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POSTED UNDER DeepFX REVIEWS

Upper Eyelid - Lumenis Deep FX - Mission Viejo, CA

ORIGINAL POST

I had the procedure yesterday. Pain during was...

LACA353
WORTH IT
I had the procedure yesterday. Pain during was perfectly tolerable because I was given topical anesthetic 45 minutes beforehand and then a few ccs of Lidocaine. I felt anxious because the laser was so close to my eyes, but this doctor is one of the most confident I've ever met and I never doubted he knew what he was doing. Pain one hour later was AWFUL (I had to drive a long way in bad traffic) but I took some Meloxicam when I got home and by evening it had subsided. On Day 2 now, the swelling and oozing is much worse but there's little or no pain.

This procedure was a test drive for me because I want to do whole face, neck and chest Deep or Total FX. I can see that I would need to be pretty heavily medicated during and after if I do go through with it - but maybe I'll just tackle it in steps. I am about to turn 52 and am trying everything to slow down the sag and droop that's crept over my face and neck. I did Ulthera five months ago - it helped somewhat in that I see a more defined jaw line, but the results are so very subtle and of course do nothing to skin surface grooves and indentations which seem to get deeper by the week.

This upper eyelid laser was chosen to target the vertical lines below the eyebrow which are deep and obvious even in repose. Most people would do upper lids and under eyes at the same time, I couldn't for a few practical reasons like clinic being too far away and needing a driver etc.

I am super optimistic that this Doctor may have completely erased the vertical grooves. In the preop he showed me some of the most dramatic before and after pictures I have ever seen. He's seems to be fairly aggressive about delivering noticeable results. Kind of wish I had saved the money from the Ulthera and gone straight to him. I did Ulthera because I couldn't take any downtown (and didn't need it, went right back to work). Today on Day 2 I couldn't even leave the house and will be like this for a week at least I'm guessing. But if it gets the result, then it's worth it and I will schedule time to do the rest later. Let us see how I do in my own after photo.

LACA353's provider

Dr. Ronnie N. Dawood

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The Clinic is called Sublime Medical and the Doctor and all staff are poster children for the services, (he looks 25 but is 40, I believe). Everybody was super professional. The offices are high end, modern. I came in on a special but got outstanding service. All doctors say that it is really about the practitioner/injector and this one seems to be in a class of his own. The before and afters he showed me were unbelievable - literally stripping years and all the aging signs off very normal faces.

Replies (13)

March 28, 2015
Good luck and keep posting! Did you have to have those metal shields placed on your eyeball? If so, how did it feel at the time, and did it make your eyes dry or watery after?
March 28, 2015
No, no metal shields. Apparently they're not always used, although I had the option to.
May 2, 2015
Hello, thanks for sharing your journey with us. any updates? How is it progressing?
May 3, 2015
6 weeks after the procedure my upper eyelids are conspicuously burnt - as with any serious burn one might get the normal way, off a stove or fire or whatever. Except mine are front, center and outer sides of my eyelids and I volunteered for them. Plus I still have some skin overhang from the swelling, sitting on my lower lid. So, this is all bad news in the recovery sense and probably a significant deterrent to people considering the deep FX laser treatment on larger areas, e.g. whole face and neck which I was considering based on the outcome from the small area. I cannot and will not do that now because it is clear that I have another month at least before this burn effect goes away or even just calms a little more. So there's no way I can endure that kind of downtime for a larger area given the real world demands of being out and about for work etc. On the plus side, the treatment TOTALLY solved the issue - those vertical deep grooves are gone, not faded, gone completely. In their place now is a bright red, still swollen eyelid x 2 - but I do know that time will heal it. Just not the time I have to invest in these facial improvements. I take back my criticism of Ultherapy - given the lack of downtime, it is probably the better option. It does not iron out deep wrinkles, but it does tighten up and leave you slightly more youthfully wrinkled :)
May 4, 2015
Thank you, I really appreciate you taking the time to update. Really? At 6 weeks it still is looking like a fresh burn? Is that normal for co2? Also it is wonderful news to hear about the grooves being gone...I have heard that any initial improvements may be due to microswelling. Is 6 weeks considered "out of the woods " in terms of swelling so that whatever improvements one sees is considered permanent and not just being that the skin looks fuller from microswelling? I have a small surgical scar some surgeons recommended deep fx for but i do not want to get hopes up after having read that. My scar is a slight indentation ..actually looks similar to the tiny one below your eyebrow. It looks like the laser was also applied to that area. I know you weren't trying to improve that scar but did it happen to affect that small scar in any way? Thank you
May 4, 2015
Yes, the scar and the indentations are gone. The procedure REALLY works, and I guess you can manage all the redness with cover up, but it is far from ideal. I've added a photo with no makeup today May 4, 2015 - so two days from now will be six weeks post, and that's still the burn mark/redness I am dealing with. I think in a month I will say it has been worth it - because I did get exactly what I hoped for. But the amount of time required for healing is a big problem.
June 13, 2015
Thank you for your reply. It is looking very nice and I'm glad you are pleased with your results!
June 13, 2015
Well I am more than 11 weeks from date of procedure and the burn marks are still there needing coverup everyday. I gave up indents for burn marks and feel foolish. Wish someone could figure out how to do it without causing another problem. It's on me though, for going for it.
August 29, 2015
I'm sorry to hear! How about recently...is it looking better now?
June 21, 2015
Yes, thanks for sharing. At 58, I too, have vertical wrinkles under one brow especially. It becomes much more pronounced after botox.

Maybe the lesson you offer is to beware of overly confident doctors. I wonder if there is a setting on Deep FX which would tread more lightly. I'm still interested in having this done, but don't want to endure that kind of recovery.
October 30, 2016
I had Ronnie daewood too at the riverside office
May 21, 2017
There is an improvement on the pictures post laser treatment. However, vertical grooves are caused by muscle contraction and cannot be erased by any laser. Brow lift or forehead lift with muscle removal produce more permanent results.
November 14, 2017
I disagree. I am two and a half years post treatment and those vertical grooves never returned. The deep FX laser absolutely did remove them. Took a long time to heal but pre treatment they were visible even lying down and at rest with no facial movement - now they are fully gone. My guess is that the treatment was so deep that it severely reduced the thickness of the skin - and the missing weight lightened the gravity droop. I'll post a pic.
UPDATED FROM LACA353
2 months post

Photo Six weeks post.

LACA353

Replies (1)

August 29, 2015
How are you liking the results?

Do you know if there was a lighter setting that would have given you less healing time?