I have acne scarring, some facial laxity, and a few wrinkles forming around my eyes and one on my forehead. Also my nasolabial folds were looking much more evident than they have in the past. I have scheduled 3 dermapen sessions with the first being a PRP facial. The other two will be dermapen with a skin tightening laser treatment 4 weeks apart. Updated on 7 Oct 2019: Lidocaine always takes so long to kick in for me. So this started off really painful. By the end it started to feel just uncomfortable. She said next time to come 20 mins early so that there is more time for the numbing to take effect. Afterward it definitely feels exactly like a terrible sunburn. Updated on 7 Oct 2019: Bad sunburn. I feel really uncomfortable. No pain though. I ended up shaving with an electric shaver and using Kiel’s Midnight recovery oil face wash. Updated on 7 Oct 2019: Still uncomfortable but a lot better. Later that night I did a sheet mask and it felt a ton better. The next day my face looked SO much better and the red really calmed down. Updated on 7 Oct 2019: So this pic is like the middle of the day. Maybe 3pm. I had done the sheet mask before bed and it looked so much better. I got my hair cut and people just thought I got too much sun. The sheet mask seems to be key to the redness calming down. Immediately after using the mask the redness would lessen. My next treatment I’ll be buying enough masks to use the same mask twice daily for a week. Updated on 7 Oct 2019: I started getting real dry patches around my mouth. The rest of the area I was just very lightly peeling. By this point I was using a face cream, oil, and some antioxidant serum. I started popping a little eye cream on the really dry spots and that seemed to help. Updated on 7 Oct 2019: The little pimples are starting to clear up as my dry spots are healing. My face started to peel noticeably from the end of Day 3 in spots and whole face by Day 4. I don’t think I mentioned it because it wasn’t even a big deal. By day 6 I’m still very lightly peeling but my skin looks so fresh and gorgeous I couldn’t care less. I’m noticing a huge change in my nasolabial folds. And my skin is just SO much firmer. Updated on 7 Oct 2019: I still feel a little dry and my face is still a little pink from the treatment. The results are amazing. As I’m writing this it’s been about a week and I’m chomping the bit because I can’t wait for my next treatment! I prepaid for two more and two for my mom. I can’t believe I didn’t do this sooner. I also want to note that the $300 price I paid was a special. They normally charge like $550 for Dermapen with PRP. Or you can get just the Dermapen for $299. They were running a special that if I did the Dermapen for $299 I would receive an alma laser skin tightening procedure for free. I will post before and after pics of that.
In order to reduce some scarring around my mouth, I decided to treat myself to micro needling with PRP at Aesthetic Medicine Center in Hinsdale. I had been there before for fillers and was happy with my results. The facility is clean, and the employees friendly. The office is busy, but wait time is nominal. For this procedure I arrived at 10 and was finished around 1. First, my blood was drawn, then spun to separate blood and plasma. That takes about 20 minutes. While Nurse Michelle got the plasma ready, I had numbing cream applied and waited for that to take effect. Next, Nurse Michelle injected the plasma into areas of my face where I have concerns: around my mouth, some areas on the cheeks, forehead, and nasal folds. Then, I moved to a treatment room with Arleen, the aesthetician for the microneedling and application of more plasma and hyaluronic acid. The plasma injections were not painful, but I did feel an odd sensation of heaviness in the face where it was injected, but that quickly disappeared. The microneedling was done with a derma pen/plasma pen at a level 1 then at a 2. Arleen made 3 passes over the entire face. Very thorough. And, yes, there is some pain involved when passes are made over areas of the face that are more boney-like the forehead. I took a couple Tylenol when I got home and a couple this AM, but now, 24 hours later I feel fine. I did not wash my face at all last night, but I showered this AM. My face is pretty red, especially the forehead and around the nose. My only negative so far was the smell of the PRP. I am super sensitive to odors and felt a bit nauseated by the smell. Nurse Michelle and Arleen are both excellent in performing their jobs and very knowledgeable in their expertises. I’m excited to see the results which occur in the next 2-4 weeks and continue over time! Will post updates at one week, etc. Updated on 14 Apr 2019: Here are the guidelines for post care.
If I could give 0 stars, this would be it. They close their office CONSTANTLY without telling patrons. I have shown up for scheduled appointments twice and showed up to a completely closed office, even after receiving text appointment confirmations the night before for both. I have no idea how these people are still in business, they have no customer service experience whatsoever. Not a single call or courtesy call for the office being closed and I do not live near Hinsdale. Unacceptable. Of my 4 IPL appointments, I had two done and the techs consistently contradicted eachother with the information they were sharing. I have no idea what qualifications they have. STAY AWAY!