Nothing but a $900.00 Sunburn!

PEARL FRACTIONAL...ONE YEAR LATER It has now been one year since I had my Pearl Fractional treatment for acne scarring. As you have read in my previous post, I had the "fractional" procedure after only minimal results from the "regular" Pearl treatment. Overall, between the two procedures, I can say my condition improved no more than 50%. And I would say about 75% of that percentage of improvement came from the second "fractional" treatment. My scars are now lighter and little shallower. A lot of the smaller scars are gone, but the larger- more visible ones, are still there. They are maybe about 30% better in themselves. Oddly enough, one year later- if I look closely in the mirror I can still see the thousands of little laser holes in my skin. Good thing they're not visible to other's eyes, but it is still concerning. It makes me question the laser's ability to heal existing scars if it technically left me with thousands of smaller scars. Last month I went to another doc. He went in with and "subcised" some of my scars from underneath and injected Restalyne underneath. That brought some additional improvement. However, I will have to wait for about 6 months (when the Restalyne is supposed to wear off) to see if the improvement are more from the injection or from the subcision. Regardless, the overall situation has left me with lots of frustration. Since I work in front of the camera (and oftentimes very closely in front of), improvements that are noticed in reality- aren't on camera. Light is the worst enemy. Makeup is the second worst enemy. I have to wear it- but it can sometimes highlight the problem areas. A 75% percent improvement in my scarring might as well be 0%. Of course most people don't work in showbiz- and don't have to worry about lights and cameras- and would be completely happy with the results I've been able to see. Is it worth the money? Work aside; I would say some improvement is better than none. I've just had to pay, what is in my opinion, a lot of money to see just a little improvement.

I am goin gin next month to try Pearl Fractional for the scarring.  I have heard much better reviews on that procedure for my situation.  Am excited again with hope for a good outcome.

Please read running commentary below this paragraph...

It has now been more than one month since I had my Pearl treatment done.  I can now say with confidence it was nothing more than a $900.00 sunburn.  I had the procedure done to minimize 3-4 moderate scar/pits on my cheeks.  The results looked promising after the first few days...but as days turned to weeks and the swelling subsided- so did the perceived results.  Today I can see absolutely no difference with my scars pre and post treatment.  I was told it could take months to see results.  But at this point I can't see how any benefits will occur- considering the scars look absolutely the same today.  I'm extremely dissappointed...and pretty shocked considering the pain, peeling, and recovery involved.  I'm surprised running a laser beam across your skin- and having it peel off- can have no results in the end. 

I guess I'll give up and try changing things "in the head" to ignore them.  Not sure what else to do since I tried punch-excicion on one scar two years ago and it ended up looking 75% worse.