Why do I look like this 1 month after Halo laser treatment? I’m 43 years old.

Question

I had the Halo laser 4 weeks ago to treat some melasma from having 4 babies. After the treatment I was red and swollen for over a week. I was prescribed hydrocortisone for 2 weeks. I am still a bright red-brown color, and it looks to me like my melasma is a lot worse and has spread. My doctor said that some people take longer to heal than others, and I should end up with a good result. Can this be true? At what point should I be concerned?

Susan Buenaventura, MD, FACS · Answer

Melasma is a permanent condition that can be made to look better with techniques like HALO Pro.   It is also critical to pretreat and post treat the skin with products to calm down the melanocytes and prevent them from darkening your skin after.  You also have to be vigilant about sun avoidance especially in Florida.   This means 24/7.  There are specific protocols for HALO PRO to treat melasma which are different than standard HALO treatments.

Sarah Haydel, MD · Answer

Melasma is a very tough condition to treat as many factors play a role in keeping it around including genetics, sun exposure and hormonal influence. Any laser that involves heat has the potential to worsen melasma since the melanocytes that make our pigment can "overeact" and start to make more pigment in the setting of inflammation. We like to pretreat these types of patients with physical sunscreen that contains titanium or zinc oxide and a combo product that has retinol and hydroquinone to put those cells "in hibernation" and less like to produce pigment from the trauma. We restart the sunscreen immediately after the procedure and this nighttime duo product 2 weeks post laser treatment. Be sure to touch base with your provider and see what the next step would be to ensure your success. Good luck!

Robert G. Aycock, MD, FACS · Answer

Melasma is a very tricky skin condition to treat. Too much heat from any treatment can trigger the skin to get darker. It is hard to tell without before and after pictures. It does take 6-8 weeks for optimal results from Halo.

Davin Lim, MBBS, FACD - Account Suspended · Answer

This is not uncommon- melasma often worsens after HALO. HALO is a laser designed to treat non- melasma pigmentation. Melasma responds best to non-ablative gentle lasers like QSL or C and B together with tyrosinase inhibitors. Melasma often worsens following erbium, co2, or IPL treatment. All the best, Dr Davin lim. Laser dermatologist.

Why do I look like this 1 month after Halo laser treatment? I’m 43 years old.

Answers (4)

Answer: HALO and Melasma

Answer: HALO and Melasma

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Why do I look like this 1 month after Halo laser treatment? I’m 43 years old.

Answers (4)

Answer: HALO and Melasma

Answer: HALO and Melasma

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Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Halo Laser

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.