Full Face CO2 Laser - Las Vegas, NV

Had this procedure yesterday. During the procedure, my face felt warm with little pin pricks - the worst was around the lips and nose. It was not as painful as I thought it would be. They give you a Lortab and a Xanax before and put numbing cream all over.

I am 54, a redhead and have sun damage, wrinkles & loss of collagen, especially in my chin. I do Botox 3x/year and tried Radiesse for my chin but it didn't make a difference.

On the drive home, little dots of blood started to show - and by the time I went to bed my face was swollen & almost all scabby. I did put ice pack on my face as per the nurse & it helped. I am worried about infection but will follow their instructions; wash with sterile solution, use bactroban and cover with nonstick pads. The skin feels tight and hot -no pain. Slept through the night but did take an ambien.

Will not be able to leave the house for a few days. I will update in a week.

The peeling began last night - today is Day 4 and I'm supposed to use vaseline until all the peeling is done. My face is very warm - have been using ice packs on it - would really love one of those gel masks that you can put in the fridge. Its nice to have the darker skin slough off; the skin underneath is pink. I'll have to be very careful when I'm out in the sun!

No trouble sleeping and I didn't take any more of the pain meds.

8 days post scan - still quite pink but that's to be expected - going through a 2nd peel in spots. One thing I didn't expect is that I had a few cold sores around my lips from the scan. My face has been itchy at times; called the Dr. and they said I could use OTC cortisone cream - I put some on but it seemed to irritate it more. I am now alternating organic coconut oil and Nivea - they both absorb quickly and feel great. The area around my eyes is swollen when I wake up but that seems to be getting less and less. Will report again in a month!

1 1/2 months later and I am thrilled; the fine lines and some of the deeper lines are gone or diminished. My skin looks refreshed. Would definitely recommend this procedure. The wait time between procedures is 6 months but its unlikely I would do it again. I was hoping that the sun damage spots on my forehead would have gone away but was told I should have had the "herbium" laser at the same time.