Extremely Painful with No Result

5 months post op and the results are in...my skin on my chest is worse than it was before. I still have all the same lines and creases, but now I also have hyperpigmentation and my skin is so sensitive to touch, light and temperature I am always have various shades of blotchy pink spots. I have been using lightening creams to try to blend it and even it out, but have not noticed any difference. The skin on my face is fine. But the purpose of the treatment was not to treat the skin on my face, it was primarily for my chest. The only reason I did my face is that I thought it was going to be a very light touch up. I did go to another Dr. For a consultation and he said that he would have never used the laser on my chest as it is ineffective....

Absolutely horrible experience. I think that had I been prepared for what I was embarking on, I would not have such a harsh review. I am 35 years old and decided to get this procedure done because I don't like that my skin folds under my eyes when I smile and I have cleavage lines developing on my chest. I got about a 5 minute consultation with my Dr. and one page After-care document. It said that I would look like I had a sunburn for three days and then would be able to wear makeup. I was not prescribed any pain medicine or antibiotics prior to the procedure, and boy do I wish I had been. The nurse applied litocaine to my face and let it sit for an hour before starting. When they started it was agonizing. It felt like hot needles digging in to my face and I could smell my skin burning. My chest area was even worse. The procedure took about 30 minutes and upon leaving I looked in the mirror and realized there was no way I would be able to go out in public for days (which I was not told until the Dr. did half of my face). Driving home was agonizing, my face was throbbing and there was bloody track marks appearing. After 3 days my skin looked terrible, I emailed the Dr pictures and stated how concerned I was. He called me and assured me this was normal (although his instructions did not say this at all), by the third night I was losing my mind. My chest felt like there were fire ants crawling under my skin. It lasted from about 5:30 at night until 3:00 am when the 4 Benadryl I took finally knocked me out. By the 6th day the skin started to peel off and by the 7th I could wear some makeup. I am now 3 weeks out and see no benefit. The lines in my chest are still there as bad as they were before and the skin under my eyes has not tightened at all. The only thing I see different now is that I am still very pink, you can still see track marks on my face and my chest has a huge spot of hyperpigmentation. I had my follow up appointment and my Dr. said all was normal, so I went to a second Dr for another opinion. He agreed I am healing fine, but said that I should have had strict after-care instructions and would have had me take care of this in a different way and said I should have been prescribed pain meds and antibiotics. He also said that he does not believe that the Fractional Laser is effective and would have recommended a regular laser (although that sounds even more painful) for my face. He also said that even the non-fractional laser would not treat the lines on my chest and that never should have been performed on me.
My recommendation, if you do decide to do this procedure go into it knowing you need pain meds for the procedure and for the days following and you should have antibiotics. Also know that you will look like someone dragged a fork repeatedly over you skin - you will not be able to go in public for at least a week and (according to my second dr) the full healing process takes about 6 months.