Laser Resurfacing After a Facelift 10 Months Ago - Minneapolis, MN

Hi there. You look really good. I think the red should fade in time. I have a red line under my chin. The doctor 'zapped' a 'sleep line' under my chin. I remember when she did it and it hurt. I am hoping it fades. But, overall, I am happy. Keep me updated. Thanks :-D

Hi, what did Dr. Tholen say at your follow up?  Thanks for keeping your review up to date :)

how are you doing? I had same procedure about 3 weeks ago; it is not for the faint of heart, and after the swelling went down, a lot of the problem areas looked only minimally improved. I would not, at this point, recommend it. So sick of the dry, itchy skin.

How r u doing now? I am considering doing this and watching ur progress closely. Do u have more pictures

Glad to hear your done healing. You look great. Are the white patches gone?

Wow, you healed very well, in a really good amount of time considering from the strong procedure you had done!. I thought to expect some type of redness, or mark still left. During those first few day's, boy oh boy, that looked scary!. Looking great so far, keep us updated.

Hi. Just wondering what your pre-treatment protocol was and how long did you have to be on it for ?

I just wanted to thank my patient again for the daily timeline and photos of her recovery. Her course was pretty typical, though she did have a hypersensitivity response (not really an allergic response) to the Vaseline I generally advocate for after-resurfacing skin protection. This delayed her recovery by a day or so, and she was kind to tell us about her quick resumption of healing after the Vaseline was discontinued in favor of Crisco (which most patients don't want to use, and why we don't use it primarily rather than Vaseline). Her results are only about 50% of what will be achieved over the next 3-4 months, and during this time her outcome will be improved by the gradual resumption of her pre-op skin care protocol, which eagle 1 asked about just below. Pre-op I recommend the use of 4% hydroquinone (various manufacturers of this prescription pharmaceutical, but I prefer the Obagi products) as well as prescription Retin-A. The former reduces hyperpigmentation and blotchiness in the skin (activity of the melanocytes by blocking part of the metabolic pathway in these pigment cells), and Retin-A increases the metabolic activity of the skin cells, causing more blood flow, thickening of the cellular layers with increased turnover (exfoliation and pore cleansing), and increasing the rate of healing after the surgical laser procedure. So healing really does occur in 7-10 days (even with a little blip from Vaseline reaction in a few % of patients) is usual and expected, despite what you may read about fiery redness for 6 months and 2 weeks or more of healing after ablative resurfacing. As with my patient, we will now very gently and gradually restart the hydroquinone to maintain her gradual recovery of normal skin coloration with as little blotchiness as possible, and once that medication is not causing any additional redness and irritation (a week or two), then we restart the Retin-A. This is also done very gradually, to reduce the natural response to this medication, which is intense dryness and (red) irritation. We are striving to cause just enough metabolic stimulation to continue the healing process where the patient is creating more collagen and elastin fibers in the skin, which is why there will be more improvement over the next few months as fine lymphatic swelling diminishes and more skin tightening occurs with increased collagen and elastin content. And the new epithelial surface from deep(er) within pores and hair follicles (which is where the new skin surface comes from during healing after the old damaged skin surface is vaporized with the laser) continues to look smoother, and more refreshed with less wrinkles. Since facelifting does not address the wrinkles and lines around the mouth or those fine surface ones that return after facelift swelling is gone, this is a perfect two-step approach to facial rejuvenation. Thanks again to my patient for detailing the process!

We havn't heard from you in awhile. How are things progressing? Hoping you are doing well!