Please Read This Prior to ANY Laser Procedure, Especially MIXTO - Nashville, TN

I am a 31 year old, previously very happy professional that is scarred for life. Please read this review prior to doing anything drastic to yourself that you will regret for a lifetime. I was a dentist and I knew that I was going to residency for the next few years. I had some fine lines under my eyes and I was friends with an occuloplastic surgeon in Nashville Tn that had a "miracle" treatment for skin and fine lines and she assured me that I would be happy with the results. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to afford expensive facials during my residency so I happily accepted her offer to do the procedure at a lesser cost. Mind you, this is her specialty. I had had mixto once prior and was happy with the results so I really didn't think twice, 5 days of intense healing time, then gorgeous skin. I went in for the procedure, which hurt but I didn't think twice. A few days later, my eyes were scabbed, oozing, and I knew that something wasn't right. Being friends with the provider, I didn't want to bother her but by the 10th day of open wounding I really started to worry. I contacted her office and explained to them that something was different, and after I healed I had VERY intense dark hyperpigmentation (see below). She finally saw me and just insisted that I was healing so she offered me IPL at no charge. I told her I thought something was wrong, and she gave me some products and sent me on my way. I felt so helpless, I felt it was obvious but she wasn't seeing it, my boyfriend told me I was imagining it and everyone else was too polite. I thought it was all in my head. I went back to her one more time and pointed out some large raised lines in my skin and she insisted that "it was just extra skin" which looking at the picture below, was not the case. I went home and cried, I thought I was going crazy. Time went on and it actually started to hurt, I'm guessing this is when the scarring became more mature. I called her freaking out, she assured me that healing was an art. I decided after taking some pictures that something was defintely wrong. I no longer recognized myself when I looked in the mirror. I cried every day for months, I was in excruitating pain. I finally made a consultation with another well known occuloplastic surgeon in Nashville that I had seen prior to her and had historic photographs. When he saw me he almost threw up. We compared photos, he told me that I indeed was burned or "overtightened" and he told me that there was nothing he could do to help remedy the situation. I broke down. Thats when my life really ended.

I contacted the mixto doctor and told her what he had said. She just let it sink in, never admitted to anything and offered that I go to the office again. She told me not to try to break up the tissue because it would defeat what we had attempted to accomplish....well at this point I couldn't even close my eyes anymore. I think that this really affected my vision. I was lost, there was nothing that I could do. My life fell apart, friendships, professional relationships, my own relationship. I became a total recluse. I only woke up to go to work, worried about it all day, came home and cried. My eyelids were no longer flexible, they were hard, like scars....

I researched obsessively, which as it turns out...there are a lot of people who have had their lives ruined by laser treatments. When you want this done, you overlook it....but when it happens to you, it really hits home. In my research I found one doctor that I really liked his answers on real self and that was Dr. Jason Emer. I thought about it, but I realized that my life couldn't continue to happen the way it was. I decided to contact his office for a skype consultation. He immediately saw what I was talking about and said, your friend burned you, I wish you had contacted me sooner, theres so much I could have done for you. That pissed me off more than anything. As it turns out, after researching endless case reports I found one that said that yellow plaques were indicative of future scarring and that actions should be taken immediately to prevent scarring. COOL. So I could have had steroid injections and nonablative treatments right away and maybe this wouldn't have been permanent.

Now, it is permanent. I have been going to Dr. Emer now for 2 treatments and have noticed some improvements, but I will never be the same again. Some days I don't want to live. Please reconsider laser treatments, and if thats not possible for you pay high dollar to see Dr. Emer. Now this seemingly inexpensive fix is going to put me 20k in debt in addition to my residency and I'm going to have scarred, wrinkly eyelids forever. Take it from me, fine lines far exceed laser burns.

It took me a long time to write this review, because I do care about the doctor that did this to me. I know it wasn't her intention. I am seriously hoping that she just didn't know what to look for and didn't know what was happening the entire time, but being that shes an occuloplastic surgeon you'd think maybe there would be some insight. I hope this prevents others from suffering in the future. Get hydrafacials, not lasers. It will ruin you, and you will always wondered what you would have looked like had you never had these effects.