Swollen After the new Halo Laser Treatment

Hi PreciousOne53, thanks for your question. I’m sorry you’re experiencing a difficult recover
Swelling is a common side effect of Halo laser and other laser resurfacing treatments. I recently had the Halo Pro treatment, and experienced rather significant swelling myself! We find that swelling typically resolves completely within the first week. During this time, we advise our patients to avoid salty foods, sleep with the head elevated, and may take an antihistamine. Avoid excessive icing, as it may actually contribute to swelling. If the swelling is excessive, you can contact your doctor to request a steroid taper. 
Swelling will not cause permanent looseness. The Halo and Halo Pro resurfacing treatments have a proven safety record and high satisfaction rate. Generally, the patients who have a more significant inflammatory response will actually end up with more significant collagen stimulation, improvement to elasticity, and a better overall result. That said, if you continue to experience discomfort or uncertainty, contact your doctor to discuss your symptoms. 

Hi there and congratulations on your HALO treatment. It is a powerful treatment.  Swelling is normal after the treatment, typically for 1-2 days after, but every patient and every treatment is individual.  I'd recommend sleeping with an elevated head, motrin, anti-histamines, and patience.

Swelling following any skin injury is completely normal.  Because laser treatments purposefully create a "controlled injury", the body's natural response is to send in extra fluids to that area. We will tell patients to expect some swelling, but we can never fully predict who will swell a lot and who will swell only a little, or on occasion, who may not notice any at all.Halo Laser is highly customizable as to the degree of treatment response desired. An aggressive treatment such as you indicated, would most certainly cause swelling that could be distressing. And certainly you would be distressed if you weren't told to expect it.Because a LOT of the action of Halo Laser is beneath the upper skin layers, it's easy to assume what you see on the surface is the extent of the procedure effect. In actuality, laser heating often reaches far into the skin where it's not visibly apparent; though as you are experiencing, there will be a reaction.Suggestions to minimize swelling are covered in other responses, but do include sleeping on extra pillowsusing cold compressesrestricting salt intakeeating healthilyavoiding alcohol during initial healing phasestaying out of the sunAlways call your doctor with any concerns after treatment of any kind. You'll generally get the reassurance you need and a quick followup visit if post treatment effects aren't within the normal range.Even though the swelling was obviously more than you expected, it is temporary and won't "stretch" the skin.We'll provide a link below that is technical in nature, but will help you understand how the Halo laser technology functions.

This is very normal. A deep treatment will cause significant heating of the deep skin layers and this is what you want. It takes 4-5 days to recover from a Halo treatment and this is very short given the significant improvement to the skin quality that results. Halo can also be combined with BBL to give even further improvements to the skin. Ask your physician about this at our follow up visits.Good Luck!

 Hi, as you know the beauty of a halo treatment is that you can  find tune the settings to achieve the best results for you. I noticed that my patients in which I gave a deeper and more  aggressive treatment they tend to swell more,  which in the other hand I'm happy to see because I know they will get an amazing results. I routinely gave the patients before halo and antihistamine  and ibuprofen to improve their post  procedure experience.  You can also take a ibuprofen as needed.  The swelling should improve within the first few days, some people swell more than others. If the swelling persists more than a week make sure you contact your surgeon's office. I'm sure you'll get a great result. 

Please rest assured that the swelling will improve over the next 48 hours. You may get the swelling from the deep "non-ablative" heating of your dermis, but that will help improve the pores and texture of your skin. It is a good sign that the treatment had the intended effect. To help with the swelling, I suggest cool gel face-masks, or frozen peas in a plastic bag. If it is getting worse, please call your doctor as they may want to prescribe a Medrol pack to control the swelling. 

It is common for patients to have some degree of swelling after any laser treatment to the face.  The degree of swelling varies from patient to patient, but is usually mild to moderate at most.  Everyone will react different and it is difficult for a practitioner to predict the  exact degree of swelling, and can even vary in the same patient from session to session.  In my experience, I have found that no matter how aggressive a Halo treatment is performed,  the downtime is 5-7 days across the board.  However there is always the exception. Medicine is not an exact science.

Yes, there are thigs to do to help the swelling subside.  Elevation of the head, ice, Ibuprofen, benadryl work well for this situation.  Rarely, if the swelling is dramatic we can prescribe a Medrol Dose Pack to help it resolve quicker.









Your skin will go back to its normal shape, it is not stretched to the point of not returning to its natural shape.









In my experience, between 5-7 days you will be up and running and on your way to healthy skin.  Hope you found this answer helpful.  All the best!

Swelling after the Halo is normal and can last up to 3 days after treatment.  It is always best to follow up with the provider who performed the treatment to evaluate your swelling.  Elevated sleeping will help reduce swelling as well as Benadryl.  You may need a prescription mediation to help reduce swelling which can be given by the provider.  Good luck!  

Your swelling sounds more profound than we have seen after Halo laser treatments. You should notify the physician who treated you to follow their specific instructions. We have found it most helpful to keep your head elevated as much as possible the first few days. This has allowed our patients to look normal within 5 days after Halo treatment. You skin should not stretch and you should love your results.

It is very common to swell from fractional laser treatments and you should speak to your physician if you are concerned.  The post operative care and expectations should have been discussed with you prior to your procedure and I would advise seeing a different physcian in the future if this was not fully explained.   Best, Dr. Emer.