Allison37

You look terrific. Much softer and elegant. You were a very pretty girl before and your rhinoplasty surgery just seems to have enhanced your natural beauty. Congratulations on the great results and thank-you for sharing your story and pictures.

I have had 3 SmartXide treatments to help with acne scars. My last treatment was over a year ago. It changed my life for the better. My acne scars are very much improved. It also helped with pigment issues I had after 5 fraxel treatments Ihad done several years earlier. I strongly believe that results are strongly correlated to the skill of the technician (doctor) doing the treatment. The SmartXide laser is just a tool. Technique, ability and judgement are key in my opinion to a good result. I am happy STKA has had a good result and feel bad for you Cathy that you are not getting the results you are looking for.

I have had three Smartxide treatments. I had about a 20-30% improvement of my acne scars the first time round and about the same incremental improvement with each subsequent treatment. I am very happy with my results. I went to two different doctors. The first one was in Chandler, Arizona and the second in the Pacific Northwest. I believe I had the most improvement with the doctor in Chandler. He did the first two treatments I did with the Smartxide about three months apart. The second doctor used different settings and I believe I did not get as much of an improvement as the prior two treatments. I did have an improvement just not as noticeable where the acne scars were concerned. I strongly believe the doctor doing the treatment is more important than the fractional laser being used. The first doctor I went to had more experience with olive toned skin and acne scars. As a result he provided me with the best result out of the two Smartxide doctors I have used. Don't give up...I tried lots of different treatments that were not effective. I was desparate but had also given up hope my skin would ever look normal. Smartxide has given me as close to normal as I could have ever hoped for and it has changed my life for the good.

Emmy, Smartxide was not a "farce" as you call it for me. If you click on my name you will see my other posts. I tried a lot of other things to address my acne scars and they did very little to help and some treatments I tried did damage. Given I have olive toned skin - chemical peels and a full laser treatment was not an option. I stand by my previous statements. Smartxide gave me a 60-80% improvement to my acne scars after 3 treatments. It changed my life profoundly. My acne scars made me very self conscious. I get noticed by men now. No one I meet today can believe I ever had bad skin. I cry for my younger self. I really wish Smartxide had been an option when I was 18. Again, the skill of the doctor using the laser is key. The doctor I went to the last time I had this treatment was not as good as the first doctor I went to. Different settings were used and those settings were not as effective. (Note: the settings I gave in previous posts were for the scared areas and not my entire face. At least three different settings were used by both doctors to address different areas/issues.) I will forever be grateful to the doctor who did my first two Smartxide treatments. After one treatment I knew my sking and life was going to better.

Amy, I really believe the results are dependent on the skill of the person using the laser, your skin's elasticity, and the laser settings themselves. These are the parameters used the first two times I did it: 30 Watts, 350 Dot, 1100 msec. I believe those settings worked best for me. I am still recovering from a third treatment I did about 12 days ago. Different doctor, different settings. This time the setting were: 30 Watts, 300 Dot, 1200 msec. I am still very red and this recovery has been rough compared to the past two go rounds with the Smartxide. The scars I had also look exactly the same as pre-treatment this time round. It may be too early to tell though what result I will actually get. Right now I am not seeing it. My understanding is that the dots were closer together this time round. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not for addressing acne scars. My skin looks worse for wear 12 days later. Before I had the treatment my skin looked fantastic. No need for foundation or powder. I can't go out without something evening out my skin tone right now and I have a spat of acne on both cheeks as the cream is too rich. I am switching to my pre-treatment moisturiser tomorrow. Hopefully that will eliminate the acne. I really did get a huge improvement of my acne scars from the first two Smartxide treatments I did. It was and remains a blessing as it improved my life and confidence level so much. Good luck and keep me posted how it goes for you. Allison