“SmartXide DOT Laser Therapy”

Allison--Here's something below that I posted under laser treatments (I think.) Let me know how the next treatment goes--good luck! I have some light (not too deep) acne scars and patches of large pores. I'm very light skinned with blotchiness & redness around my nose. I think you could say my skin is coarse & thick. I just turned 55 so my skin is getting drier but I have a huge problem with whiteheads & blackheads! Although my skin still looks pretty good for 55, it was starting to get crepey with tiny little surface wrinkles. So any or all of these things would be nice to get rid of with the Smartxide. Monday Dec 8 made 2 weeks since I got lasered. It wasn't until this past Friday that all of the tiny dot scabs had fallen off. I still continue to show some redness, actually light pink, on my neck, but it feels so smooth & soft! Now let's see if it tightens up any. Now to my face. The doc told me that she used a really high setting near my eyes to try to help with my sleep creases, so I'm still redder there than anywhere else. But I'm able to cover it up just fine. Where I really wanted to see some change was in the texture of my skin and I think I'm seeing that. Even though the little scabs have flaked off, I see some very fine peeling going on, but when I step back from the mirror my skin looks much smoother and less blotchy than what I recall. I'm really excited about this and hope that I continue to see improvements. As I said in earlier postings, I think it's going to take at least a month to truly see the results. SO far I like what I'm seeing and I have my next appointment late next week!

Dear Sandrasue, I looked pretty bad. I have to admit it sort of surprised me. I had some swelling and puffiness & I was very red. Really a good comparison is like a very bad sunburn. That's also how to describe my skin's sensitivity afterwards. I was given a DOT aftercare kit kit made by DOT. The first day I didn't wash at all because skin was so sensitive, again like a bad sunburn. For about 1-2 hours after the treatment, your sking feels hot & the doc told me to "bring down the temperature of your skin" with icy cold plastic bags. This part is kind of scary too because it IS burning. But it does cool down and then you don't have to ice down as often that day. My doc also advised to put Aquaphor on it. I hesitated to do that at first because it's so thick & greasy. But by the second day, I could feel my skin drying & scabbing. In a couple of spots I could see raw skin and so I started to use the Aquaphor to keep skin moist and slow down the drying. I think this was a good move because I believe it helped prevent scarring--that's just my opinion. The second day I washed VERY gently with a DOT kit cleanser, applied kit balm. By the 3rd day the dots turn to little brown scabs and the red skin starts to turn brownish. As for results, I think it is still too early to tell what the full impact will be. I had this done on 11/24/08. It's now 12/20/08 and I can tell that I am still healing. There is still a patch of redness under both eyes & around my nose. Small brown freckly patches have been definitely reduced. While it's hard to be sure I do think that the texture of my skin is a little better--pores a little tighter. I went to an open house at the medspa where I had this done and was able to talk to the Smartxide DOT representative. He took a look at my face & treatment log (strength of laser used on which parts of my face) & he said that he felt that I was healing on track and that I would be seeing changes in my skin for another couple of months. In fact, he suggested that I wait until March to have a second follow-up DOT instead of now in December. That way I could see what one treatment had accomplished. So I am taking his advice. The best advice I can give you, assuming you have a good doc, is to take care of your skin once you have the DOT and don't rush it. Let it heal up and keep it moist with what your doc gives you. It took me a good 5-6 days before I felt that I looked normal. That didn't stop me from going out, but I know I looked really weird. Hope this helps, glad to share.

I had a photo facial laser treatment done 2 years ago. I did not see any results and would not do it again. But I have pretty coarse skin so it might work better for you. For the Smartxide, I did not get sedated, just a numbing creme. And it was unpleasant, but I was able to take the pain. Everybody is different. Like I've said in previous postings, the worst time was the first hours after the lasering. My skin felt like it was burning. Now that I know what to expect, I am pretty sure that I will do a follow-up treatment in March. It's been almost 30 days since my first Smartxide & I do like what I see. Next time, I'll be more realistic about expectations for down time. BTW, Sandrasue, when I say down time I mean time where I wouldn't want to be seen by some people. This was the only thing holding me back. I never felt sick or so much in pain that I had to stay home. Just wanted to clarify my experience for you. Thanks & good luck on the photofacial!

A Belz--I had mine done in Nov. & will get second in March '09. I did not experience scarring but I treated my skin very gently afterwards and kept it from drying out too soon. I think it is important that the first 3-5 days you keep the skin moisturized. On the first pm of the treatment, I did not wash or touch much because of the burning sensation. I very gently washed the next morning and began to let my skin air dry a bit. That was when I noticed one of the scabs was drying up and tearing away from raw skin and a little blood oozed. I gently wet my face and applied the creams provided by Smartxide and topped that with Aquaphor. This is just me but I think that's why i didn't scar. I do not see thinning as much as more sensitivity. But despite this, I see improvements in tone and texture

Juliew--The smoothness that I first saw is not quite the same--I had my dot therapy done around 11/20/08. My crepey wrinkles are back, but not as bad as before. I still can see little indentations in my skin that I know are from the dot therapy because they are so evenly spaced, just like the dot laser. As time goes by I do see them diminish. I have to admit that the dot therapy is not the cureall I had hoped for, but I do see imprvement to my skin. It is tighter, smoother and less blotchy. I have to keep reminding myself that it is not a face lift nor is it Fraxel which requires several weeks of downtime. Having said all of that, I am fgiving it one more shot in March when I have a second & last dot therapy. Hope this helps.