Pixel Laser Ruined my Life

Im very sorry that your going through this. Im glad that you are doing the research and actively addressing the issues. Please keep your head up and remain confident that this is going to pass. As much as it seems to be permanent truly its not. Its only temporary. A positive mind, eating healthy, and exercising will keep you on the right track. I know its not easy but your loved and the beauty inside shows. its going to start showing on the outside with alot of patience :) Sounds like your going for a more aggressive approach due to the mild results of the minocycline. let me know how the accutane goes. What are using externally on your skin?

Awww that is so sweet Tortuga. That really made me feel a little better. I cope with things by being a little delusional and acting like ppl don't see the damage, indoors anyway but sometimes I catch ppl staring and that hurts because it's very obvious they see it. I stay out of mirrors also. It's a good way to avoid heartbreak at any given moment. I currently use a natural argon oil and acai (sp?) Honey face wash and organic sunscreen and that's pretty much it. It's funny because prior to this I was a makeup artist and LOVED getting made up everyday. It was part of who I was and that is no longer. I am interested in dermarolling too but I am scared of it. I am also scared of accutane but feel I have very limited options and it seems to have worked miracles for two other ppl. I would be a guinea pig and see if it works for me too. I really hope a lower dose is a little safer believe me! Thank u everyone for all of ur kind comments and advice. I really appreciate it.

I would just like to remind you that when u take accutane you must not do any dermarolling or ANYTHING else to your skin during and for 6 months afterward. Your skin will react entirely differently and you may scar even more. Accutane is a committment to do no other modalities for about a year all together. Having said that, accutane can shrink your pores dramatically, as I have experienced, and can give a much smoother appearance but as u said, it will not change your scars. And PLEEEEESE use birth control as the effects on the unborn are horrendous. Best of luck whatever u choose.

Thank u. I was planning on waiting for at least a year post accutane to do anything just to be safe but it's good to know i have a few options such as fillers and dermarolling to try to address some of the deeper scars the laser has left me with. I wanted to ask about your accutane experiance as well. My derm tells me accutane wont address large pores but I have had ppl tell me it does. Did u find this to be perm? Did the overall texture of ur skin change for the better? What dose were u on and how long did u take accutane? Thank u in advance for all my questions. I have a ton right now.

I started out on 40mg but then it was reduced because my liver enzymes became elevated. This is one reason why they check your blood. My experience was a very positive one. Yes, it did shrink my pores and i will tell u why the doctors may say differently. Technically the pores are not changing in size BUT once all the sebum is drained out of them they go back to their normal size instead of being like a green olive with a pimento in it, if u know what I mean! My skin became MUCH smoother and in places where my skin was already good, the skin looked perfect. I have a good feeling about your results also for a couple of reasons. 1) u had good skin originally as I did 2) I think u said you had comedones and they will shrink right up as soon as the sebum dries up I think u have a very good chance of being happy with your skin again. My results lasted several years and then I went on it again not so much becuz I needed it as I wanted that perfect look again. You will get VERY DRY inside your nose and your lips but really? who cares when u r getting better skin...that is something u can live with. What u cannot live with is a deformed baby so AGAIN I cannot say enough about using birth control(more than one form is better) and WAITING even after u stop taking the accutane for another year before trying. If u cannot tell yet I am in the medical field. Pls let me know how u do. I care.

Yeah my derm said the skin will appear much smoother and the pores will seem smaller but once u stop taking it it will go back. So for you this seemed to be true as well? Did u have laser damage as well? I ask because u mentioned u once had good skin. I am also in the medical field! Thank u so much for your advice. It helps a lot.

I had perfect skin until I was in my twenties. Then I started to break out from stress. I know now that if I had left my skin alone it would have healed and gone back to it's normal state of being as my mother still has beautiful skin at 85 years old. But I am a picker and a perfectionist and I look in magnifying mirrors and I seek medical modalities. If a new laser procedure came out I was the first on line. I have had countless laser procedures for scarring and acne. I never got a result as u r describing as much as I received no result at all but I believe I have weakened the structure of my skin, not to mention exhausting it. If I knew how to I would post a picture. lol Again, I think u will be happy with the Accutane results. Everyone is different. I know people who never needed accutane after the first time and I know people who go on it over and over again. Let me know when u start and what mg he/she gives you.

I was breastfeeding and have a hx of an autoimmune disease....which I know now are contraindications for laser. I am one of the lucky ones who experienced devastating side effects....Most of which were never mentioned to me whether it be in an 'informed consent' or otherwise. It truly is illegal. Anywho I won't get started on that again. The derm I saw is letting me start at 10mg and I plan on keeping close to that dose for a longer amount of time. Thanks u for all of ur input and I will most def keep everyone updated on my results.

Just curious LMS0822...what blog did u read and find the info that accutane has helped people after laser mishaps?

I found it here first but didn't take it seriously and then again from someone else on the ipl and laser damage forum. Sad sad place. It's helped me so much.

I don't want to accept it. It just makes me really sad.

I do enjoy my kids but this has changed my life so so much. I am nowhere close to the person I used to be and the only way I can make it thru each day is imagining that it will get better. But it hurts every single day.

I understand, and IT WILL GET BETTER. The skin does heal and by reaching out to people you will find some solutions that help and eventually you will feel better. It just takes time. A few other things I've used are a dermaroller, facials and 20% glycolic acid peel pads. Here's my story, before I started any of this I was very good looking, had a great and fairly lucrative career in front of people, and a belly laugh that could be heard blocks away. I was also a perfectionist. Over the course of about 4.5 years I've spent about $50,000 - first trying to improve what was already close to perfect - then trying to fix all the damage that was done. I wanted fixes so badly that I went from one fire to the next. In the meantime, I started to completely lose myself. I ruined my career. I lost friends. I lost me. To this day, it's been a challenge to rebuild. I lost a lot of confidence that I needed to be successful at what I do because I couldn't leave my house for two years - except to go to doctor appointments. I still shy away from meeting new people - where I used to thrive on it. I'd talk to anyone. I look a LOT BETTER then I did during my darkest phases. But, I miss "her" everyday. I'm not the same person. Some days I'm fully functioning and back on my game and there are many other days, when I still don't recognize my inside or my outside being. (BTW: the skin was distressing in itself, the FT altered the shape of my face which can cause what I call identity crisis post procedure.) So, if I could reverse time, I would have done everything I could to protect my soul from slowly dying throughout this disaster. I wouldn't have rushed into some of the alluring and expensive quick fixes advertised. I would have been a little more patient with some less invasive things - and I wouldn't have been so hard on myself. But that's me. Everyone has to find their own way and this site it part of the process. And to your point, there were a couple years when hope was the only thing that kept me alive. Good luck LMSO822. You will find a solution.

I can totally relate to your story Good face. I know a lot of us can. Thank You for giving us hope.

Having read this thread more closely, I'm really happy to see the comments and the abundance of support - lots of advocates for less invasive approaches. When you are in the throws of the heartbreak, you'll try almost anything. Looking back - time is one of the best tools - and it's brutal to wait this out as you try to cope with the distress. I also do believe that this kind of trauma has such psychological impact that it creates a form of BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). Again, if it's post- procedure, I think it could be identity crisis - where it's a shock to to see the unfamiliar reflection and the brain can't adjust. Whatever you call it, everything seems even more magnified, compounded by regret and a more obsessive preoccupation. All very understandable ramifications. I seriously thought people were staring at me from blocks away - looking at sagging under eyes or the side of my face with the hypo-pigmented pock marks. I wore my hair like Cousin Itt from the Addams family to hide most of my face - which made me look weirder! (I wasn't the fun person people used to love to hang out with. I was kind of nuts!) I've met people on this site in person and together we went through all the waves of hope for fixes - looking forward to every magical doctor visit. Sometimes we walked away happier and sometimes more depressed depending on the answer. It was a roller-coaster. I've watched some get 80-90% correction and have accepted that this is as good as it gets. I'm met some who have had less correction and have spent YEARS continuing to hide with the hopes of looking exactly the way they looked before. At the end of the day, each of us has to make the best decision for ourselves. . . but if you let the sadness continue to eat you - years pass faster than you can even imagine.

Well said Good Face Gone Bad! I had a bad tattoo and I went through 9 laser treatments to remove it and get a cover up - I will never forget the horrible feeling of regret and how it changed my life at the time, looking back I made it seem worse by - as you said "magnified, compounded by regret and a more obsessive preoccupation." I thought I looked horrible and that everyone would think it was ugly, but in reality people really don't care for the most part. I remember the day that I finally had enough - and I wrote this post: 

DOCUMENTING MY TATTOO REMOVAL USING THE ALEX TRI VANTAGE - TORONTO, ON

I did it!

• 3 Aug 2013
• 10 months post

I finally did it, I have been hiding behind T-shirts and high neck tops, being careful to not allow my "tattoo" to show, well today I went to the beach, it was the most beautiful day, I found myself the perfect spot to relax and do some yoga, meditate and read. As I sat there watching the people walk by with their skin bare on display, I felt so envious, and wished I could do that. It was hot, and I had my T-shirt with a rather strappy sports bra under, I thought...enough, what am I so afraid of?! So I got brave and off my top went, and along with my top a rush of relief and all the fear I had built up inside just flowed out of me, it was so liberating. The warmth of the sun on my skin just made me melt inside...... Some thoughts that I had today while I soothed my soul under the sun that I would like to share with you all is...It's really amazing how one poor decision can really shake one's world and in particular, their confidence. It's crazy how much focus we put into our appearance, what people "will think of us" and as I lay there today with the feeling that conquered my biggest enemy, my tattoo, I question why is what we look like so important? and even more I question, why do we care?!! Are we hiding from others, and what they will think of us, are we hiding from ourselves because we made a mistake? What exactly are we hiding from? There are people walking around with burn scars, acne scars all over their back and face, over weight, under weight, too short, too tall...when is this all going to stop!! When will people just accept people for who they are, not what they look like! To all of you that feel you "ruined your body because of your tattoo" I say you added to your character, and are true to who you are and not afraid to be that person. So what, your tattoo didn't turn out the way you had hoped, but nothing in life does...so hang in there, stay strong and be good to yourself, and rather than focusing on the outside, what people can see, focus on your inside, your mind, what makes you happy, not what satisfies others.

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Thank you so much for supporting others in the community Good Face Gone Bad :)

I'm really surprised this stuff is allowed to continue. Knowing what I know now and seeing what can go wrong after just one laser procedure I personally could never do laser procedures on anyone else's face. I don't know how these people sleep at night. I swear just before I had the procedure done the girl who was prepping me for the laser was looking at me like she wanted to say something. It was like a concerned look. But she didn't say it and I wish she did. I know I would have.

As long as greed, ego and demand exists - so will these products. The theory behind some is spot on. The practice has way too many variables that only remain disclosed to the consumer at a high level. For some (particularly those in the tested control groups) - the product works, for many others - no results or damage. Technicians vary, skin type, fat layer, age, healing, health etc. - all variables. But marketing appeals to our dreams and the money for the providers appeals to their pockets. Keep in mind - once they buy a machine - they want to get a return on investment - regardless of discovered outcomes. Kick-backs and relationships are probably also involved when it comes to some of the crap providers put out there. They are pretty much protected when you sign that form. I'm not even sure how much regulation goes on with these machines. Again - more theory when presented than practical and real-life application. The govit has bigger things to worry about than cosmetic procedure disasters :(.

Good face gone bad, you are very eloquent and I hope people read what u r saying and listen to your precautions. I too have had a lot of success with dermarolling (takes time to see results) and peels. I too have hidden behind my hair, I call it my Linus blanket, even tho people tell me all the time that they don't see what I am hiding. Can u post a picture? Perhaps, at this point u suffer from body dysmorphic syndrome. I know now that I do to some extent. We tend to focus directly at the imperfections, not seeing the whole picture as outsiders do. Also, if you can visit, owndoc.com and skinbiology.com. I have had success with copper peptides.Also, please remember that EVERYTHING is comprised of energy, even thoughts and words and like energies attract so try to push the negative thoughts out of your mind as they will attract more negative results. Best of luck.

Have you tried, chemical peels/derma rolling/retin-a...etc to help minimize this?

Not sure if this question is for me or LMS0822. I have done Jessners, TCA glycolic peels, derma rolling and retinA - All with some success over the years and I've learned not to do then all together! It takes time and patience. Beware of solutions with the promise of overnight miracles. They could also be overnight disasters.

Hi Derrick. Not sure if this comment was intended for me either? I have not tried dermarolling or peels or anything of that nature because my skin cannot even handle being washed some days. It turns bright red and irritated. It's far too fragile and with what the laser has down to it it doesn't react like MY skin once did. I have also learned to be very cautious. I am waiting it out and trying different gentle products. I was also getting ready to start accutane for the acne I now have. I have read some interesting things about accutane.

This post is so inspirational. Just wondering if you saw your damage improve over time? I want to run out and get another procedure but I know in my heart that I need to just give it time as hard as that may be.

Hi. Sorry I've been meaning to update but have been going thru some other health problems latley and haven't been very motivated. I've been doing better. Maybe getting used to the damage, maybe focusing on my other problems more. I had a fat graft and was really happy for awhile but I am not really sure how it will turn out. I did it to restore the volume and for the stem cells. It helped with the volume lost in the upper perorbital area but did very little for the sagging in the lower part of my face. My lips continue to hypopigment almost a year later. Will have to wait it out a bit longer and then plan my next step. Sadly I started losing my hair a few months ago so it's all been kinda downhill from the laser and I have come to terms with the fact that I may need a facelift and will never ever be even close to what I used to. Feeling a bit down today. Sorry I don't have any good news at the moment.

LMS0822...sorry to hear about your current problems. I thought u were going to go on Accutane...did u ever start it? May I ask what state you r in? I recently found the most wonderful doctor who has done wonders for me. He is in the New York area.

Is the hair related to illness or stress? I have a lot of hair and went through periods where I would lose it due to stress throughout all this. In fact, I was dealing with a lot if health issues for a couple years that turned out to be stress related. I used rogaine for the hair and it's back to being thick again without it. I'm relieved that at least you weren't left disfigured by the fat transfer. It wasn't that long ago so you are fortunate the healing had been relatively quick. Good luck with everything! You are so strong.

Expressthanks, what is your dr doing for you? I have thought about maybe a neuropath. Maybe healing from the inside is a better route. The more things I try the worst it gets so that is my current thought anyway.

never4get, I went to a neuropath for several years. I believe in them, if they are good for helping with good health but u must be able to afford their fees and their remedies which are very costly.Everything is out of pocket. Pills and elixirs cost me thousands and ultimately I felt the results were not worth the expense.

expressthanks, thanks much for your input. I never thought about the price of all the supplements. The woman I had researched cost $250 for the initial visit and $150 thereafter. I can see where all of this can add up to big money. Nothing is easy, (or cheap) in this search for help. Thanks again.

I had some hair thinning, too. I do think it is the laser damage.

Me too Janey. I try to have hope that this isnt my forever but I feel like that's being a little delusional :(

Only time will tell! It's unfortunate life is passing us by while we wait.

How long ago has it been Chris?

Hey its been just over 1 year now

Hi Chris. Please don't think about suicide and let urself get too depressed. I completely know how you feel and think about this all the time but our lives are still worth living and there are things we can still enjoy! Did you get fatloss from this? There are things we can do to try to resolve this. I doubt we will ever be back to what we were but some ppl get pretty close. We can try to wait and heal, some ppls texture improves over time. We can get fatgrafts, try fillers, use retin a, do chemical peels dermarolling etc etc. Some people are trying accutane after one person with fraxel damage fixed their skin from it...but you have to be careful with accutane! There are things to try but they all come with a risk and it sucks we are in this situation but please don't think we have to throw out lives away! I'm sorry u are going thru this too but we can have hope. That's all that keeps me going.

Good luck!

:-) best of luck with that :-)

Its been a week since my last post. I've done even more research on skin and products. The Clenziderm Pore Therapy that I bought to resolve the issue of large pores arrived in the mail. I have been using it for 3 days. I'm going to wait on treating the melasma because I don't want to combine the products and possibly cause more severe damage. At this time the results are good. My skin is soft, dewy, pores look tighter and cleaner. My routine has been to wash my face twice a day, morning and night with hand-milled soap I ordered online from an out of state honey farm. The soap is inexpensive, smells lovely and lathers nicely. Its made of soybean oil, coconut oil, palm oil, castor oil, spring water, sodium hydroxide, fragrance oil, beeswax, honey. I lather the soap on a fresh/clean wash cloth and proceed to wipe in upward circular strokes to exfoliate. This helps to sluff off dead skin cells. Next I pat my face dry with a clean towel. Then I wait a couple minutes to air dry because I noticed more sensativity to the pore therapy when my face is damp. I apply some pore therapy to a cotton ball. I dont soak the cotton ball just a moderate amount. I swipe it all over once and then drip a few more drops on the cotton ball and press it on the most poress areas. For me that is my nose and middle part of chin. My face tingles for a few minutes afterwards due to the menthol in the product. I fan my face and it feels refreshing! I have sensitive, combination skin, and have not had a breakout of any kind. Guess what? I am going without wearing cover up make up! Just some mascara and lip gloss. Yesterday I found it beneficial to use the pore therapy on my T zone during the middle of the day. Its very hot this time of year where I live and I feel it helped control oil.

Thanks you guys. Ur very sweet. I do enjoy my little guy. He is the one thing that has brought me a lot of joy since this happened. I do thank god everyday for him and his health...but it is still an awful experiance to be dealing with this and I know I would have enjoyed my son's infancy a lot more had I not been in such a deep depression. The only thing that helps me feel better these days is having hope that I can improve my damage with things like fillers accutane and recell. I will be heartbroken if I cant. Thanks again everyone.

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That's good stuff about her baby express thanks. I agree she's very pretty and her skin does not look that bad in pictures. I sympathize however because I know how painful and consuming watching your skin deteriorate on a rapid basis can be. I used to be a "normal" looking girl. Not pretty, I have a funny nose. I had what I thought was bad skin. Now I have to brace myself before I look in the mirror. I'm sure she's a great mom and is living the hell out of her little baby!

Loving*

Yes I agree Janey...and I am not unsympathetic. I have lived her life and speak from experience, it's just that I am much older so I am speaking from my experience from the perspective of looking back. I still suffer and I continue to pursue skin improvement tools. I have the money at my age to do whatever I want in terms of plastic surgery, lasers, home remedies and I have found that in MANY cases these so called laser miracles only make u worse. skin biology.com has information about WHY lasers do damage if interested. My biggest regret is not having fully embraced all the activities I could have enjoyed with my children because I didn't want people to see my skin. To this day I still have tactics engrained in me to hide...still have long hair, pick seat in restaurant according to lighting etc. I have always envied people who have less than great skin and pull their hair back, face to the sun and just LIVE! Also, one last piece of advice. Mineral Makeup with a sponge not a brush like they all come with. Press it into skin and then put something like Clinique's transparencey powder to match your mineral makeup. People tell me I have beautiful skin and I just laugh to myself because it is all an illusion. I use SHEER COVER and Clinique but Sheer Cover is in the process of changing their product and I don't find the coverage as good as b4. Go for a high coverage mineral make up, add a light weight pwder and then your blush etc. Good luck to all of you. Keeping u all in my prayers.

I have to agree with expressthanks on the subject of Dermarolling. If its used properly it works. Take into consideration a smaller size needle needed for facial tissue. No longer than 0.5 mm. Used as a treatment once a week is best. The product applied to your face afterwards will absorb deep into your skin. Many people recommend using Obagi skin care products for acne, discoloration, anti-aging, etc. You can watch You tube videos online. Brianna Stanko talks about and demonstrates how she uses the derma roller on her face. also you can check out make up alley for reviews on the dermaroller.

My baby is My iPad has some keyed issues

Here we go. Another Laser tech chiming in. Look lady, lasers definately can do damage. So be careful when you point a laser beam at someone's face. Or your own face. Quit defending lasers and have a little compassion.

No "we" can't. I don't owe you or anyone else a thing. Okay? So please see ur way off of my review with your berating. I just had a hard day because after a fat graft (at 28 years old mind you!) I still need a facelift because my cheeks sag like a pound puppy. I've had my plastic surgeon gawk at my comparison pictures and I sure as hell don't need my whole face plastered all over the Internet. I don't owe you a comparison picture or anything else. This has been the worst thing that has ever happened to me and my health continues decline so I don't have time to worry about proving naysayers wrong. You should have a little compassion and be glad this didn't happen to you. Think about your face and how much you like seeing your reflection and then think of how devastated you would be if that was completely taken from you and you hated what you saw in the mirror every single day of your life. I posted this review as an attempt to warn people about what these devices can do and if you choose not to head that warning be my guest and get all the lasers you want. I hope you do!

LMS, I am so grateful you put yourself out there and took the time and effort to warn others considering the procedure. I first hand how you feel when you look in the mirror. It is so difficult when it all happens so suddenly, unlike normal aging, and it is still a shock to see my reflection. my heart sinks every time. You are a lovely brave girl and you have done a great service here. Please continue to post your progress.

I echo what LMS has said. Thank you for being brave enough to warn others. I have no doubt that your postings have saved people from going forward and risking what u have endured. It is true many people do not get consequences but in fact most people waste their money and get no results at all... so either way...buyer beware...please keep posting and hopefully we can offer you support in return when u r feeling down.

Thank u both. The support from others that have gone thru this has really helped me so much. I don't know where I would be without that support. No one understands this burden we have been given. It has truly ruined my entire life and for people to question and judge my review, that is laughable. Why would I have scarring all on one side of my face? Isn't it clear that from both the before and after pictures u can see the texture of my skin next to my nose has completely changed. The before picture I posted was actually to judge results from latisse. I didn't really sit around and take pictures up close of my skin because I DIDNT need to! It was normal skin to me. Normal skin that I had no idea could change so dramatically into a scarred porous saggy mess. The sagging I showwd around my mouth and lips does not happen to a 27 year old girl. That should be clear. I don't wish to spend any more time or energy focusing on posting comparison pictures because believe me, this has taken so much from me already. Use spent countless hours, days, months searching for help, seeing doctors, traveling for hyperbarics treatments, consults fat grafts! It's robbed me of my life! People on here are really means spirited and I think we've dealt with that enough from the countless doctors that have called us liars. I will continue to post. I have a lengthy update to write about my fat transfer and what u plan on doing next. The fat was no miracle by any means but a tiny improvement. I hope I ladies all have a nice holiday and enjoy yourselves.

And thank you for ur support!

so sorry this happen to you so young. mine happen when I was 53 I was finally done raising kids and thought I would treat myself. It turned more into a trick than a treat. The doctor tricked me into thinking a little procedure would take all 7 of my scars away. that my skin would glow. That was almost 8 yrs ago. I've been living a nightmare ever since. I went for more lasers since they said that would fix my problems. I had fat loss, more scars around the old scars & so many new ones, broken blood vessels & red for months. I've tried everything I can think of & stopped lasers, just rolling now or using the pen. I too had fat transfer for the fat loss. But the worst part of all is the anxiety I have every minute of everyday. I shake when I wake up. I stopped sleeping from the stress, I get maybe 4 hrs tops with meds, Then I shake all day long. This is no life. And I hate to say it but I do wish this on him. Only because he acted like a God knowing it all & when I showed him my face he said I must have had the problems under the skin that he took off, I had erbium laser. I sat there and cried as he walked out of the office. He never ever tried to help even tho he said if anything went wrong he could take care of it. I know how hard it is, I get sick every morning when the sun is out or when I have to go anywhere. I became a hermit. If anyone says you cant get damage from a laser is an idiot, We are living proof. I would give a great review if nothing happen but it did & no one knows how we feel except us. The ones who say lasers are good were very lucky but I wouldn't push my luck if I was them. Thank you for writing and letting others know. I believe in telling others too and have been for the last 7 yrs. One thing I noticed as the years go by that more and more are having damage because a lot don't look things up til it's too late, and since I had it done I know of at least 3 doctors who no longer do lasers because of the poor results and that damage can happen. Keep us posted on how your doing and know you are not alone. We know how you feel, your not crazy & it's understandable to be depressed. we lost a part of us. But at least there are boards like this to be able to let a little out to others instead of keeping it in or feeling like your moaning to your spouse or family too much. I've been doing it for years & I know it took a toll on them too. They want to see us happy. So all we can do is try to help each other because the doctors aren't.

Are people allowed to post the name of the doctor's that did them wrong so that others do not go to them or is that against a rule that REALSELF has?

Sats - What an upsetting story. 8 years is a long time. So sorry you haven't gotten any relief. That unrelenting anxiety is brutal and can be so impacting on all aspects of your life. Interesting that your doctor said that the damage was caused by something else underneath the skin. Years before I experienced the damage I've mentioned on this site. . . I had a laser procedure done that was supposed to be pretty superficial. I ended up with what looked like a small hole in my skin. It wasn't just a pock mark - it was a hole. When you looked into it, you could see white at the base. The doctor told me that I must have had a scar that healed over and that she must have removed the top layer of skin - exposing it again. OMG! I was happier not knowing that there was scar underneath - at least you couldn't see it. What kind of bad plan was that? Unfortunately, nobody tells you those things going, do they?! Thanks for sharing your story and best of luck. Expressthanks - You can post the name of doctors who have done damage. It's a personal choice if people choose not to for their own reasons.

I did post the doctor who did this to me in my posts. It was in Tampa. I posted about him everywhere. I am so stressed out my body shakes so bad and trying to put eye makeup is the worst, I have to keep fixing it from being so shaky looking. I just wish I could get rid of my anxiety, I don't know if it damaged my nervous system so much that it's too late to fix. I wish us all a miracle.

Hi Sats. Sorry to hear about your anxiety. I have it too but it comes in spurts. Usually when I look too close in the mirror. I finally name dropped the person who did this to me on Yelp after 2 years. I just felt like if I didn't put it out there she would just continue lasering people. I was shocked at all the bad reviews of the place when I did it. It's a 1 star rating for the Dermatology office. There's about 8 reviews for them at the moment. Happy Holidays to all. I hope we all find peace.

I def wanted his name out. He promised the world to me then when things went bad he left me crying in his office. I got my money back after a year of sending e mails & telling them how much I have been shelling out. He never picked up a phone when I called but he finally told the nurse he would reimburse me when I said I was going to seek legal advice. I posted his name on Vitals and web md and every other site I could find. Now I give his name out if someone messages me since not all need to know what doctor sucks in Tampa. I later found out he had 6 suits against him on the Florida malpractices board. I wish I knew that then. So if anyone is in Tampa and wants to know who he is just message me. I did get a few asking & they told me they almost went to him too but were glad I let them know. I don't want anyone to live the life I am. Happy New Year to you too. Praying for us all I swear

No its not against the rule that I know of since I posted my doctors name, you can put it when they ask for the doctor and I also give his name out when people message me.

I'd stay WELL away from the fat grafts from now on unless you want to be left with clumps/rocks of internal scar tissue (and ultimately more sagging of the soft tissue). They will not help your situation with the scars - they are too superficial. Don't pay attention to any doctor who talks about "stem cells" repairing the laser damage - this is snake oil. I suspect some doctors may be taking advantage of laser damage patients by endorsing their concerns in order to sell them on fat grafts. The small parcels in which the fat is deposited causes a lot of internal scar tissue and fibrosis due to the repeated cannula insertions. If you want to do fillers, stick with something safe like Voluma.

Perhaps it is a crap shoot, much of how lasers are but I know several women who have had excellent results from the fat grafting, even by the hollows of the eyes which is such thin fragile skin. Perhaps the skill of the dr or physiology of the patient. Don't know.

Yes, some people do OK with them, and skill does come into it. However - I have spoken to several women who had successful fat grafting which looked fine for many years, until they started to get problems with sagging, overgrowth and migration (any doctor who says fat doesn't migrate is gravely misinformed). In one woman's case, this caused eyelid retraction and she required eye surgery to fix it. I know of some people who've had face lifts in their 20s to rid of it. Another lady had an upper bleph to fix droopy upper lids, partially due to fat placed many years earlier. I know of a doctor in Europe who says that even if the fat is injected perfectly and symmetrically, which in his opinion is nigh impossible to do, the patient usually ends up needing a major soft tissue revision within 10 years due to the weight and eventual expansion of the skin envelope containing it. The fat itself will also 'age' and become sloppy looking. So, if the grafts look good now, that's great - but there's a much higher potential to be left with a ticking time bomb if a permanent filler is used in the face, and a handful of doctors in the medical community have started to wake up to the long term effects of fat. Many don't even do it any more. Laser issues are devastating but bad permanent fillers can grossly distort the face from a mile off as well as destroy the skin. I will repeat the fact that I feel that some of these doctors are capitalising off damaged laser patients and fat grafting always gives them a nice return.