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$1500 for Nothing! Do Not Recommend PicoSure
My skin: 50% Asian, fair skin, sun spots in cheeks andelasma on forehead
I've been fighting a dark patch of melasma on my forehead for the past 10 years with creams, peels, serums -- you name it, I've tried it. Nothing has worked. I saw PicoSure recommended on RealSelf and thought, Why not? I was shocked to find that it would be $1500 for a minimum of three treatments, but after all the money I've spent on topicals, I was desperate to find something that would actually work. Treatments are 4-6 weeks apart and I was required to buy hydroquinone pads from the doctor (for $70) but when you're already in.for $1500, what's another $70... And I wanted to get the best results possible.
Final verdict: I did all 3 treatments and had no results other than a few places that I don't remember having spots before but now are kind of blotchy. PicoSure was a complete waste of money for me.
Long version: There's a doctor on this website that posts frequently about PicoSure, and I was happy to find that he's very close to where I live. At my consultation with this plastic surgeon, he assured me that I would get good results with PicoSure over any kind of topical or laser trreatment. He told me PicoSure has very little downtime (more on that later) because the laser is breaking up the pigment under the skin's surface instead of a laser that damages the upper layer of skin to basically peel it away. Feeling very hopeful, I was sent to the receptionist who told me that it was a minimum of 3 treatments for $1500. WOW. I was hoping it would be one treatment and then maybe a follow-up, but as I've had this stubborn dark spot for so long, I thought maybe it would be worth the investment to get rid of it once and for all. I scheduled the first treatment, and was told I had to use hydroquinone for at least a few weeks in advance not to get rid of my current melasma but to counteract any flare-ups the PicoSure might stir up.
Fast forward to my first treatment, which was NOT with the doctor but with an aesthetician that I had never met. She first slathered my face with numbing cream, let that sit for 15 minutes, and then showed me how the PicoSure machine works: really bright laser with a wand about a dime wide that she would pass over my face several times wherever she saw a dark matk. I put on sunglasses and she gave me a hose that blew cool air to help with the pain. Now, I have a pretty high pain tolerance--I've been using an epilator on my underarms for years without blinking--so I thought for sure this would be a breeze, especially sinvey face was kind of numb.
It wasn't. It really stung, kind of like getting rug burn all over your face (or someone snapping a rubber band on your facr about 1,000 test in the second spot). I was using that cool air hose like crazy. What I had not realized was that each treatment was on my whole face, not just my really bad forehead area, so I was kind of excited... until she got to my upper lip. That hurt so badly that I would feel the tears running out of my eyes. OUCH. After the treatment was over, she put some green moisturizer and sunscreen in my face. I had no idea how bad I looked until I got into the car. My skin was noticeably raw and red (thank goodness I didn't have to go back to work), but I drove away with high hopes. Within 2 hours, my skin looked pretty back to normal... including the melasma.
About 2 days later, I got a huge cold sore on my upper lip (a known side effect) so they prescribed a pill to take the day before and the day of my next treatment to prevent that from happening again.
Second treatment was with the same aesthetician. She asked how I tolerated the last treatment, and I told her it was fine because I wanted to get some results, so no pain, no gain, right? So she went to town with a higher setting. OWWW. It was not pleasant and I dreaded the upper lip section, but I made it through! Back out in the car afterwards to check on how I looked, it was worse than the first time --some spots looked really angry and almost throbbing. A few hours later, my skin was no better. The next day, spots actually scabbed over and had to be covered with heavy makeup. I'd estimate that parts of my face were either red or scabby for about a week. But ever hopeful, I thought the scabs would fall off and there would be beautiful lily white skin underneath. NOPE. Same skin as before. And some of the raw spots actually left new brown marks where I didn't previously have any problems, pikey temples and above my eyebrows.
After my 2nd treatment, since I still wasn't seeing any improvement, I made an appointment with the doctor who told me that my skin looked fine (I told him I thought it looked worse). He was actually a bit condescending when I asked why, after two treatments, my skin had more dark marks all over, and my melasma was as bad as ever. He told me to do the third treatment and see if there would be improvement, and that I might need another round of 3 treatments!! Since I'd paid for all 3 treatments already (non refundable) I did the last treatment with the slim hope of some results.
Third treatment was with a totally different aesthetician who was less aggressive (it still hurt), and my face was not as red as round 2, but a bit worse off compared to round one. At this point I realized that PicoSure was not the miracle treatment I had hoped for. I doubt that another 3 treatments would have made a difference since my melasma refused to budge one bit.
I'm sad that I wasted $1500 and three afternoons of looking like someone had splahed me with boiling oil...but what I'm most upset about is that I now have additional dark patches that I didn't have before! Maybe if the aesthetician was better trained, would I have gotten better results? I'll never know.
Please, save your money. DON'T get PicoSure. This "treatment" is painful, can make.your skin worse, and is SO outrageously expensive.
I've been fighting a dark patch of melasma on my forehead for the past 10 years with creams, peels, serums -- you name it, I've tried it. Nothing has worked. I saw PicoSure recommended on RealSelf and thought, Why not? I was shocked to find that it would be $1500 for a minimum of three treatments, but after all the money I've spent on topicals, I was desperate to find something that would actually work. Treatments are 4-6 weeks apart and I was required to buy hydroquinone pads from the doctor (for $70) but when you're already in.for $1500, what's another $70... And I wanted to get the best results possible.
Final verdict: I did all 3 treatments and had no results other than a few places that I don't remember having spots before but now are kind of blotchy. PicoSure was a complete waste of money for me.
Long version: There's a doctor on this website that posts frequently about PicoSure, and I was happy to find that he's very close to where I live. At my consultation with this plastic surgeon, he assured me that I would get good results with PicoSure over any kind of topical or laser trreatment. He told me PicoSure has very little downtime (more on that later) because the laser is breaking up the pigment under the skin's surface instead of a laser that damages the upper layer of skin to basically peel it away. Feeling very hopeful, I was sent to the receptionist who told me that it was a minimum of 3 treatments for $1500. WOW. I was hoping it would be one treatment and then maybe a follow-up, but as I've had this stubborn dark spot for so long, I thought maybe it would be worth the investment to get rid of it once and for all. I scheduled the first treatment, and was told I had to use hydroquinone for at least a few weeks in advance not to get rid of my current melasma but to counteract any flare-ups the PicoSure might stir up.
Fast forward to my first treatment, which was NOT with the doctor but with an aesthetician that I had never met. She first slathered my face with numbing cream, let that sit for 15 minutes, and then showed me how the PicoSure machine works: really bright laser with a wand about a dime wide that she would pass over my face several times wherever she saw a dark matk. I put on sunglasses and she gave me a hose that blew cool air to help with the pain. Now, I have a pretty high pain tolerance--I've been using an epilator on my underarms for years without blinking--so I thought for sure this would be a breeze, especially sinvey face was kind of numb.
It wasn't. It really stung, kind of like getting rug burn all over your face (or someone snapping a rubber band on your facr about 1,000 test in the second spot). I was using that cool air hose like crazy. What I had not realized was that each treatment was on my whole face, not just my really bad forehead area, so I was kind of excited... until she got to my upper lip. That hurt so badly that I would feel the tears running out of my eyes. OUCH. After the treatment was over, she put some green moisturizer and sunscreen in my face. I had no idea how bad I looked until I got into the car. My skin was noticeably raw and red (thank goodness I didn't have to go back to work), but I drove away with high hopes. Within 2 hours, my skin looked pretty back to normal... including the melasma.
About 2 days later, I got a huge cold sore on my upper lip (a known side effect) so they prescribed a pill to take the day before and the day of my next treatment to prevent that from happening again.
Second treatment was with the same aesthetician. She asked how I tolerated the last treatment, and I told her it was fine because I wanted to get some results, so no pain, no gain, right? So she went to town with a higher setting. OWWW. It was not pleasant and I dreaded the upper lip section, but I made it through! Back out in the car afterwards to check on how I looked, it was worse than the first time --some spots looked really angry and almost throbbing. A few hours later, my skin was no better. The next day, spots actually scabbed over and had to be covered with heavy makeup. I'd estimate that parts of my face were either red or scabby for about a week. But ever hopeful, I thought the scabs would fall off and there would be beautiful lily white skin underneath. NOPE. Same skin as before. And some of the raw spots actually left new brown marks where I didn't previously have any problems, pikey temples and above my eyebrows.
After my 2nd treatment, since I still wasn't seeing any improvement, I made an appointment with the doctor who told me that my skin looked fine (I told him I thought it looked worse). He was actually a bit condescending when I asked why, after two treatments, my skin had more dark marks all over, and my melasma was as bad as ever. He told me to do the third treatment and see if there would be improvement, and that I might need another round of 3 treatments!! Since I'd paid for all 3 treatments already (non refundable) I did the last treatment with the slim hope of some results.
Third treatment was with a totally different aesthetician who was less aggressive (it still hurt), and my face was not as red as round 2, but a bit worse off compared to round one. At this point I realized that PicoSure was not the miracle treatment I had hoped for. I doubt that another 3 treatments would have made a difference since my melasma refused to budge one bit.
I'm sad that I wasted $1500 and three afternoons of looking like someone had splahed me with boiling oil...but what I'm most upset about is that I now have additional dark patches that I didn't have before! Maybe if the aesthetician was better trained, would I have gotten better results? I'll never know.
Please, save your money. DON'T get PicoSure. This "treatment" is painful, can make.your skin worse, and is SO outrageously expensive.