Pearl Fractional Ruined my Face - Manitoba, MB

Alright folks, it's been a while since I've updated. I'd like to post some pics and I'll let you be the judge. I've seen a lot of improvement with my laser damage. I want to state that I was 30 when I first had this procedure and I'm 32 now. I've also seen improvement with just other imperfections as well. My creases between my eyes also became worse, my skin clearly lost collagen and became more lax, I want you to be aware that I did have the furrows before hand but not to this degree. Of course you can see the laser holes which appear to be very large pores and just sandpapery and un uniformed type skin. I also had huge creases/hollows under my eyes, this was not due to laser. And if you have seen in other pics, I do have indentation or rolling scars on forehead due to old acne. As you can see in this new picture I took today. All of these issues appear so much better. I do apologize for the different lighting.

I owe the improvement with tighter skin and furrows to Botox. I owe the improvement with tight skin, laser holes, un uniformed textured skin and rolling scars to dermarolling. I owe the decrease in eye hollows also to dermarolling and stamping. I also use banish acne Vit C serum after I roll. I use own doc.com's Vit c powder mixed with water every day. I also do tca peels one every 4 mths or so. I take vitamins, I use gentle cleansers. And I also recently started using manuka honey. The indentation do revert back to a degree so you do have to keep up with the dermarolling, I'm not sure how much is permanent. But having a downtime wknd once every few weeks to do a roll is so much better than hiding yourself from the world every single day. I can now live my life. So there is hope folks, at least to some degree. I wish all of you so much luck. Take care and I hope everybody has a wonderful new year.

Hello all, thought I would do a review and post a picture. So I'm still seeing slight improvement. I changed my routine a bit. I'm now dermarolling and putting a vit.c solution on right after. And always after I wash, I put the solution on. After the dermaroing and stings pretty bad, prob not great to be creating extra inflammation, but it's working. Since my last post I feel I see maybe between 3-5% improvement. It's slow, but there is a difference. It's seems to be helping the over all texture. I can still see the laser holes, but they are a little better. Also, I have something to report. I started using nizoral as a face wash for acne. It's an anti fungal shampoo. I'm still trying to figure out what is causing my acne. So I went on the anti candida diet, lifting sugar and gluten and dairy, and I washed with this shampoo, and I didn't get one zit for a whole week until I ate some cheese pizza. And this is off the birth control and off of the minocyclin. Also, it's helping with my oily skin, apparently it has an anti androgen effect to it. So anyways, hope everyone is doing well, and I'll let you be the judge if there is a difference in texture compared to old photos.

Sry all, I've been away from this site for quite some time. Just a little bit of advice, a break is necessary, this site is so beneficial and I do owe a lot to it and all it's members, however if you're not careful it can consume you a bit. I apologize to those who may have msged me with out any response, I don't check my email often. That being said, how am I doing, and have I seen improvement?

I've definitely seen improvement, in no way am I back to how I was originally, but things are slowly coming along. I'd say since about one mth post, till now, I've seen roughly a 40% improvement, give or take a bit. I've seen the most improvement since a bit after 6 mths till now. I started a new routine. I researched many sites, listened to many stories etc, and this is the route I went. I started retin A again, the mildest dose, I went on birth control for acne, it may have helped my pores somewhat. Then I started seeing my old aesthetician, she did a glycolic peel on my problem areas and followed it with a treatment of laser genesis. Look into it, it's not like the other lasers we've done. She's amazing, she did both these treatments together for around $55. I did this monthly for the last 5 mths, and in between sessions, I would do one dermaroller session myself, and I'd dermastamp the worse areas. A little note, I never bled, I did light pressure, just enough to have my following products absorb. Immediately after I would put the 0.5% retin a on, it's one step stronger then my regular one. I'd leave it on for roughly one hour, wash off, then apply a copper peptide serum. I also learned in this time that moisturizers tended to cause my skin to be more oily. I switched to only serums two mths ago. And started applying my vit.c serum every night before bed. I recently started applying a hyaluronic acid serum for under my makeup as well. I also use my weaker retin a about 1-2 times per week, minus the one week after that I would dermarole. I also still take vitamins daily, a multi, vit.c and zinc. Aside from that, that's it. I'd say this new regimen is what has helped the most. I still wear my hat every day, even to work. It's kind of sad, I do feel a lot more confident, but I still feel that fear within that were all known too. My next step to bump it up a bit, is next week I'm doing a TCA peel, only a 12.5% one, they go a little deeper and you get a better peel vs. a glycolic, which I feel is very comparable to retin a. I can also tell the improvement because my original issue is becoming more apparent, what I'm starting to focus on a bit more. My original issue was two things, rolling scars on my forehead, weather being missing tissue or loss of fat. And some ice pick scars and large pores. At the end of July I have an appt to get filler done for the rolling scars, I really hope that helps, in certain light it looks terrible, which is why I opted for the pearl fractional in the first place.

So in conclusion. I have seen an improvement, still not where I'd like it to be. I'm still going to continue the dermarolling once per mth with retin a. I have to take a break possibly for the summer for the treatments with aesthetician, with the tca peel and filler I should just let that heal. I'm hoping by September I'll feel confident enough to finally walk outside without a hat, and feel free!!

On a side note, I'm at a loss for acne, I had everything under control for years, and a week and a half ago I just broke out, I don't recall ever having it this bad, my dermatologist is on vacation for two mths, I'm out of minocyclin, and my birth control doesn't seem to be helping anymore, also, the birth control has left me with zero sex drive, so I'm waiting to see what can be done about this. Not sure what do do in the meantime. Oh and one other thing folks, pls be so careful when trying new vitamins, herbs, whatever it may be. I tried a digestive enzime ph balance pill from gnc, I do think they're a good company. However, I had a pretty severe allergic reaction to the pill. Not anaphylactic, but I woke up at night in a panic, my entire body had a burning sensation from head to toe, I had tomato coloured splotches from head to toe, and the back of my neck and ears started to swell up. It was terrifying. So pls, be cautious with anything new you try. Anyways, good luck to you all, and pls comment, I'll be looking at my email fir a while :)