Reviews you can trust, from real people like you.
How it works
- Our highly-trained Review Moderation team evaluates all reviews before they're published to ensure they're written by people like you and not a member of a doctor's office.
- This multi-step process takes up to 24 hours from review submission to publication.
- Doctors can't pay to have reviews removed or hidden.
- Reviews are only removed at the reviewer's request or if they violate our Terms of Service.
If you have questions or believe we should re-evaluate a published review, let us know.
Sort by:
*Treatment results may vary
So about 5 weeks ago I went in to a local...
So about 5 weeks ago I went in to a local dermatologist to consult about some moles I had on my face. I wasn't sure I wanted anything done but she said she thought it best to remove them anyway and the scarring would be minimal....Turns out, she was wrong. The scarring wasnt horrible but it was definitely a lot more than I anticipated and I was honestly pretty upset.
Leading us to - THE FRAXEL LASER:
About 3 weeks after I had the moles removed I was still unhappy with the scarring left behind. So I went in to see the same dermatologist who assured me (as i'm sure they all do) that if I wanted she could do a few Fraxel sessions and the scars would see a dramatic improvement. I was a little skeptical but I decided to let her do it (at half-price mind you) on ONE of the scars that was worse than the other. So, she did it and low and behold it actually helped! I mean it wasnt like "OH MY GOD" thats amazing. But there was definitely a marked decrease in the redness/visibility of the scar.
NOW THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS:
About 2 weeks after the first Fraxel session I went in for a follow-up and was going to do another session for the first scar AND I had decided that, given the results of the first session, I would go ahead and do it on the other scar as well. So, when we finally got around to doing the procedure she started with the scar that had already undergone one Fraxel treatment (we'll call this Scar #1). It was quick, easy and honestly relatively painless - same as before. NOW, after she was done it seemed she was about to leave and I asked if she knew that I planned to treat Scar #2 as well. She clearly had no idea that this was my plan, but the nurse told her yes and she said "oh....okay...well, uh, let me see if this would be the right laser to use.....uhmm... yeah this one will work". She then proceeds to work on Scar #2 and had some sort of "malfunction with the machine" IE it seemed to be cutting in and out so she told her assistant to "REBOOT" the machine. Something that worried me, not only because they seemed to sort of be doing this on-the-fly, but because being fairly technologically literate I know that typically whenever you reset a piece of technology, all the settings are then changed and since the "reboot" only took like 5 seconds it was clear they didn't check or input any new settings. Immediately after this I noticed that the laser hurt EASILY 5x more than what they had just done on the other side of my face. Scar #1 I could barely feel it, and Scar #2 it was literally almost unbearable. It is also important to note that both of these scars are on either side of my nose, so the skin/location is VERY similar. So we finish and I go home.
***THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART***:
After about 4 hours of letting the bandaids sit over the scars I decided to take a look and see what we were dealing with. Soooo - I take the bandaid of Scar #1 and think "Wow! I honestly think I can already see some improvement!" There was virtually no redness, some swelling and that was about it. Very similar to the first session result.
Then I go to take the bandaid of SCAR #2...........I was in shock. Literally I dont think i've been this distraught in a very, very long time. Not only was it very very red, but it was also black, dark brown, AND had some raw skin showing. It looked TERRIBLE. 10x worse than the mole that had been there before. So after trying to keep calm for the next few days I hoped for the best, but 4 days later it is STILL VERY VERY DARK in the middle of the scar. Its like a scab almost and still has a portion of raw skin exposed. Not only that, but the scar that was previously there has been widened and is even more red than before. ***Is it possible that she took off way to much skin and exposed the pigmentation left behind by the mole she removed in the first place?***
My concern is that she messed up during the procedure and either didn't have the settings correct to begin with OR they got changed when she "rebooted" the machine. I just dont understand how 2 very similar scars in nearly identical locations of the body can have such drastically different results UNLESS there has been a catastrophic error. The scar on the right side (scar #1) has no redness, swelling, anything... you literally cant even tell anything has been done to it.
Please help me understand what is going on, I don't think i've ever felt so hopeless in my life. I just pray that this black/brown/scab whatever it is will disappear but I have to be honest that at this point I really dont know what to expect.
Leading us to - THE FRAXEL LASER:
About 3 weeks after I had the moles removed I was still unhappy with the scarring left behind. So I went in to see the same dermatologist who assured me (as i'm sure they all do) that if I wanted she could do a few Fraxel sessions and the scars would see a dramatic improvement. I was a little skeptical but I decided to let her do it (at half-price mind you) on ONE of the scars that was worse than the other. So, she did it and low and behold it actually helped! I mean it wasnt like "OH MY GOD" thats amazing. But there was definitely a marked decrease in the redness/visibility of the scar.
NOW THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS:
About 2 weeks after the first Fraxel session I went in for a follow-up and was going to do another session for the first scar AND I had decided that, given the results of the first session, I would go ahead and do it on the other scar as well. So, when we finally got around to doing the procedure she started with the scar that had already undergone one Fraxel treatment (we'll call this Scar #1). It was quick, easy and honestly relatively painless - same as before. NOW, after she was done it seemed she was about to leave and I asked if she knew that I planned to treat Scar #2 as well. She clearly had no idea that this was my plan, but the nurse told her yes and she said "oh....okay...well, uh, let me see if this would be the right laser to use.....uhmm... yeah this one will work". She then proceeds to work on Scar #2 and had some sort of "malfunction with the machine" IE it seemed to be cutting in and out so she told her assistant to "REBOOT" the machine. Something that worried me, not only because they seemed to sort of be doing this on-the-fly, but because being fairly technologically literate I know that typically whenever you reset a piece of technology, all the settings are then changed and since the "reboot" only took like 5 seconds it was clear they didn't check or input any new settings. Immediately after this I noticed that the laser hurt EASILY 5x more than what they had just done on the other side of my face. Scar #1 I could barely feel it, and Scar #2 it was literally almost unbearable. It is also important to note that both of these scars are on either side of my nose, so the skin/location is VERY similar. So we finish and I go home.
***THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART***:
After about 4 hours of letting the bandaids sit over the scars I decided to take a look and see what we were dealing with. Soooo - I take the bandaid of Scar #1 and think "Wow! I honestly think I can already see some improvement!" There was virtually no redness, some swelling and that was about it. Very similar to the first session result.
Then I go to take the bandaid of SCAR #2...........I was in shock. Literally I dont think i've been this distraught in a very, very long time. Not only was it very very red, but it was also black, dark brown, AND had some raw skin showing. It looked TERRIBLE. 10x worse than the mole that had been there before. So after trying to keep calm for the next few days I hoped for the best, but 4 days later it is STILL VERY VERY DARK in the middle of the scar. Its like a scab almost and still has a portion of raw skin exposed. Not only that, but the scar that was previously there has been widened and is even more red than before. ***Is it possible that she took off way to much skin and exposed the pigmentation left behind by the mole she removed in the first place?***
My concern is that she messed up during the procedure and either didn't have the settings correct to begin with OR they got changed when she "rebooted" the machine. I just dont understand how 2 very similar scars in nearly identical locations of the body can have such drastically different results UNLESS there has been a catastrophic error. The scar on the right side (scar #1) has no redness, swelling, anything... you literally cant even tell anything has been done to it.
Please help me understand what is going on, I don't think i've ever felt so hopeless in my life. I just pray that this black/brown/scab whatever it is will disappear but I have to be honest that at this point I really dont know what to expect.
Provider Review
Roberts