so glad you responded Lil Kim; it's nice to read about what others like me have experienced, and that there is a possibility of things improving.

Katharine1 10 Feb 2013

Dear Catparkmor, I am so sorry for your experience. I have acne scarring and pimentation probs-- not too bad-- and I have thought of laser treatments. I think now I will practice good skin care and self-acceptance around this issue. I want to tell you that you are still a very attractive woman, so hold on to that please as you heal from this. It is natural that the experience would make you hyper-focus on the damaged area, but if you can just care for it and keep trying to see yourself in a larger perspecive....I have a lazy eye condition and I try not to fixate on that. As I said, you are still lovely. Good luck

catparkmor 10 Feb 2013

Thank you very much . . . . It's hard when I am single and men look for clear even textured skin in woman - which sadly I had. I would try deep derma-rolling or ultrasound http://www.ehow.com/way_6180944_ultrasound-scar-removal.html instead of lasers.

Kelly S. 19 Feb 2013

Try skin peels weekly on these areas. They will slowly level these areas out. They will not make them worse. One thing doctors forget to tell their patients is they need to mix their triple antibiotic with squash or and wear this religiously day and night for a month until all dead skin has come off. The skin must be moist orbit will simply adhere to the new skin underneath.

Kelly S. 19 Feb 2013

Not squash with AQUAPHOR.. Thanks spellcheck..sheesh

valleau 5 Apr 2013

Hahaha... I thought you were on to something epic!!

chiasnguy 9 Feb 2013

I had laser skin resurfacing in October for acne scars. My doctor said she used erbium on my cheek where I had deeper scars and fraxel for the rest of my face. I was pretreated with hydroquinone to prevent hyperpigmentation which I was really concerned about. It's been 3 months and what a rough recovery. I did not expect the downtime to be so long. Going into it she said I would be presentable in a month. WRONG!The most troublesome side effects were redness and hyperpigmentation. Redness all over my face but especially on my cheeks and brownish discoloration on my cheeks,temples and mostly where she used the Erbium. I followed the after care instructions: wore sunscreen, stayed out of the sun and had to wear make up (which is very distressing for a guy). To say that it was very disruptive to my social and recreational life is an understatement. Long story short, it's been 3 months and while the redness started to subside, it was blotchy. I was more red in areas where she really went deep. The hyperpigmentation got lighter but still obvious. I was so sick of it so I consulted another clinic and they recommended Mealanage peel. It's been a week after the peel and so far I'm it looks like I will be HAPPY with the results. It did not hurt, but the first 3 days I was peeling like crazy and very red. This made me feel rather depressed and worried that I would have to go through more downtime. BUT after that the redness lessened and I could tell the brown discoloration has lightened significantly. I'm still peeling minimally and continuing with the creams they gave me. The results take up to 8 weeks for full effect. I'm very satisfied with the results so far. My skin looks more even, the pores are much smaller and the discoloration is lighter. In hindsight I'm still not sure if the laser surgery was worth the downtime. The scars have gotten shallower and my doctor says benefits from laser continue up to 6 months. I am certain though that I would not want to relive the past 3 months.

catparkmor 9 Feb 2013

Lasers are stupid. There are other ways now that break up scars etc... Having laser resurfacing was the worst mistake ever. I am soo sorry that you had to deal with that. I am still dealing with social issues because of my scarring and texture - it's been a year. Such a waste of my life.

chellamia 9 Feb 2013

I'm sorry you have bad experience with this. There is so many different laser treatments could you please be more specific what exactly was that he did? Was it Co2 Fraxal? Erbium? so many....I had some type of matrix laser but there was nothing like this and I really didn't notice any change...suppose to build the collegen... I would look into some of the really good creme and I think the doctor should have given you a whole Obagi kit as that's very good one.

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