Very Comfortable Experience, Now Have Permanent Damage.. - New York, NY

Hey Britt,
Thanks for allowing us to openly share our experiences and shed some light on the other side of reviews too. I will be going to a derm this Friday, it will be my first time visiting a doctor since my last ipl last year due to the ongoing and evolving damage. Truthfully out of fear I haven't gone, and also I have found it very difficult to find a derm that does not practice laser on patients.

Hi cveroleyva,

I'm glad you are going to see someone else. I understand you are scared, but sometimes facing our fears is the best thing for us. I'm sure everything will be just fine. Thank you for posting a pictures. Please keep us updated as to how your appointment goes Friday, I will be thinking of you.

-Britt

Cveroleyva, Thanks for sharing. I've been debating on whether to try ipl. My derm insists it will be fine but I've heard some horror stories about its longer term effects. I was supposed to go last May but got scared. I saw my derm again today & she is very persuasive, so I decided to do more research and found this board. Good luck to you.

Oh Thank you:).
My personal wish is that you don't go through it, but I know it's not my decision to make. Do as much research as possible before commiting to something like ipl. Are you interested in ipl to maintain your skin health or for something else? sunspots, acne, etc? I've noticed lemon and baking soda work great to lighten spots, inexpensive, and I do alternate between rosehip oil and castor oil at night as a moisturizer now. My doctor put me on bleachease for more severe melasma I developed post ipl, but the scarring that it left me with and the texture is still there. Please please think it through. Many hugs and best wishes-

I have roseacia. My face tends to be ruddy, especially around my nose. She was suggesting a few sessions. I take oral meds to keep it in control. I can live with occasionally too ruddy cheeks. Again thank you for having the courage to post. I have made up my mind never to try ipl.

Best, Linda

Hi,
Thanks for posting on the savlon. What does it do? I know some people go to lasers/ipl for roseaca. It'd be great if its good stuff. :). Results take time?

Hey KikiLisa!!!
I'm a little late on reading rs posts. Wow, so this is your skin too. I've read so much, and so many docs say this isn't good for acne patients at all. It's only there for pigmentation, and medispas and docs are getting carried away as if though this is an easy overall quick no downtime treatment but arn't being honest about side affects. I think all the doctors that advocate here, should try it on themselves and give freebies to their families and friends...hmmmm... Yup, I don't think they would either, they know the risks and it's not written on any of their brochures, other than temporary or just beware that you don't get burned. Thanks alots docs. And RS, I hope you keep this post up. Afterall, we want the good, bad, and the ugly to be openly discussed on this forum.

I had Fraxel XL(?) done on my face and neck. My face is now rougher and not as smooth as before. I can't tell if it's any tighter than before, which is what I did it for. Glad I only had it done once!!

ha! lololol, who knows. but compared to what liked before the damage, i dont see how a face lift couldnt help...but im only 37 now, so im going to wait till i hit 40 and think about it.

I'm not saying you are terrible and you need or something like that, but same happened to me due IPL (not as hard) and I'm thinking about solutions, and seeing your pictures something has changed. I'm not an expert (and who is, seeing some results) but what I see is the area more "wrinkled" (specially near your mouth) If you use fillers it would definetly disappear but I'm against fillers, for me are just temporary solutions that make you look worse when the effects disappear. For my point of view, facelift includes de benefits of fillers and more, If I streech my skin all the small lines I see now disappear, or they almost do, streenching those areas should make it look better or as good as before. About the dryness, I'm happy to say I solved it. Maybe not 100% but kind of. I had dryness aswell and it didnt leave. I used rosehip oil for some weeks (plus good diet and drinking water) and yes, It wasnt dry anymore... but here are the good news. After I stopped using rosehip oil (and I didnt use it that much, maybe just 2 weeks) my skin was still hydrated. Even 2 months later, it was still hydrated, so I think you could give a try to rosehip oil, at least it worked for me, and its not my imagination, its not about how my skin looks, its about the feeling of it. When I touched it it was dry, my area around de eyes was very hydrated but the rest was like leather. Now, my area around the eyes and the rest of my face have the same tact when I touch that with my fingers. About the texture is something I can't say, maybe a chemical peeling could help but I have no experience on them. But for what I have lived I would avoid lasers and IPLS for ever ever. So this is what I would do, hope it helps, and give it a try to rosehip oil! No fear. Worst thing can happens to you is some breakouts that will disappear like any other.

Forgive me, but I just have to strongly object to the idea of this woman getting a FACE LIFT to fix, what is to me at least, a very minor problem. Yes, I see the damage and yes, I`m sure it is very distressing to have something you did not have before but a face lift is an EXTREME procedure that as far as I`ve seen, only make people look WORSE. Mickey Rourke, Sylvester Stallone, his mom, are just some celebrities who have gotten face lifts and all have that distinct "Joker" face and look 1,000,000,000 times worse than before. This lady still looks beautiful even after the botched laser treatment and she could possibly repair this damage herself, much more safely at home, by using Alpha Hydroxy creams and mechanical exfoliators like the Olay ProX system. I`ve done chemical peels and I say please be careful with those because I sustained permanent damage from doing a DIY one that left a thick, dark crease on one cheek. I did everything correctly but I didn`t know that the percentage of acid in the vials you buy aren`t always accurate and could contain more or less. Mine contained more and it burned my skin in the area I applied it most heavily. The aforementioned exfoliating system and Alpha Hydroxy creams have GREATLY improved my burnt skin to the point I look normal now. I am male and have tougher skin than most females. I can only imagine how much more effective it would be on softer skin, so I suggest trying out safer methods of repair first. Absolutely NO NEED for a face lift!!

Once you cut that's it. A facelift will not do anything except for stretch the skin and many times make the face appear more sunken in. Prior to using fillers (which would be the best solution for a predictable result over fat transfer) you need to try to stimulate the growth of collagen and elastin. The three best options would be: the Focus Len Array on the PicoSure laser, the 1540 hand piece on the Icon platform, or if you are still fearful of light based treatments the Pellevé RF facial treatment. Unfortunately for all of us "gravity" is a constant. My recommendation would be a combination of the above in conjunction with fillers. Results to regrow collagen and elastin will take 3 to 4 treatments and results will take roughly 6 to 10 months to reach their clinical endpoint. Fillers done properly will last 1 to 2 years. In addition, you could go even further and do a combination of PrecisionTx and injectables combined with a SmartSkin+ C02 which is fractional ablation. You can have up to 7 to 10 days downtime with this. Look up Dr. Deborah Sarnoff in NY and her A.C.E.L.I.F.T. Procedure. It is not cheap. You will receive 9 years off your face in 90 minutes though. She has videos on YouTube as well.

thank you, i did:). hornonal acne sometimes leaves me with darker blemishes that take a long time to fade, and i had oily skin. i was told ipl was natural, safe, and would help me from having to use harsh topicals on my skin. i stupidly believed it, after all, it wasnt a real derms office, and how could they use machines that could hurt anyone? too late now.

You live in NY. Anyone can perform laser treatments. Just across the border in NJ, only a physician is allowed to perform these treatments.

Of course! Well, I'm glad she is going to help you figure this out. It sucks that you are going through this, but at least it seems there might be a pin hole of light at the end. Try to think positive, I know usually easier said than done and us keep us updated.

Have a great weekend!

-Britt

How is your skin doing these days? I received 3 IPL treatments over the course of a year. After the first 2 my skin looked great. I had the 3rd this past October and my skin has been extremely dry since and am now beginning to notice a change in my texture (large pores, small pits or scars) especially on the cheek area. Like you, I have never had to wear foundatiin makeup before. If this continues to worsen, which I hope it doesn't, I will have to start covering it up. I initially got the IpL to help with hyoerpigmemtation which now looks a little darker. The first 2 ipl's almost got rid of it but for some reason after tjis treatment something went really wrong.
How long after your last ipl treatment sis you continue to see damage appear? When did it settle out?

Hello Lola,
I wish I did. My skin was smooth. Unfortunately, because I was explained it wasn't laser and this was just an easy process with virutally no side affects (other than being burned or not burned by someone using the wrong settings, or hypopigmentation-that I was told), it never occured to me to take a picture prior. I wish I had.

Hi,cveroleyva. In reading your earlier posts, I notice that you had 3 ipls in 6 weeks? I was told by my ipl nurse that I had to wait 6 weeks between each treatment for the collagen to recover. Can any of the Drs. on here comment? I've had 3 so far, and hopefully the improvement I see will last. Anyway, I'm glad you're seeing a Dr. to take care of your skin now. Best of luck.

Hey lola,
I got lucky and found a before pic. It's posted if it helps you any in making a decision about ipl or lasers. And believe it or not, I didn't wear make up in this pic, nor did I have to ever, until now......

Hi all. I know this is a long time later, but I was just looking at the reviews of IPL and saw that Cveroleyca had three IPL's in six weeks. I want to let you all know that I just had my first IPL and my doctor won't let me come back for six weeks. So that's why you probably had so many problems. I wouldn't go back to that doctor ever again if I was you. Good luck to you.

Thank you Lakeworth,
I was thinking along the same lines myself. At the time though, it was popular among many locations to see patients once every two weeks, and now I'm seeing that ipl/lasers are being more spread out among practioners.Based on my own, I rather not see anyone take a chance, but I'm hopeful that you will have a positive experience:).

there was no third party witness, and because i never took profile up close pictures of my skin prior to the laser damage, they just say ill sound like a woman that is crazy, not happy about normal aging, or a drug addict... lawyers wont take these cases on for lack of proof. thats why i post here, i want everyone to think twice before commiting to any ipl and laser treatments.

I went to a top dermatologist in manhattan and had 1 ipl treatment . My skin is destroyed . I asked if it was safe for ethnic skin and said I was concerned about hypopigmentation . I now have such dry and sensitive skin that I can't use my regular cream or even cerave, everything burns . My face broke out in horrible hives . Skin peeled off. My pores bleed for no reason . I have dark spots allover . I had no outward negative reaction after the treatment but went back a week later because I started to see spots turning light and she blew me off and told me it's safe for ethnic skin and she never heard otherwise . I want to throw up when I see my face . I stayed home on my bday and Christmas , haven't left home for a month . These dr's are just as bad, if not worse than the medispa, bevaude they do know better but they lie for money . Dr's are not dr's anymore . Never get this awful treatment , lasers are a nightmare , I'm ruined for life . I also have weird lines everywhere and she told me I was crazy like Picasso . I have a ton of photos and it's so bad I ended up in the er and the dr was horrified and put me on steroids and anti-histamines. The worst part is it's only been a month and I know more damage will be revealed, I never had brown patches but I do now . The hypopigmented areas look like melted wax, the texture is destroyed and there are all these little weird scars . I'm deveststed. So no, the dr's office most certainly is not any better than a medispa, this is a myth