Waiting for Results, 2 Treatments Done - Bellevue, WA

Long time since the last post, but wanted to finalize this. I saw the same things after the 3rd treatment as mentioned before with no real results. I was scheduled to do another 2 for a total of 5 but did not feel it was worth the cost based on the little return I got after 3.

The main attraction was the minimum downtime and somewhat reasonable cost for something I thought was going to be effective. In the end, this was an expensive gamble I took that did nothing for me. The advertisement sounds great in theory but it falls way short of what it actually accomplishes which is nothing. This was my experience and everybody's skin is different and there are several other factors that could've played a part in this i.e. skin type (thick, thin, response behavior), practitioner experience, machine output setting? (I don't remember if the laser settings can be turned up or not) it stung a lot from what I remember and probably more painful if it was to be turned up. Again, the results didn't justify any further treatments.

Stay skeptical, patient, and research from other people's experiences. The feedback from the majority speaks for itself.

I'd like to say first of all that sites like these are a real help when you are trying to decide on a procedure that may or may not benefit you in the long run. I research everything on anything that I'm about to purchase or invest in. I like to take a pre-emptive stance on most things so not to fall victim to unwanted outcomes due to lake of initiative.

So with that said, I'd like to make my contribution to this forum on my experience since I have benefitted from these services myself.

Stats of myself:
Male, asian, late 30s, acne since my teens, olive like complexion.

The primary reason I chose this procedure was because it was non-ablative with little downtime required and the said results that come with it after the recommended treatments (3-5). The treatment statement sounded excellent and the price was reasonable if the results panned out ($750 per treatment). My goal was to shrink pores and lessen acne scars. I have not seen any changes so far. I have done 2 treatments with 1 month apart from each other. I am nearing the third month and will probably do it again and depending on the results on the third treatment I may or may not do it again.

Here are the after treatment side effects which I assume most viewers are interested in besides the end results of the procedure itself.

Yes it does sting even with the numbing gel that's on 30-40min prior. Tiny pin prick sensation as one commenter described it. I had 2-3 passes for each session that I've done which may or may not be the norm for most people. I have tough skin so the side effects were not immediately seen (swelling, brown spots or any other reaction from the skin). The technician will make the call on the number of passes based on the sensitivity of the skin. Cooling was done in between passes to lessen swelling. My face was reddish and slightly swollen, but because of my complexion it did not seem too out of the ordinary. The procedure itself was around 40min. The swelling will go down in about a day or so. When I say swelling, it was mostly under my eyes and not really apparent anywhere else. I don't usually have bags under my eyes so it looked a little out of place to me. After the slight sunburnt look went away in around 3 days, I did see the tiny waffle-like pattern in different areas of my face. I would describe it more like bug screen-like pattern because it's so small and that you would have to either stand extremely close or under right light conditions to notice it. These patterns do not cover your whole face in a uniform-like manner but in random areas, for me it was along my cheeks, temple, jawline. These patterns were around the size of a fingernail or smaller. The color of the patterns looked slightly dark and will slowly flake off or lessen in size and eventually disappear around the 2 week mark, at least for me it did. One thing I will note which I did not read about anywhere else is that I noticed really miniscule pores show up which I did not see before. I've studied my face up-close before so I would know if there was a change or not. It's almost like the my face was aerated like a home lawn resulting in additional pores which may or may not grow in size later on in my life. This effect seems to be the contrary on what this procedure was suppose to do which was too minimize not populate pores. However, the pores are so small it doesn't concern me at this time and it may just be an anomaly on my part. That's about all I can think of at this time.

All in all, I'm still unsure about this procedure until I get the next one done. Bottom line do your research and go over reviews and make your own decision. I hope to help a little bit on this topic. Note, I'm not an active blogger, I rarely make comments and will not post any pics, so don't be too disapointed if you decide to ask a question and don't receive a reply. Specific clinics are irrelevant in my opinion since it seems everyone gets different results good or bad or no results at all, like me. I'm a straight shooter if you haven't noticed. I will however take a look at this forum for about a week to see if there are any posts and I will also make a courtesy review on my third treatment when it is completely done. Good luck out there and do your research!