Face, Neck & Chest-50 years old, large pores, sun damage, broken capillaries Halo and BBL

I am 50 Years Old with Large Pores, Sun Damage, Broken Capillaries and hyperpigmentation. I saw all the options that Dr Lee offered on his website and cross referenced the most “worth it” options in realself.com for my needs, that wasn’t plastic surgery. He offers well reviewed laser options and booking online. He also has a confidential patient portal where you fill out all the paperwork before your appointment.

They require a $50 deposit to schedule the appointment, which can go towards treatment, should the time come. The office is located in a strip mall and is immaculately clean. He had several offices for different procedures and every room had enormous air filters. Dr. Lee also told me that their HVAC system has advanced filtration that includes UV to create very sterile airflow. All staff wore masks and they schedule appointments far apart to address social distancing.

The staff brought me right back without having to wait. Dr. Lee got down to business gave me a consultation for his recommendations and the pricing. He recommended both BBL and Halo. My chest and neck are in bad shape so I wanted them done at the same time. Cost for halo on face, neck and chest is $1700 and for BBL on the same areas was $500. If I wanted to also do bbl on my arms, which have plenty of age spots that would have been $400. I chose to wait on getting my arms done.

I was able to schedule for later that same day. He offered to have me come in 1 hour early to apply numbing ointment or give it to me to apply 1 hour before the appointment. I chose to self apply. Dr Lee was very kind and checked on my comfort level throughout treatment. He started with the BBL which gave a pain level of 0-1. Very mild and completely tolerable. Dr Lee worked proficiently and covered the same areas multiple times, which I appreciated.

After BBL he did the Halo. First he measures specific areas with the machine so the machine will beep once finished with a section. Then on to the next section. This allowed him to give the same level of treatment in each area. Each section got quite a few passes, going up and down and side to side.

The pain level started very mildly at a 1. I was pleasantly surprised because I expected a lot more pain. However, there are so many repeated passes, the pain started ratcheting up to a 3. Once the numbing ointment (lidocaine) wore off, the pain was a 6. He gave me a hand held AC, which was very helpful to cool down my skin that felt like fire. The feel reminds me of when I eat super spicy food and my lips burn.

That’s the same feel but all over my face neck and chest. When the doctor asked me how I was feeling, I told him, “my face feels like you rubbed jalapeño juice all over it.” He told me to take my time if I needed more AC. After the treatment my face was bright red and swollen. I took Advil. The hot skin was very much soothed by using damp hand towels with ice packs inside. I laid down for 2 hours like this. Then I was able to get up and finish out my day. I kept a fan blowing softly in my face, which helped.