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POSTED UNDER Fractora RF REVIEWS

Ruined my face - the grid marks are obvious on my face at all times

ORIGINAL POST

Ruined my Face

thismadeitworseNovember 7, 2021
$1,134

I got this done at age 28. I was hoping for would minimize minor acne scars and improve my skin’s texture. Wow. Was I wrong. I knew there was a chance I could get ‘waffle’ tracks, but I honestly didn’t think it could be this bad. The grid marks are obvious on my face at all times. What’s worse, it seems that something about the way the treatment ‘restructured’ my face made me more prone to cystic acne.

How do I know? Because the acne cysts happened, and continue to happen, in the same grid formation. Before treatment, my scars were probably only really noticeable to me. Now I have deep, see-from-ten-feet-or-further acne scars in a geometric grid. I am in desperate need of someone to help ‘fix’ the disaster my face has become, but honestly, I’m afraid that the same thing will happen again.

That I’ll go somewhere that has untrained staff (no professional designation other than, apparently, they took some kind of ‘course’ in how to run the machine), who will push too deeply/ with too high of power and make my situation worse. I am a few years out from the process and my skin now wrinkles/ gets crepe-y along the grid lines. It’s wild.

thismadeitworse's provider

Lakeshore Vein & Aesthetics Clinic

Lakeshore Vein & Aesthetics Clinic

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Replies (2)

Gregarious7491
June 27, 2023
Hello, did you find someone to fox your skin? I’ve been left with waffle marks all under my eyes too from high energy. I feel your frustration
thismadeitworse
July 11, 2023
Hi there. Thanks for reaching out. I'm so sorry that you are dealing with this, too. From what I have read, it seems like the only option is to pay for additional restructuring procedures. I have not been able to afford that. Using prescription topical tretinoin and azelaic acid has helped to quiet the cystic acne that erupted along the waffle-grid lines and minimize some of the obviousness of the grid. The crepe-y folds/fine lines have not changed. Of course, I also now have cystic acne scars - which are far worse than what I hoped to improve when I have the procedure done. Some people seem to have good results with using topical tretinoin for years, and my private coverage pays for tretinoin and azelaic acid, which makes it more accessible for me. There are lots of online clinics that make accessing prescriptions for topical tretinoin and azelaic acid accessible, too. What I can guarantee is that, if I ever can afford to have a CO2 laser, microneedling, or something like Fractora again, I will only go to an establishment where I am personally assessed by the physician.
UPDATED FROM thismadeitworse
3 years post

Still have terrible texture

thismadeitworseJuly 11, 2023
Not much to say. It still looks terrible, and I still regret my decision to move forward with this procedure every time I look in the mirror. I'm trying to improve the waffle grid slowly using topical tretinoin and azelaic acid, which I have been using for about a year now. There have been very modest improvements to some of the waffle-grid scaring so far. My hope is that diligent tretinoin and azaleic acid use along with careful sun protection will improve my face slowly over time.

I strongly recommend that you do not move forward with any treatment where the physician does not personally assess you or have any contact with you. At Lakeshore Vein and Aesthetics, I was only ever seen by the technician, who (evidently) did not know how to operate the Fractora machine safely.

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