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*Treatment results may vary
6 weeks Definitely tightened skin but gave bad texture still not worth it
I wanted to say that this treatment DEFINITELY tightened my skin . It isn’t swelling or some illusion , I can literally tell it tightened it . Like I mentioned before , I am 33 and literally wanted a mini face lift bc I could lift my jowl skin upward by my ear at least 1/2 inch . Now there is no extra skin and everything is taut which is a HUGE plus . This is unparalleled tightening other than a facelift . There is no cream or facial or peel that will give this dramatic amount of tightening.
But the texture ? Awful . Orange peely and my acne scars look much worse . Maybe it will get better . Maybe it won’t . I do believe I’m still healing . I’m a very slow healer and a bad healer . I’m cautiously using retin a and waiting 6 months until doing some other kind of treatment .
If they didn’t refund me my money I would be super pissed . But as of now I’m grateful for the tightening and going to make the best of the texture . Like I mentioned before, I still need to do at least one more treatment on my eye scars , so I don’t mind doing a microlaser or microdermabrasion in the future to smooth out the surface. I was supposed to do a co2 spot treatment on the eye scars today (being the 6 week mark ) and I bet it would of really helped again ... but after the stress this has put me through , i didn’t go . Plus I feel weird going in there after they gave me a whole refund , despite them saying I am always welcome and they would love to have me again .
Again , this totally wasn’t worth it . It has been 6 weeks of stress . The tightening is super nice though . I’m telling you , there is no way this level of tightening could be achieved other than a facelift .
Random note : buy one of those ice rollers for your face from Amazon . They feel amazing and will calm irritation . Even if you didn’t do co2 , go buy one for the heck of it lol . I swear they are helping shrink my pores .
But the texture ? Awful . Orange peely and my acne scars look much worse . Maybe it will get better . Maybe it won’t . I do believe I’m still healing . I’m a very slow healer and a bad healer . I’m cautiously using retin a and waiting 6 months until doing some other kind of treatment .
If they didn’t refund me my money I would be super pissed . But as of now I’m grateful for the tightening and going to make the best of the texture . Like I mentioned before, I still need to do at least one more treatment on my eye scars , so I don’t mind doing a microlaser or microdermabrasion in the future to smooth out the surface. I was supposed to do a co2 spot treatment on the eye scars today (being the 6 week mark ) and I bet it would of really helped again ... but after the stress this has put me through , i didn’t go . Plus I feel weird going in there after they gave me a whole refund , despite them saying I am always welcome and they would love to have me again .
Again , this totally wasn’t worth it . It has been 6 weeks of stress . The tightening is super nice though . I’m telling you , there is no way this level of tightening could be achieved other than a facelift .
Random note : buy one of those ice rollers for your face from Amazon . They feel amazing and will calm irritation . Even if you didn’t do co2 , go buy one for the heck of it lol . I swear they are helping shrink my pores .
5.5 Weeks still regret but trusting the process . Texture is bad . 3rd opinion from PS says this is why he doesn’t do Co2
So I basically listed everything in the title , but I’m at 5.5 weeks and still regretting having a full face co2 treatment performed . My texture is AWFUL! It’s very orange peely , especially around my chin . I have bad hyperpigmentation everywhere and am spotchy.
On the possible positives , I will admit my face look better in FaceTime for some reason . I’m guessing it could be from residual swelling , or maybe collagen really is rebuilding ?! I think they say it can take up to 3 months for swelling to go down . I don’t know through because my cheeks seem sort of sunken in , so I think it could all be gone unless it pools in areas . I did notice a weeks after the procedure my complexion looked “dewier” despite having dry orange peel texture . I’m not sure if that makes any sense . AND my eye scars (the whole reason I even did this ), are defintely improved ! Had the laser tech just followed my wishes and did just my eye scars rather than talking me into a whole face, then I probably would of made this “worth it “. I made the mistake of rushing into this and not getting enough opinions . I’m not sure how much dumber I could of been other than rushing to a Medspa and having a young inexperienced laser tech talk me into doing an aggressive treatment with the most powerful laser on the market . But here we are lol. Medspas have NO business doing co2 treatments !! It’s way too aggressive and should only be done by a doctor who can properly assess patients and handle any complications .
I still don’t understand why this all went wrong . I’m guessing she used the wrong settings . From what I understand , she went very deep rather than superficial . So maybe the skin is rebuilding from the bottom up and hopefully I’ll see some results down the line ? Or maybe my skin is rebuilding the skin worse than it is and it’s creating micro scars ? I’m not sure . But at least my eye scars will blend in better with the rest of my face . They were very thin and looked like little scratches so I would much rather the edges be blunted out . And I am okay with doing another procedure Down the line because I want to retreat them one more time . I’m making sure not to rush into another procedure. I still dont understand why the acne scars on my cheeks look SO much worse tho ! It can’t just be from the dryness . It’s like it relifted all my old ones ! Maybe because the laser hit so deep and they are surfacing ? Maybe they will fill in ? Who knows .
Oh and I got my 3rd opinion from my plastic surgeon today . I expressed my concerns and he replied “this is why I don’t do co2 anymore . I haven’t done it in 20 years “. Lol . So there you have it . I asked him what he recommends at this point , and he said I could try photo facials for my redness and blotchiness . But like everyone else , he said to wait it out . So that’s what I will do , wait it out . I will give everyone an update at my 3 month mark . Even if I end up getting great results from this , I am still keeping it as a “not worth it “. Because it literally is not “worth it “ to be stressed out for months over your face and skin when there are many other lesser-risk procedures . I’m just going to continue to use Pimecrolimus cream (the non steroid inflammatory cream I mentioned earlier ), and the retin a . I am also going to do things to rebuild my skins moisture barrier such as constantly moisturizing and babying my skin . And of course wearing SPF 50. I will evaluate my skin at the 6 month point and consider microlaser or some other treatments .
On the possible positives , I will admit my face look better in FaceTime for some reason . I’m guessing it could be from residual swelling , or maybe collagen really is rebuilding ?! I think they say it can take up to 3 months for swelling to go down . I don’t know through because my cheeks seem sort of sunken in , so I think it could all be gone unless it pools in areas . I did notice a weeks after the procedure my complexion looked “dewier” despite having dry orange peel texture . I’m not sure if that makes any sense . AND my eye scars (the whole reason I even did this ), are defintely improved ! Had the laser tech just followed my wishes and did just my eye scars rather than talking me into a whole face, then I probably would of made this “worth it “. I made the mistake of rushing into this and not getting enough opinions . I’m not sure how much dumber I could of been other than rushing to a Medspa and having a young inexperienced laser tech talk me into doing an aggressive treatment with the most powerful laser on the market . But here we are lol. Medspas have NO business doing co2 treatments !! It’s way too aggressive and should only be done by a doctor who can properly assess patients and handle any complications .
I still don’t understand why this all went wrong . I’m guessing she used the wrong settings . From what I understand , she went very deep rather than superficial . So maybe the skin is rebuilding from the bottom up and hopefully I’ll see some results down the line ? Or maybe my skin is rebuilding the skin worse than it is and it’s creating micro scars ? I’m not sure . But at least my eye scars will blend in better with the rest of my face . They were very thin and looked like little scratches so I would much rather the edges be blunted out . And I am okay with doing another procedure Down the line because I want to retreat them one more time . I’m making sure not to rush into another procedure. I still dont understand why the acne scars on my cheeks look SO much worse tho ! It can’t just be from the dryness . It’s like it relifted all my old ones ! Maybe because the laser hit so deep and they are surfacing ? Maybe they will fill in ? Who knows .
Oh and I got my 3rd opinion from my plastic surgeon today . I expressed my concerns and he replied “this is why I don’t do co2 anymore . I haven’t done it in 20 years “. Lol . So there you have it . I asked him what he recommends at this point , and he said I could try photo facials for my redness and blotchiness . But like everyone else , he said to wait it out . So that’s what I will do , wait it out . I will give everyone an update at my 3 month mark . Even if I end up getting great results from this , I am still keeping it as a “not worth it “. Because it literally is not “worth it “ to be stressed out for months over your face and skin when there are many other lesser-risk procedures . I’m just going to continue to use Pimecrolimus cream (the non steroid inflammatory cream I mentioned earlier ), and the retin a . I am also going to do things to rebuild my skins moisture barrier such as constantly moisturizing and babying my skin . And of course wearing SPF 50. I will evaluate my skin at the 6 month point and consider microlaser or some other treatments .
Co2 Lots of Risks, Beware! Do As Last Resort Only. Huge Headache
Where to start?!
First I will summarize for those who don't want to read a novel: ONLY do this as a last resort and find a very very reputable dermatologist or plastic surgeon to do this. Read all the stories on here, the risks are real! The textural damages are real, and if you have smooth skin already and are just looking for a lift, this is NOT for you!
If you have very severe acne scarring or severe wrinkling and sagging, then this is worth a shot because there have been a lot of fantastic results for that. Ironically my husband owns a co2 laser machines repair/parts/machine sales specialty company that deals with manufacturing co2 laser cutting machines that cut STEEL for cruise ships, etc. Just keep that in mind when you allow someone to use a co2 laser on your face. He thought I was crazy but doesn't understand my plastic surgery obsession and of course I never listen to him anyways.
So I have dabbled in tons of plastic surgery procedures... from mild to very invasive to injectables etc. I have profractional laser 7 years ago and was happy with the results. It was performed by a nurse at a plastic surgeon's office (I do not like the doctor there anymore so that is why I did not go back). I did a full face where I had pinpoint bleeding, peeling a few days later, and gorgeous skin in 2 weeks.
That is what you are supposed to expect from a resurfacing treatment. Note: I DO believe that lasers cause fat loss, and I will touch on why I still decided to do it later. WELL I have no idea what happened this time. But I have a few theories. So here we go! FYI: I am 33 caucasian woman with VERY fair thin skin that is somewhat sensitive . I do not break out anymore but have large pores, blackheads on nose, fine lines everywhere, aging skin, and stubborn acne scars from years ago that started to show more as I aged.
I am 5 weeks post co2 full face with the co2 fractional cynosure affirm. The reason I decided to get the co2 procedure was because I fell and injured my eye badly and had multiple scars around my eyes that I wanted to treat early with the laser. I know that lasers are the most aggressive treatment for scars, and I wanted to intervene early so I decided to schedule a co2 procedure. So my biggest mistake was deciding to schedule it at a (reputable) laser med spa.
Yes. Stupid. Well I didn't want to go to the plastic surgeon office from before because they are a-holes who rip people off despite the fact that the laser nurse is great. And the reputable dermatologist in the area would not take me for over a month (and I wanted asap scar intervention). The other dermatologist no longer carried aggressive co2 lasers (you think that would of been a red flag). And the other reputable med spa also did not carry aggressive co2 (but had laser genesis, but no I wanted super aggressive for these gnarly scars RIGHT around my eye).
Desperation is a bad thing. Well the medspa I went to has a great reputation, I scoured their reviews for legitimate and fake reviews (ask me how I know how to do this, because I learned the hard way and am an expert at this). It is even called *** Laser Med Spa. Well , that still does not legitimize a place wielding the bad boys of lasers that can cut though steel (not these exact ones, but you get the point). So I am able to get in right away for a consultation.
Great office, nice people. The laser technician is a confident younger woman. She is the head Co2 tech and agrees that I will see great results for the eye scars. I ask how much spot treatment is . She says it would cost the same as the full face($1600) , yet I find out later the spot treatments in future would of been $300.... Whatever. ( I also added in upper lids a few days later because I'm extra like that for an additional $1000). I had just had a baby 7 months prior (probably a HUGE reason why my skin reacted so poorly because of the hormones, and if she was experienced she would of proceeded with caution).. but my skin was awful.
I am 33 and was literally contemplating a mini facelift (my plastic surgeon thought I was crazy ). Skin had fine lines, I had big pores and blackheads, cheek acnes scars were showing more with age. Plus I would be hiding anyways because of my healing eye scars and COVID restrictions. I was even letting my roots grow out, took eyelash extensions off, nails off, and was just kicking it in pajamas and enjoying being lazy and ugly for a while. So I was totally down to have a bunch of healing downtime and was familiar with this kind of procedure.
DAY OF PROCEDURE:
They gave me antibiotics, Xanax, painkillers, and valtrex prescriptions for the day of. So when I came in, I said to go aggressive on the eye scars and mild on the full face. She was like "you might as well go aggressive whole face to get your moneys worth". Sold. So I did the laser thing with the eye goggles.. They numbed me like usual. She did 3 passes on scars and 1 pass on face. Didn't feel it. But when she was done and I got up my face was on FIRE!!!!!! Omg soooooo painful.
Can't remember if it was that bad last time. So they sent me home with a post care kit and tons of goodies. I was expecting to be bloody and red but I Wasn't. Just pink and swollen with no pin point bleeding. I loved all the Xanax and Norco they gave me and just chilled the rest of the day. I was so diligent with my aftercare that I even reapplied Aquaphor when I woke up in the middle of the night.
The only rough day was day 2. I was SO swollen and so red and in so much pain and completely exhausted. No blistering or bleeding or crusting though. I took Xanax and just slept a lot. Day 3 was easier and I was basically recovered by day 5. No peeling at all! Which was sooooo strange. I'm wondering if I never saw the perfect baby skin because I didn't peel? Well. Issues started by day 7. I notice as the swelling came down, that my acne scars on my cheeks were even worse.
It was as if my old scars were resurfacing. This did not happen last time. So I was patient for a few weeks although little by little I started noticing all these lines and wrinkles around my chin. By week 4 I started getting inflammation and huge pin points and that's when I realized something was not right. So the medspa was actually amazing. They have a text surface and are constantly checking in on you and respond to every inquiry within hours. They are all super nice too.
When I sent them pictures at week 4 of the lines they just said I need to be patient and that I am still healing. My tech reminded me that she went "SUPER aggressive..." in caps too... yeah thanks. I came in saying to go mild on my whole face and you talked me out of it and here I am 4 weeks later not healed and miserable. I didn't say that but was hoping I would eventually get results.
Well I finally start coming up to 5 weeks and my face is getting red and hot . I feel like the fat underneath it is burning. My skin starts to get that orange peel texture and I hop on here and read all the similar horror stories. I just think to myself FML. First it's my eye, then it's my face... clearly this is some karmic divine intervention and I am destined to be ugly. Lol kidding but not kidding. So then I really start bothering them everyday in the nicest way possible.
The head doctor at the medspa has me come in . She is SO nice. So nice. She reassures me and says because of my postpartum hormones I'm taking much longer to heal . She swears I am not burnt or scarring , and that she fixes peoples laser mishaps all the time. She tells me in 6 months if I am not happy with texture that she can micro laser me. She sends me home with a post laser kit with 1% cortisone mix, ph balancer, silk balm.
The first day I use it my skin feels amazing. Then next day it's back to inflammation and orange peel skin. I try to give it one more day. And another. And then I am like hell no this is not okay. Something is wrong. So I start sending them pictures and texts for her to call me. She reassures me again. Then the next morning I wake up at 5am distraught, found my old laser pix from 2014 showing my healing process and amazing results after 2 weeks. Then I go on about how by 5 weeks I should already be enjoying great results that get even better, not waiting for bad results that will be okay. And then I go on and on about spending $2600 to be miserable for this long. Well the doctor calls me in the morning and says the whole thing broke her heart and she is giving me a refund.
She said I'm here for you, you are welcome back, I know you just had a baby and feel bad you are going through all this stress and prolonged healing. Hell yeah, got my $2600 back! Free co2 treatment awesome. Hopefully I eventually get awesome results. So I was happy for most of the day ... until... early evening my face was literally red and on fire. The texture was getting soooo bad. I almost called her crying.
She was so nice but I knew she wasn't offering me any solutions. SO I call like the 5 top different dermatologists in my area to get me in tomorrow on an emergency basis. I was able to get in with a nurse practitioner the next morning on an emergency basis . Awesome! I stressed all night but was happy to at least have a next step in this. So morning comes and I get to my appointment. Nurse was AWESOME and so nice. She assured me that I would not scar. And she prescribed me this AMAZING non steroidal inflammation cream.. some rare kind that starts with a P.
Ask me if you need the name. It was so hard to find a pharmacy that had it, and my insurance refused to cover it (I have awesome insurance and they even cover Retin A). It was like $216 but I used a good RX and got it for $78. She also gave me a very low dose of Retin A to help even out the texture (0.025%. I have used .05 and .08 in the past and woke up glowing. I stopped using it when I got pregnant and would of just used that rather than laser had I not needed to laser my eye scars).
So that P^%&*&*(( whatever crazy non steroidal cream is a LIFESAVER!!!!! I will need to add the name of it to here (last time I clicked history browser to check the name, it deleted my ENTIRE review up until this point!!!!! It has taken me 2 days to rewrite this because I was pissed about that! ). Ok but back to this cream, within 1 hour of using it, my inflammation was GONE!
Andddd my skin literally felt like silk. It was amazingggg! And I thought it was just the gel, but after I washed it off at the end of the night, my face still felt like silk! I'm thinking that silky soft baby skin was hidden underneath all that inflammation. So that night I mixed the Retin A with moisturizer . I woke up the next day much better than the rest! Skin was no longer inflamed, but still sensitive.
Well just like I have to overdue everything, I wanted to put the Retin A on straight the next night for it to be more potent to turn over the texture of my skin quicker. Because my skin has been soooo dry after this co2, one pea size was not enough... so I doubled it and used 2. Well I woke up the next day and was actually ok . Using the inflammation cream was keeping it down... but I noticed I started developing sort of brown patches around my eyes.. aka hyper pigmentation.
But here's the thing, maybe I am just noticing it because of the redness going away? Just like how you start noticing the bad texture of your skin after co2 as the swelling goes down... The swelling from co2 gives everyone the idea that their skin is so much better. Anddd then I get to today, where I am starting to notice little red dots. So I am stuck here. I am balancing in between this inflammation cream and using retin a to smooth out the texture. I have a theory that inflammation is what is CAUSING the bad texture.
So I have already had 1st opinion from medspa doctor (most biased opinion), and got 2nd from reputable dermatologist practitioner (who prescribed magic cream), and then I am seeing my plastic surgeon Tuesday for a 3rd opinion. He also does lasers, but takes forever to get in for procedures. WELL here I am waiting. This sucks. Do not do this procedure unless you are absolutely desperate. I might be stuck with microscars all over my skin. This is just my luck.
I swear more than half of the cosmetic procedures I do end up having complications... I need to write about them in my free time because it is entertaining. I cannot list the doctors name on the reviews due to non disclosure agreements LOL. WELL I will keep everyone posted.
So just a recap- I am at week 5, bad results: bad textures, more visible veins, spider veins, worse skin laxity, upper eyelids tender, occasional inflammation when not using cream, weird red dots appearing, possible hyperpigmentation and worse scars. So basically almost complication you can have. She was probably too aggressive and I was burned or have thermal damage. My fat is probably melting away as we speak. Anyways, I'll let you know what the plastic surgeon says on Tuesday! Keep you posted...
If you have very severe acne scarring or severe wrinkling and sagging, then this is worth a shot because there have been a lot of fantastic results for that. Ironically my husband owns a co2 laser machines repair/parts/machine sales specialty company that deals with manufacturing co2 laser cutting machines that cut STEEL for cruise ships, etc. Just keep that in mind when you allow someone to use a co2 laser on your face. He thought I was crazy but doesn't understand my plastic surgery obsession and of course I never listen to him anyways.
So I have dabbled in tons of plastic surgery procedures... from mild to very invasive to injectables etc. I have profractional laser 7 years ago and was happy with the results. It was performed by a nurse at a plastic surgeon's office (I do not like the doctor there anymore so that is why I did not go back). I did a full face where I had pinpoint bleeding, peeling a few days later, and gorgeous skin in 2 weeks.
That is what you are supposed to expect from a resurfacing treatment. Note: I DO believe that lasers cause fat loss, and I will touch on why I still decided to do it later. WELL I have no idea what happened this time. But I have a few theories. So here we go! FYI: I am 33 caucasian woman with VERY fair thin skin that is somewhat sensitive . I do not break out anymore but have large pores, blackheads on nose, fine lines everywhere, aging skin, and stubborn acne scars from years ago that started to show more as I aged.
I am 5 weeks post co2 full face with the co2 fractional cynosure affirm. The reason I decided to get the co2 procedure was because I fell and injured my eye badly and had multiple scars around my eyes that I wanted to treat early with the laser. I know that lasers are the most aggressive treatment for scars, and I wanted to intervene early so I decided to schedule a co2 procedure. So my biggest mistake was deciding to schedule it at a (reputable) laser med spa.
Yes. Stupid. Well I didn't want to go to the plastic surgeon office from before because they are a-holes who rip people off despite the fact that the laser nurse is great. And the reputable dermatologist in the area would not take me for over a month (and I wanted asap scar intervention). The other dermatologist no longer carried aggressive co2 lasers (you think that would of been a red flag). And the other reputable med spa also did not carry aggressive co2 (but had laser genesis, but no I wanted super aggressive for these gnarly scars RIGHT around my eye).
Desperation is a bad thing. Well the medspa I went to has a great reputation, I scoured their reviews for legitimate and fake reviews (ask me how I know how to do this, because I learned the hard way and am an expert at this). It is even called *** Laser Med Spa. Well , that still does not legitimize a place wielding the bad boys of lasers that can cut though steel (not these exact ones, but you get the point). So I am able to get in right away for a consultation.
Great office, nice people. The laser technician is a confident younger woman. She is the head Co2 tech and agrees that I will see great results for the eye scars. I ask how much spot treatment is . She says it would cost the same as the full face($1600) , yet I find out later the spot treatments in future would of been $300.... Whatever. ( I also added in upper lids a few days later because I'm extra like that for an additional $1000). I had just had a baby 7 months prior (probably a HUGE reason why my skin reacted so poorly because of the hormones, and if she was experienced she would of proceeded with caution).. but my skin was awful.
I am 33 and was literally contemplating a mini facelift (my plastic surgeon thought I was crazy ). Skin had fine lines, I had big pores and blackheads, cheek acnes scars were showing more with age. Plus I would be hiding anyways because of my healing eye scars and COVID restrictions. I was even letting my roots grow out, took eyelash extensions off, nails off, and was just kicking it in pajamas and enjoying being lazy and ugly for a while. So I was totally down to have a bunch of healing downtime and was familiar with this kind of procedure.
DAY OF PROCEDURE:
They gave me antibiotics, Xanax, painkillers, and valtrex prescriptions for the day of. So when I came in, I said to go aggressive on the eye scars and mild on the full face. She was like "you might as well go aggressive whole face to get your moneys worth". Sold. So I did the laser thing with the eye goggles.. They numbed me like usual. She did 3 passes on scars and 1 pass on face. Didn't feel it. But when she was done and I got up my face was on FIRE!!!!!! Omg soooooo painful.
Can't remember if it was that bad last time. So they sent me home with a post care kit and tons of goodies. I was expecting to be bloody and red but I Wasn't. Just pink and swollen with no pin point bleeding. I loved all the Xanax and Norco they gave me and just chilled the rest of the day. I was so diligent with my aftercare that I even reapplied Aquaphor when I woke up in the middle of the night.
The only rough day was day 2. I was SO swollen and so red and in so much pain and completely exhausted. No blistering or bleeding or crusting though. I took Xanax and just slept a lot. Day 3 was easier and I was basically recovered by day 5. No peeling at all! Which was sooooo strange. I'm wondering if I never saw the perfect baby skin because I didn't peel? Well. Issues started by day 7. I notice as the swelling came down, that my acne scars on my cheeks were even worse.
It was as if my old scars were resurfacing. This did not happen last time. So I was patient for a few weeks although little by little I started noticing all these lines and wrinkles around my chin. By week 4 I started getting inflammation and huge pin points and that's when I realized something was not right. So the medspa was actually amazing. They have a text surface and are constantly checking in on you and respond to every inquiry within hours. They are all super nice too.
When I sent them pictures at week 4 of the lines they just said I need to be patient and that I am still healing. My tech reminded me that she went "SUPER aggressive..." in caps too... yeah thanks. I came in saying to go mild on my whole face and you talked me out of it and here I am 4 weeks later not healed and miserable. I didn't say that but was hoping I would eventually get results.
Well I finally start coming up to 5 weeks and my face is getting red and hot . I feel like the fat underneath it is burning. My skin starts to get that orange peel texture and I hop on here and read all the similar horror stories. I just think to myself FML. First it's my eye, then it's my face... clearly this is some karmic divine intervention and I am destined to be ugly. Lol kidding but not kidding. So then I really start bothering them everyday in the nicest way possible.
The head doctor at the medspa has me come in . She is SO nice. So nice. She reassures me and says because of my postpartum hormones I'm taking much longer to heal . She swears I am not burnt or scarring , and that she fixes peoples laser mishaps all the time. She tells me in 6 months if I am not happy with texture that she can micro laser me. She sends me home with a post laser kit with 1% cortisone mix, ph balancer, silk balm.
The first day I use it my skin feels amazing. Then next day it's back to inflammation and orange peel skin. I try to give it one more day. And another. And then I am like hell no this is not okay. Something is wrong. So I start sending them pictures and texts for her to call me. She reassures me again. Then the next morning I wake up at 5am distraught, found my old laser pix from 2014 showing my healing process and amazing results after 2 weeks. Then I go on about how by 5 weeks I should already be enjoying great results that get even better, not waiting for bad results that will be okay. And then I go on and on about spending $2600 to be miserable for this long. Well the doctor calls me in the morning and says the whole thing broke her heart and she is giving me a refund.
She said I'm here for you, you are welcome back, I know you just had a baby and feel bad you are going through all this stress and prolonged healing. Hell yeah, got my $2600 back! Free co2 treatment awesome. Hopefully I eventually get awesome results. So I was happy for most of the day ... until... early evening my face was literally red and on fire. The texture was getting soooo bad. I almost called her crying.
She was so nice but I knew she wasn't offering me any solutions. SO I call like the 5 top different dermatologists in my area to get me in tomorrow on an emergency basis. I was able to get in with a nurse practitioner the next morning on an emergency basis . Awesome! I stressed all night but was happy to at least have a next step in this. So morning comes and I get to my appointment. Nurse was AWESOME and so nice. She assured me that I would not scar. And she prescribed me this AMAZING non steroidal inflammation cream.. some rare kind that starts with a P.
Ask me if you need the name. It was so hard to find a pharmacy that had it, and my insurance refused to cover it (I have awesome insurance and they even cover Retin A). It was like $216 but I used a good RX and got it for $78. She also gave me a very low dose of Retin A to help even out the texture (0.025%. I have used .05 and .08 in the past and woke up glowing. I stopped using it when I got pregnant and would of just used that rather than laser had I not needed to laser my eye scars).
So that P^%&*&*(( whatever crazy non steroidal cream is a LIFESAVER!!!!! I will need to add the name of it to here (last time I clicked history browser to check the name, it deleted my ENTIRE review up until this point!!!!! It has taken me 2 days to rewrite this because I was pissed about that! ). Ok but back to this cream, within 1 hour of using it, my inflammation was GONE!
Andddd my skin literally felt like silk. It was amazingggg! And I thought it was just the gel, but after I washed it off at the end of the night, my face still felt like silk! I'm thinking that silky soft baby skin was hidden underneath all that inflammation. So that night I mixed the Retin A with moisturizer . I woke up the next day much better than the rest! Skin was no longer inflamed, but still sensitive.
Well just like I have to overdue everything, I wanted to put the Retin A on straight the next night for it to be more potent to turn over the texture of my skin quicker. Because my skin has been soooo dry after this co2, one pea size was not enough... so I doubled it and used 2. Well I woke up the next day and was actually ok . Using the inflammation cream was keeping it down... but I noticed I started developing sort of brown patches around my eyes.. aka hyper pigmentation.
But here's the thing, maybe I am just noticing it because of the redness going away? Just like how you start noticing the bad texture of your skin after co2 as the swelling goes down... The swelling from co2 gives everyone the idea that their skin is so much better. Anddd then I get to today, where I am starting to notice little red dots. So I am stuck here. I am balancing in between this inflammation cream and using retin a to smooth out the texture. I have a theory that inflammation is what is CAUSING the bad texture.
So I have already had 1st opinion from medspa doctor (most biased opinion), and got 2nd from reputable dermatologist practitioner (who prescribed magic cream), and then I am seeing my plastic surgeon Tuesday for a 3rd opinion. He also does lasers, but takes forever to get in for procedures. WELL here I am waiting. This sucks. Do not do this procedure unless you are absolutely desperate. I might be stuck with microscars all over my skin. This is just my luck.
I swear more than half of the cosmetic procedures I do end up having complications... I need to write about them in my free time because it is entertaining. I cannot list the doctors name on the reviews due to non disclosure agreements LOL. WELL I will keep everyone posted.
So just a recap- I am at week 5, bad results: bad textures, more visible veins, spider veins, worse skin laxity, upper eyelids tender, occasional inflammation when not using cream, weird red dots appearing, possible hyperpigmentation and worse scars. So basically almost complication you can have. She was probably too aggressive and I was burned or have thermal damage. My fat is probably melting away as we speak. Anyways, I'll let you know what the plastic surgeon says on Tuesday! Keep you posted...