AVOID THE HALO LASER !!!!

I had this experience with Fraxel several years ago (I wrote a review on Realself too). I went to a facial plastic surgeon and his nurse performed Fraxel on me. My gut told me not to do it a second time, so I went to my old doc who was the head of the department of dermatology at SLU and she was going to have them do an even stronger Fraxel treatment. I figured she would know, and I went ahead with a second one. Worse mistake of my life!!!! Hyperpigmentation and textural shifts in the skin that don't go way. Even had her fraxel between my breast and now I have permanent striations there. They tried everything at the doctor's office to reverse the discoloration... at my expense of course. I was depressed. I ended up flying to Beverly Hills, California to see Dr. Harold Lancer. He put me on a bunch of topicals and was able to clear it up in a little over a week. I had to use sunscreen every hour or so, avoid light and use an somewhat pricey skincare routine. According to Dr. Lancer, the condition is permanent. Once the melanocytes in the skin are excited they can never be reversed. Even more depressing, he told me indoor light affects my skin! Fast forward a couple of years...I stopped taking care of myself like I should and now it's mostly back. I went to a local derm to see what they could do. They know my skin condition, my history, and my fear of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. I went ahead with their recommendation and had Halo yesterday. Went with my gut this time. We shall see what happens. I vowed never to let a laser touch my skin again, but I felt the doc understood my condition and skin type this time. The settings were so low I fell asleep during the procedure. I have 2 more to do because they are doing light treatments. The doc said Fraxel should have never been used on my skin... Anyway, you clearly aren't alone. I had to basically doctor shop until I found someone I liked in my area. There a lot of docs I didn't feel comfortable with or didn't feel like they knew my skin well enough to help me ...even though they were docs.... Also, Ill never again go to a non-derm for my skincare . Seems a bulk of these hyperpigmentation issues are due to nurses using the wrong settings..My advice... use excessive sunscreen, sun avoidance as much as possible and doctor shop until you find someone that gets it! If you have the money, Dr. Lancer might be worth the trip. He isn't much more than a regular derm that doesn't take insurance (I'm from there so I was able to afford it by staying with friends and family and using airline miles.) Good luck!

We sincerely apologize for your experience and appreciate the feedback. Dr. Russo wants to personally hear from patients who feel less than satisfied with their experience. You may contact him at (217) 398-4856. Thank you.

I'm So sad...I had halo...I have lines that look like scratches all over my face. Hyperpigmentation,. It's horrible! I'm almost 5 mos. out. I know this wasn't done correctly. I don't know what to do to correct it. I'm so afraid of another laser.

The same happened to me. I agree stay away. Oh and it almost melted my face. It’s been four years and I’ve done many procedures I don’t even look the same.