HALO & BBL Review on Melasma. Do not try it!

I had this laser combo 3 years ago this month. October 2015. My skin looks better, but still WORSE than before the treatment. Do not do this if you have melasma. I still have post inflammatory hyperpigmentation on the majority of my face. I’ve stopped doing anything at medical spas and have done noninvasive treatments only for the last 18 months. I’ve seen more improvement in this time than when I was in the care of the medical spa and medical director of the spa.

A few months before my 40th birthday, I decided to go to Synergy Spa in Raleigh NC for a consultation to help with my melasma. I had very small sections of melasma under each eye. I am an esthetician and I had tried everything within my scope (peels, microdermabrasion, excellent products) and though I had decreased it, I could not eliminate these last two sections. Since my birthday was coming, I decided to treat myself and see what the nurses at Synergy would say. After an hour long conversation, she convinced me trying the HALO laser would "be my jam" and get my skin where I wanted it to be. So, I decided to do it!! I chose to wait until fall because my skin tans very easily and we travel to the beach in late summer every year. Synergy was running a promotion on HALO at the time of my appointment and offered the BBL laser in addition to the HALO. My nurse chose to perform both laser treatments on my skin. It was intense and extremely uncomfortable for the first 24 hours. I looked like I suffered from massive burns on my face and it was like this for a solid week. I had no choice but to go to work, as I was not prepared for so much downtime (it's MUCH worse than advertised!!). And I teach dance a few nights a week, which usually involves raising my body temperature and some sweating (the nurse was not concerned about this since she also taught fitness classes and she herself had no issues teaching her classes while she was recovered from her own laser experience). Once the crusting and scabbing was healed, my skin looked amazing!! Very pink under my eyes, but clear!!! Only that was very, very temporary. About 3 weeks post treatment, my skin went crazy. Hyperpigmentation EVERYWHERE!!! All over my entire face, places I never had the melasma. I also had orange peel skin on the areas under my eyes where she went strongest/deepest with the lasers. And pitted, uneven textural issues on my forehead. Synergy has made a few attempts to correct it. A Peel, a dermaplane, some Triluma. They also did refund my money. Their medical director did three additional HALO lasers (alone) to attempt to help my skin. None of this has helped. After 18 months of trying, I have given up. The facility has the worst customer service I have ever experienced. And their therapists and nurses are clearly unskilled. I have seen three other doctors and two other medical estheticians, at different offices, to ask for help. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM could not believe that the nurse used BBL on my skin. In fact, the Dr. affiliated with Synergy could not believe she used BBL on my skin. His exact words were "I don't know what she was thinking". So, I am left with severely damaged skin. Please, please do not laser your skin if you have melasma. Apparently I "woke a sleeping monster" by listening to this nurse at Synergy Spa in Raleigh NC. It's been the worst decision of my life and all I can do now is share my story.