CO2 Fractional Laser Recovery

Hey sorry i didnt notice this comment until today. On day 2 or 3 i think you can start washing your face with a gentle cleanser like cetaphil and showering. Dont hit your face directly with the spray and keep the water cool NOT hot. I liked washing my face with the cetaphil in the shower. When you get out do an iced vinegar-water soak where you literally dunk your face in a bowl of the mixture or you soak gauze in it lay on your back and drape the wet pieces on your face for like 10-20 min. Now its time to do more aquaphor. Make sure you are keeping everything that is touching your face sterile. I washed my face with cetaphil about 3 times a day and always followed it with the vinegar soak. You dont want to wash your face too much its kind of irritating. In between washing, i would do iced vinegar water soaks approx every couple hours. After the soak reapply more aquaphor. Vinegar solution is one tsp per cup i think--very dilute. And just put some ice in it. If you dont have ice thats ok just use cool water. Be very gentle when washing your face--did your doctor say it would be ok to wash it with gentle cleanser on day 2 or 3? Hope your doing well, take care.

Thank you very helpful, My Dr said ok to just use cool water and aquaphor. .I have been doing the vinegar soaks too..learned about this on the website along other very helpful info from nice people. .I am on day 3..no specific product advice was given really. .figured most of it out on my own, anyway surviving fine so far

Washing my face with cetaphil made me feel loads better--if you werent given any specific advice about whether or not you can wash your face I would call the doc and ask because you're going to want to start doing that at some point. Otherwise you're just piling on more and more aquaphor. Gently washing it off with your hands softly is the only way to get it off--you cannot wipe it off with gauze that would be too harsh. Also just a heads up once you have pink skin you're gonna get really unbearably itchy. People will tell u to use benedryl to sleep--go for it--but i needed sleeping pills otherwise i wouldn't have been able to sleep for 3 nights.

Be very careful to never pick let everything naturally and gently fall off--its the best way to avoid hyperpigmentation and prevent scarring from the laser. Protect your laser job the best you can

Okeee will do!

I am considering CO2 laser. I'm terrified! It sounds unbearable. What kind of sleeping pills did you take? Did the doc who did your CO2 prescribe the sleeping pills? I also wonder if there is something oral that the doc can prescribe for the itch.

The skin crawling sensation was the absolute worst. I had leftover sleeping pills from my family doctor prescribing me some like a year ago. Ask your normal doctor--tell them what you're about to have done and that you might have a hard time sleeping for a few days because of it. Just get generic cheap sleeping pills, I dont remember the name of mine. CO2 is worth it if you go deep and you have scars or wrinkles to warrant needing CO2. I still dont look totally normal, I have hyperpigmentation streaks from the laser. I think another month or two and they will fade. Definitely need at least a week maybe 2 off of work

wow that's rough, but hopefully the results are worth it you you....I have a consultation coming up and I am eyeing traditional co2 resurfacing. Thanks for the in depth review, it is very helpful. Would love for you to keep updating with more recent pictures as you continue to heal! It's hard to find a lot of great documentation like this.

Oh it was definitely painful. My body was shaking/convulsing the whole time basically. My procedure only took 20 minutes but i told them to do it rapidly and just get it over with and I would be fine. I figured the "rip it off like a bandaid" method might help it just be over faster. I definitely didn't realize it would hurt as bad as it did. Felt like getting a face tattoo. They applied numbing cream once to me about 40 min before the procedure and i had a Xanax. I think maybe some doctors apply the numbing cream twice once an hr or so before and once a half an hr before. Halfway through the procedure I wished I had had more numbing cream--but who knows maybe it wouldn't have helped. I dont know if you know the density of dots they chose for yours but they told me they were doing single density dots on my forehead cause i didnt have many scars there and double density from my temples down. They went over my chin/goatee area twice with the double density dots. I think it definitely worked--my chin had a lot of scars before and now it doesnt. Cant wait to see how this looks in about a month. My forehead looks pretty great--it healed the fastest cause it was only single density--and the forehead wrinkles i was starting to get look a lot smoother. Why did you get it? How is it working for you?

Hi Christine ... I had this done because I am a VERY stupid person!!!

In Ireland no "ethical" Dermatologist works with anything stronger than oral painkillers, plus something like Xanax or Valium and the numbing cream - which was applied 45 mins before my procedure started. I read some other reviews on this website today and some women had painkillers administered by IV - unheard of in Ireland for aesthetic work! I didn't know about the density of the dots - because I am a VERY stupid person (did I mention that?) I didn't do enough research.

Applying the numbing cream at different times makes complete sense as it wears off (doh!). I'll write more later or tomorrow ... I'm running out to the supermarket but at least I don't look like an Extra from a Horror Movie like I did 2 weeks ago! Caitlin

Lol i think people only get numbing cream and xanax if they are doing fractional co2--which means the laser only shoots into your skin where the dots are in a grid pattern. There is a different procedure where its not dots--its a full beam of laser it gets all your skin. That is done by a plastic surgeon under anesthesia. At least i think thats how that works. Usually the full face laser thing is done in tandem with a face lift. Gets pretty dramatic results

You've read a lot about this Christine - good for you! I'm seeing my Dermatologist on Friday and I'll ask about the "dots". If I ever get this done again (NOPE!) I will be in a medically induced coma ....

Caitin, by oral pain killers, do you mean something like Vicodin? I'm taking notes - if I do go through with the CO2 laser treatments, I want to be prepared. It sounds awful. Thank you for sharing your story.

Hi Lizzilou .... American medications often have different names to medications used in Ireland. I had topical "numbing" cream and was given 2 oral painkillers. I have red hair and very pale skin and possibly have what's known as "red hair syndrome" - red haired people bleed more when cut and usually have a low pain threshold. I cannot recommend this procedure unless you are under General Anesthetic! It was extremely painful. Please do lots of research - I think this website is great. Caitlin (I'm in week 6 and I can't see a huge difference in my complexion ... yet)

Had fractional Co2 (core) laser done. Not for acne though. Had 2 hydrocodone one valium and numbing cream prior to procedure. Felt brief pain occasionally but overall not unbearable at all. I was worried most about pain but it was not anywhere near as bad as i thought it would be. Never had a tattoo and not super tough either. I shook as well even though pain wasnt that bad. Its involuntary.