SmartXide Co2 Laser DOT Treatment - Dallas, TX

Recovery day #4 (post procedure)--Another day at work, I slept normally that night, without burn pads, because I didn't feel I needed them. By this day, ALL swelling is a distant memory, although there is still redness, albeit much improved. I did not put on any makeup, and people thought I had spent too much time in the sun. There is still residual peeling here and there, mostly on my chin and a little above my lip. The wonderfully smooth skin and tiny (nearly non existent) pores are really starting to emerge from under the flaking/peeling skin. I am only 36, but have had a lot of past sun damage due to a childhood spent in the sun and at the beach, mostly without sunscreen. All the same, I had only fine lines around my eyes and melasma on my forehead. I think my biggest concern was my cheek area where the fat is not 'there', so my cheeks are not as full as they used to be and I have the beginning of expression lines there. I noticed a vast improvement in the condition of the skin as well as in the fine lines being reduced, even around my eyes, in an area that was not even treated. My cheeks seem to be a little fuller, and the expression lines are much less noticeable, although still there. But then apparently full effects are not seen until 2-3 months after the procedure, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

At this point, I do have to say I am pretty pleased with the results thus far. Apparently some people have to get it done twice, and should that need to happen in my case, I would not hesitate to get it done again. The pain really was not that bad, and the recovery period really has not been bad. I think the biggest concern during my recovery is the redness and the fact that I was advised against cardio exercise for a week afterward--for a runner, that is tough! But strictly sticking to pain during the procedure as well as the recovery period, it has been really quick and very little downtime. Since I work, this procedure works okay on a long (3 day) weekend--by day 3 I was able to return to work because by then the swelling had all gone down. Redness lingers, however, but it appears to others as sunburn.

Today my skin is pretty much recovered for the most part, except for some redness that receded throughout the day, and by night there is only a slight difference in my neck's pigment against the slight redness of my face. Maybe tomorrow it will be gone! Throughout the day I still had flaking skin, and some minor itchiness, but the skin is so sensitive and tender, I dare not scratch with any intensity. Just rubbing my fingernails (without any pressure) is enough to relieve the itching on my cheeks (which have no flaking or peeling skin). Everything is starting to look very good by now! I am pleased and would do it again!

ONE THING THAT I HAVE NOT SEEN ON OTHER REVIEWS... is that I think recovery depends on what kind of procedure is done. For instance, if you have the DOT procedure done, there are settings for depth in nm on the laser machine, I think generally from 50 (which is what I think they call the 'Madonna Lift') all the way to 1000 for a deeper treatment. My understanding is that the superficial (50 nm) setting is good for melasma and uneven pigment, whereas the deeper setting (up to 1000 nm) is more for uneven surface and scarring. Obviously, the deeper setting will likely have a longer recovery than the superficial setting... it might be something to ask about. But then you might also consider how do you recover from burns and scratches? If you tend to heal quickly, this will probably hold true with recovery from this treatment (which is a controlled burn). In my case, I heal quickly, and I think they gave me the superficial setting on the laser, because it seems like I have healed really quickly. These might be some things to consider.

Also--don't confuse the recovery of the CO2 DOT laser with the recovery of the traditional CO2 laser! The two are virtually the same in my understanding, but the recovery isn't! The traditional laser basically burns the entire surface of your skin off (and I know someone who had that treatment--it is VERY effective against scarring, but basically a two week recovery period in which you are confined to your house), whereas the DOT laser ablates (or vaporizes) 'dots' of skin while leaving the surrounding skin unaffected. Obviously the latter treatment is much quicker recovery.

Recovery day #1--I awoke the day after the procedure having slept sitting up, as instructed. I normally sleep very very soundly, but this position made it difficult to sleep. Nevertheless, I woke up and was very swelled up, particularly around the eyes, but in the cheek and chin too--pretty much all over my face, and very red too. I saw the marks very well where the therapist had changed the pattern and then treated around the sides of my face, under my chin, and below my eyes, in a horizontal dot pattern.
I kept the moisturizing cream (whose main ingredient was silicone) on and mixed it with some bacitracin (as specified on another doctor's office website) to prevent any infection during the morning. I didn't keep it up throughout the day, however, and later on I developed some pimples on my chin. That evening I went to Walgreens and discovered burn pads--eureka! They worked wonders, keeping my dry skin from drying out even more (even with the silicone moisturizer on my skin was still extremely dry). They kept the skin moist while preventing the moisture from evaporating, which was VERY helpful, especially during the night, when it seemed to dry out no matter what.
Later on in the day, most of the swelling in my cheeks and chin went down for the most part, but the eye swelling remained. Some of the redness went down, too.