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25 Year Old Ended Up a Burn Victim
When I was 25 years old, I made the biggest mistake of my life: allowing Dr. Wu to convince me to do the Lumenis Ultrapulse Active FX & Deep FX CO2 laser on my face & back for acne scars, leaving me with hypertrophic burn scars over my face and gridding on my back.
I told him I formed a couple hypertrophic scars after 6 RF microneedling sessions with another doctor that year. He told me CO2 laser is the "gold standard" to treat these, but I later learned history of iatrogenic scars is a contraindication. He never gave me a test spot, which Lumenis instructs. He said CO2 laser is a different modality & wouldn't interact with my RFM sessions ending 1 month prior, so I didn't need to wait—other doctors disagree. He didn't determine my skin type (Fitzpatrick 3) or inform me on adverse events related to being darker than Lumenis advises. He didn't give me skin preparation protocol to reduce chance of complication, which Lumenis instructs. He said my blood disease (heterozygous hemoglobin lepore) didn't matter with respect to CO2 laser. However, hemoglobin abnormality can predispose one to infection & prevent normal healing.
I first tried CO2 laser on my back since he never gave me the option of a test spot and I thought it was the safest way to see how I react. There was no pre-op appointment. I was not tested for active tuberculosis given my latent TB diagnosis I had disclosed. Neither was I given a SARS-CoV-2 test. These are relevant because I now know any infection in the body causes abnormal healing. There was no antimicrobial prophylaxis. The only instruction was to keep the area moist. I wasn’t made aware of risks like infection. There was no followup or emergency contact info given. Nobody ever checked up after. He didn't show me boundaries he would treat in. No eye protection was given. I was told to come back 1 month post. After, I expressed concern over how long redness lasted, but he told me virtually that it was for sure a good sign even though it sometimes indicates issues like infection. The treatment on my back left me with permanent laser gridding.
I was convinced to do what he said was the same procedure on my face before realizing the consequences of the back. There was a pre-op call with a nurse for the first time. She gave me a 10-day supply of doxycycline & Valtrex 2x/day, to start 1 day preprocedure. I voiced concern over doxycycline because I did it 3 times for acne & it stopped working, but she said I was wrong and susceptibility bounces back, so she gave me no alternative. I also told her I was currently on Sarecycline, another tetracycline, for the past 1.5 years & had previously done Minocycline too, which I also felt I was resistant to. No susceptibility testing was offered, despite having active acne. Doxycycline is not in one of the antibiotic classes typically prescribed for CO2 laser because some doctors say tetracyclines are contraindicated for CO2 laser due to photosensitization that can compound the laser’s damage and cause burns, but I wasn’t warned about this. The nurse also raised the price from $3k that I was quoted just over 3 months before to $4k now.
On the day of the CO2 laser on my face, nurses gave me Percocet & Valium. They made me sign a consent form AFTER the drugs they gave me kicked in, under duress, denying my right to informed consent. They never gave me a copy either. Dr. Wu said my active acne cysts were safe & lasered over them. However, active infection is a contraindication. He made no markings and didn’t get my confirmation on the exact areas to treat. Nurses told me immediately before the procedure it would be mild settings. However, it was the most painful thing ever and there was no additional pain management given. I was rushed out of the office to make room for the next patient. The next morning, Dr. Wu informed me he used the most intense settings there are. I was shocked, since this was the first laser I ever had on my face and the nurses had said the complete opposite. Pretty much the only other instructions I was given were to do vinegar soaks until scabs came off & apply Vanicream.
I later realized Dr. Wu did full ablation on my face even though I was told it would be fractional, the same as he had done on my back. Medical records I later obtained were inaccurate (e.g., Deep FX spot size recorded as 10mm which isn’t possible to my knowledge). Dr. Wu did not respond to multiple requests to clarify. No corneal shields, just goggles, were given even though the medical records said otherwise. No skin cooling was given aside from what the device provides if anything. I believe excessive energy was applied to the jawline, which is especially prone to scarring and where I ended up having the most complications. He planned no followup after the 1-day virtual followup. When I emailed with concerns showing things like delayed healing in the jawline, significant redness, irritation, swelling, & induration, he either diagnosed everything was fine over email or just didn’t respond at all. He prescribed Sarecycline & topical retinoid for acne-like breakouts without culturing, and he upsold me on new procedures to “improve the results”. When I tried to see Dr. Wu for concerns post-op, he delayed the appointment by weeks. When I did see him, I showed fever & infection signs that were disregarded. He never gave a topical steroid, despite Lumenis' instructions that it is the essential first line of treatment when signs of scarring begin to show. I was left with hypertrophic scars, skin-appendage/hair-follicle loss, fat/volume loss, chronic pruritus/itching, elasticity loss, hypopigmentation & hyperpigmentation. Lumenis’s medical director validated the severity, writing it was “a serious injury due to a large area of hypertrophic scars on the face”. It ruined my life.
I told him I formed a couple hypertrophic scars after 6 RF microneedling sessions with another doctor that year. He told me CO2 laser is the "gold standard" to treat these, but I later learned history of iatrogenic scars is a contraindication. He never gave me a test spot, which Lumenis instructs. He said CO2 laser is a different modality & wouldn't interact with my RFM sessions ending 1 month prior, so I didn't need to wait—other doctors disagree. He didn't determine my skin type (Fitzpatrick 3) or inform me on adverse events related to being darker than Lumenis advises. He didn't give me skin preparation protocol to reduce chance of complication, which Lumenis instructs. He said my blood disease (heterozygous hemoglobin lepore) didn't matter with respect to CO2 laser. However, hemoglobin abnormality can predispose one to infection & prevent normal healing.
I first tried CO2 laser on my back since he never gave me the option of a test spot and I thought it was the safest way to see how I react. There was no pre-op appointment. I was not tested for active tuberculosis given my latent TB diagnosis I had disclosed. Neither was I given a SARS-CoV-2 test. These are relevant because I now know any infection in the body causes abnormal healing. There was no antimicrobial prophylaxis. The only instruction was to keep the area moist. I wasn’t made aware of risks like infection. There was no followup or emergency contact info given. Nobody ever checked up after. He didn't show me boundaries he would treat in. No eye protection was given. I was told to come back 1 month post. After, I expressed concern over how long redness lasted, but he told me virtually that it was for sure a good sign even though it sometimes indicates issues like infection. The treatment on my back left me with permanent laser gridding.
I was convinced to do what he said was the same procedure on my face before realizing the consequences of the back. There was a pre-op call with a nurse for the first time. She gave me a 10-day supply of doxycycline & Valtrex 2x/day, to start 1 day preprocedure. I voiced concern over doxycycline because I did it 3 times for acne & it stopped working, but she said I was wrong and susceptibility bounces back, so she gave me no alternative. I also told her I was currently on Sarecycline, another tetracycline, for the past 1.5 years & had previously done Minocycline too, which I also felt I was resistant to. No susceptibility testing was offered, despite having active acne. Doxycycline is not in one of the antibiotic classes typically prescribed for CO2 laser because some doctors say tetracyclines are contraindicated for CO2 laser due to photosensitization that can compound the laser’s damage and cause burns, but I wasn’t warned about this. The nurse also raised the price from $3k that I was quoted just over 3 months before to $4k now.
On the day of the CO2 laser on my face, nurses gave me Percocet & Valium. They made me sign a consent form AFTER the drugs they gave me kicked in, under duress, denying my right to informed consent. They never gave me a copy either. Dr. Wu said my active acne cysts were safe & lasered over them. However, active infection is a contraindication. He made no markings and didn’t get my confirmation on the exact areas to treat. Nurses told me immediately before the procedure it would be mild settings. However, it was the most painful thing ever and there was no additional pain management given. I was rushed out of the office to make room for the next patient. The next morning, Dr. Wu informed me he used the most intense settings there are. I was shocked, since this was the first laser I ever had on my face and the nurses had said the complete opposite. Pretty much the only other instructions I was given were to do vinegar soaks until scabs came off & apply Vanicream.
I later realized Dr. Wu did full ablation on my face even though I was told it would be fractional, the same as he had done on my back. Medical records I later obtained were inaccurate (e.g., Deep FX spot size recorded as 10mm which isn’t possible to my knowledge). Dr. Wu did not respond to multiple requests to clarify. No corneal shields, just goggles, were given even though the medical records said otherwise. No skin cooling was given aside from what the device provides if anything. I believe excessive energy was applied to the jawline, which is especially prone to scarring and where I ended up having the most complications. He planned no followup after the 1-day virtual followup. When I emailed with concerns showing things like delayed healing in the jawline, significant redness, irritation, swelling, & induration, he either diagnosed everything was fine over email or just didn’t respond at all. He prescribed Sarecycline & topical retinoid for acne-like breakouts without culturing, and he upsold me on new procedures to “improve the results”. When I tried to see Dr. Wu for concerns post-op, he delayed the appointment by weeks. When I did see him, I showed fever & infection signs that were disregarded. He never gave a topical steroid, despite Lumenis' instructions that it is the essential first line of treatment when signs of scarring begin to show. I was left with hypertrophic scars, skin-appendage/hair-follicle loss, fat/volume loss, chronic pruritus/itching, elasticity loss, hypopigmentation & hyperpigmentation. Lumenis’s medical director validated the severity, writing it was “a serious injury due to a large area of hypertrophic scars on the face”. It ruined my life.
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