“Nothing but a $900.00 Sunburn!”

I had my first Pearl treatment yesterday. I have a four moderate acne scars and some sun damage. I tried punch-excision last year- and it seemed to make some scars worse. Erasing these scars is a must since I work in TV.

The treatment itself wasn't so bad...the passes over the forehead were the worst. I didn't have much redness at all after being sent home. 24-hours later, today, the redness is only slight and I haven't had very much pain at all. I'm pretty tired, though...didn't get a lot of sleep overnight because of the Aquaphor all over my face.

I am still waiting for the "big peel", but I can already tell I have a new overall smoothness to my face. The acne scars are visibly smoother...but am surprised they're still showing up as much as they are. The doc did three passes over the worst areas. Maybe things will look better after I peel? I am happy with the overall face. But the whole reason I had the Pearl, the acne scars, don't seem to have been helped more than 30%.

Will keep you posted.

Updated on Mar 17, 2009:
It's been nearly a week since my Pearl procedure. My forehead is still peeling but the rest of my face is finished peeling. At this point I can say I am truly unhappy with the results so far. My acne scarring looks identical as to before the treatment. And my scarring was only minor to moderate in a few spots...nothing severe. The results are especially surprising since I had three passes over the worst-affected areas. My skin overall feels smoother. That's nice...but that's not what I had the procedure done for. The whole issue- the scarring- has not changed a bit. Perhaps we'll see in the next few weeks. The doc said it takes a while to see the results. But considering the scars look the same at this point- I'm pretty depressed.

Updated on Apr 3, 2009:


Updated on Apr 19, 2009:

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.

Updated on May 27, 2009:

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.

Updated on Jun 1, 2009:

Updated on Jul 18, 2010:
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.