24 Year-old with a History of Acne and Moderate Acne Scarring - Richmond, VA

I will be having the first of several CO2 laser treatments this Friday with Dr. Travis Shaw of the Stony Point Surgery Center.

I've suffered from acne since I was just 8 years old. For years I visited a rather mediocre dermatologist who was unable to diagnose the cause of my problem and as I grew older the acne only worsened. By the time I was in college, I was deep in the throes of cystic acne and beginning to get scars.

It wasn't until this fall that I visited Dr. Hayri Sangiray of the Dermatology Center of Richmond, and I only wish I had done so sooner - turns out that my acne was caused by a hormonal imbalance, and after ~6 weeks of Spirolactone, my acne is basically cured!

However, I'm still deeply unhappy with my acne scars. I have both boxcar and rolling scars. I've tried to treat them with multiple Cynosure laser treatments at a local medspa, but it was to no avail.

Dr. Travis Shaw came highly recommended to me by Dr. Sangiray, so I had a consultation with him ~2 months ago and scheduled a treatment for 12/19/2014. I have the fortune to be able to work from home for my job, so the downtime for this won't be too inconvenient for me. I just hope this treatment works.

I plan on keeping this page updated with daily updates for the first week, followed by bi-weekly updates for a couple of montsh. After that, I'll update it sporadically if I notice any new changes or after I repeat this treatment.

Here are some more recent pictures of my acne scarring. Now that my acne is mostly cleared up, the scars don't look quite as severe but are still in need of improvement.

It's been 4 hours since I finished my CO2 treatment, and overall I feel pretty good!

I arrived for my 1pm appointment at 12:15 to make sure I came in early enough for the numbing cream to take effect. My mom opted to be my driver for this visit , since I'd be too drugged up to drive myself home. Before we started the procedure, I had to fill out a waiver that just clarified what to expect, how the procedure works and potential side effects.

After that, they brought both my mom and myself to the procedure room. The nurse removed my makeup for me and applied a numbing cream, as well as some strips of saran wrap to help the cream soak in more fully. She also gave me 2 Percocet pills and a bit of Valium.

She then went over my post-care instructions, which they also sent home with me. I opted to buy their post care kit, which totaled $120. Then she rubbed off my numbing cream.

The procedure itself was fairly short, and there were 3 phases of the laser treatment. I couldn't tell you exactly what each phase was for or recall it very well, as I was a bit loopy on the Percocet, but my mom described it as this:

* The first stage was much like my laser medspa experience - bursts of lasers on my problem area (cheeks).
* The second phase was were it felt he was burning the surface of my problem skin.
* After that, the nurse was instructed to wipe down my face. Then he did the second stage again.

And just like that, I was done! They gave me some ice bags to hold on my cheeks and applied Aquaphor to my skin to moisturize it. I was then instructed not to wash my face for 24 hours, but then after that I'd have to alternate between vinegar soaks and my moisturizing kit.

They sent me home with nice, very detailed instructions about what to expect and what to do as my recovery progresses. I didn't notice until this packet of instructions that I won't be able to strenuous exercise for 1 week or do heavy lifts for 3(!!) , which stinks but I'll deal. I'll have to call and see if I can do bodyweight stuff after 1 week is okay.

They also sent me home with a 4% hydroquinone prescription, my post-care kit ("Eau Thermale Avene") and Regenica. I was told where to get Aquaphor, though Vaseline was acceptable too.

Immediately after the treatment, I felt no pain, just a little heat on my face. The biggest side effect so far was the nausea caused by the Percocet. Next time, I definitely need to ask for only one pill.

In the following couple of hours after the treatment, my nausea worsened and my face began feeling much hotter, but not painfully so. It was very much like a sunburn. The nausea became the worst part of the procedure, and I ended up sleeping away the next couple of hours since I couldn't sit up without feeling sick to my stomach.

Now, 4 hours later and after a lot of Ginger Ale, Peptobismol, and a peanut butter sandwich, my nausea has subsided and I feel good enough to drive again. The sunburnt feeling is also completely gone at this point.

So far, so good! I'm actually glad Dr. Shaw only treated my cheeks and not my entire face like I was expecting, as I don't yet have a problem with wrinkles and I'd probably be a lot more miserable if my whole face felt like it had a horrible burn/was covered in Aquaphor.