Allure MediSpa - Paoli

17 years ago I was jumped & my nose badly broken. I had rhinoplasty for a deviated septum but was left with a few broken blood vessels on the bridge of my nose. Last summer I got too much sun & it turned into a vascular lesion that never went away. It would be a red or purple spot that was very visible when I was hot or worked out.

My trusted dermatologist referred me to a plastic surgeon & supposed laser expert. They sent me to their medispa next store. I had a bad feeling when I walked in (it seemed shabby & unprofessional — the receptionist was eating Cheetos). Anyway, I figured I would get the consult. The esthetician was very friendly & made the procedure seem risk free. She assured me that a few IPL sessions would clear it up. I was given no aftercare instructions whatsoever. I was told nothing about sun care. I was only told the risk of blisters & complications was rare/minimal.

The IPL didn’t work. In fact it gave me PIH & brought more surrounding veins to the surface. It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t an improvement. I shoulda let it be — little did I know the worst was yet to come.

I returned 5 weeks later for a consult. The esthetician assured me it was normal & another treatment would clear it up. She said it was part of the process. Against my better judgement, I agreed. While I was on the table she left the room & came back. She said “I’m gonna try something else.” I took this to mean different settings/technique. Instead I was burned with an nd yag laser without my consent — a far stronger & risker procedure than I’d agreed to. She must have known she screwed up because she got quiet & rushed me out without any info or aftercare instructions. I wasn’t even given info on what exact laser she used!

I blistered up the next day & had a pretty severe open, weeping blisters. I called back to inquire & asked what was used but she didn’t seem to know “just know that it was a laser.” She even tried to book me for another treatment even though I had an open wound!!!

I followed up asking to see the doctor but all my calls went to a voicemail saying the office was closed for renovations. This went on it for weeks. I had to make an apt with the supervising dr (Dr Paul Kim) through his plastic surgery office with my insurance to be seen! He seemed completely disinterested & unconcerned. He looked at my nose for 30 seconds & said it would be fine in 3-6 months. He didn’t even have my records or know what procedure I had done.

Another month passed with no improvement. I tried to get second opinions but not knowing what laser was used made the impossible. Again my calls to the office were ignored. I wrote a nasty email threatening legal action. Suddenly they were responsive. Dr Kim personally called me & apologized! He saw me again the next day.

This time he changed his prognosis — saying the discoloration wouldn’t heal/resolve & proposing electro-desiccation — a far more intrusive & risker procedure. He offered to do it for free. I opted to wait a month & finally got my records.

The records appeared hastily put together & incomplete. For instance, the date of my treatment was wrong & they didn’t even stipulate were on my body I was treated. I took them to a cosmetic derm who specializes in lasers & he couldn’t make sense of them. He says he couldn’t say they did anything wrong because the records don’t really show what hey did — in other words: they make no sense. This is a widely published expert whose done this procedure 10K+ times. He recommended a pulsed dye laser for revision. Another Dr (3rd opinion) agreed that PDL was my best bet.

I recently saw Dr Kim again. He is back to saying it will heal in time. The procedure was originally supposed to take 2-4 weeks. It’s been 2 months. He told me to wait another 4. I respectfully requested a refund. He refused & insists he can fix it. I asked how & he says with time or more treatments. Dr Kim doesn’t appear to have a PDL. He wants to use the same device (ndyag) that caused my problems. As for his level of expertise, he says he’ll call the company that makes the laser to ask them hat settings he should use in my face!!! WTF!!!!

This entire process has taken a toll on my life, mental health, physical health & relationships. I’ve lost 2 months of my life. It’s really messed me up. I still have no idea if it can be fixed.

I can only conclude that Allure MediSpa in Exton & Dr Paul Kim really don’t know what they are doing with lasers & aren’t even decent enough to admit it/refund when they botch a job/get bad results. They’d rather risk making it even worse before they part with a few bucks. They only care about $$$.




Updated on 30 May 2019:
I’m compelled to update this review as the supervising doctor, Dr Kim, personally called me since I posted it.

He was somewhat polite but the whole conversation was ridiculous with him refusing to admit that I was treated poorly, had poor results & continued to have a poor outcome. I feel like he only called me to try to make himself feel better about it or he’s worried I would try to sue or something. All I want is my $ back. It was a couple hundred dollars.

Instead, he insisted that according to his records I did have a good outcome. I was flabbergasted at some of he the things he said, including characterizing the procedure as “a leap of faith.” Wow, I guess the Dr is always right.

Let me leave u with this, upon further reviewing my medical records from Allure Medi-Spa, I found numerous errors including incorrect DOB, incorrect date of treatment & they even listed me as a Female! They couldn’t even get that right. What a bad experience.