Dermabrasion Reviews

Had dermabrasion twice over twenty years ago. It's expensive, hurts and there is a down time of at least two weeks each time you do it while your bloody face scabs over and heals. It makes your face softer but no help on the ice picks and still left with rolling depressions. I'd guess maybe 10-20% improvement. I gave up over the years and just lived what what I had. Now with new procedures, I'm currently starting subcission and Frexal laser which I've seen (before and after) pictures of and seems to be a suitable replacement for dermabrasion. Not that I wanted to have dermabrasion again but through the years I asked about it and there were many dermatologists who didn't want to risk trying a third one. Guess maybe the upper dermis is too thin. The sad thing is that when you're young you think that it can't get any worse and then as you age and everything else starts looking crummy also, it looks worse including now getting those little hard white spots that have to be fried off (hyperplasia). The only good news was that a dermatoligist once told me that with the oily skin I would have not have age lines and he was at least correct there. Hope springs eternal and on the outside chance that there will be some improvement I'm starting on a latest round, which will set me back thousands of dollars. I'll let you know if it is worth it.

I had a Dermabrasion back in 1979 for my scars with a great Dr. I don't know if he's still around but his name was Dr Alt. He was in SLP MN. He was the only one around who knew what he was doing, and highly recommended. He took before and after photos of me. The surgery didn't remove all deep scars but it improved it by at least 50%. It made my skin so soft and smooth to the touch. It was great. All discoloring from the old acne was gone. I couln't believe it. I was thrilled. I was still getting Acne, but it slowed it down, then came Accutane, around 1982?? another great product. I would of had another Dermabrasion but it is a lot more expensive today. He told me, everytime you have one it improves it up to 50%. If I would of had more it would of helped even more. I also have had jessner peels, dermapeels and etc... but nothing was as good as that Dermabrasion. Down time was a bummer, I had to constantly keep my face moist with a solution of water and boric acid for about 10 days until the new skin came in. I loved the results and would do it again if I had the $$$, but only with a Dr. who knew what he was doing, preferably with one who has worked with Dr Alt.. Remember, beauty is only skin deep. It's who you are inside is what really matters. It didn't slow me down after high school. I had acne since 3rd grade. Everyone has something they hate about themselves, and they think it's the worst thing ever.. It could be worse, you could have health issues or something that affects your quality of life. Look for your strongest traits and focus on them. You'll be much happier

I am a veteran of all of these treatments. I never had deep scarring but they were noticeable enough on my cheeks and like everyone else I want perfectly smooth skin. I've done the C02 laser. I was not prepared for the downtime and recovery that came afterwards. My Doctor put me in so many bandages that I looked like a burn victim. I remember thinking that life could not get much worse than this. So after months of redness it probably made my skin 40% smoother. All in all I was pretty happy b/c I could look in a mirror (even in bad lighting) and see fairly smooth skin. But over time (as I hit my early thirties) my smoothness seemed to go away. I think it's just the skin agining, so scars that went away kind of look more noticeable again. So I have done micro-derm plus a glycolic peel. I have probably done it a total of 8 times. The bottom line is I would do that treatment once a month for the rest of my life if it didn't cost so much. My skin looks a little raw right after, but by the next day it looks as fresh and smooth as it's going to look. I found a pretty good person to do it. I think it does make a difference. It does hurt a little bit too. If I thought there was a one time way to completely smooth out my skin, I would do it. But it's a lifetime effort. If you have rough skin, you will always be working on making it smoother.

I spend sleepless nights researching the web about what doctors are doing about "craters" and hyperpigmentations. Most before and after pictures are taken from white patients and the results seem encouraging, though there aren't very many, if any, pictures for patients treated for "craters". I'm asian with dark to olive complexion and scar very easily. I have tried a back to back dermabrasion and laser treatment (summer '05).

The first week I went in for dermabrasion and although my face felt cleaner, the "craters" still looked as deep as it did before the treatment. The following week I went in for the laser treatment. It was painful, but my coworkers and friends saw an immediate change. I have dark to olive skin, so the laser treatment put a "rosier" colour to my face. I think that's what they were referring to because a few days later they said the craters still looked the same. I did this for 7 weeks, back to back and I was told by the doctor that because my skin can't take a deeper dermabrasion and higher laser treatment than 25 (white skin can go up to 65), I would have to come back for atleast 6 more treatments. By the way, when I started the laser treatment, the initial heat was at 5 and went up to 30 by the third treatment. When it was at 30 it burnt my skin so we had to turn it down.

I'm asian and I'm only 24 years old, so when people say I look like I'm 30 I know it's because of the craters and hyperpigmentation on my face. People say I look older than my almost 50 mom who has a great complexion with very little wrinkles! I hate taking pictures, not just because of the acne and the scars, but because my insecurity shows!

I'm currently using Proactive which is helping with the acne and a cream called Stri-vectin. They say it works with wrinkles and stretch marks so I figured it could do the same for the craters. I have been using it nightly with Proactive for two months and so far I have seen better results compared to the results I got from dermabrasion and laser. Proactive definitely works! They also have a cream to lighten hyperpigmentation. I have not tried that yet because I thought Stri-vectin should be enough. If you're trying Stri-vectin for the same purpose let me know if it's working for you.

I had SPOT DERMABRASION done on my ice pick scars combined with CO2 LASER RESURFACING done to my entire face. I was super excited when I got my bandages off (4 days after the procedure). My face appeared to be completely smooth. Once the swelling went down, however, I noticed little, if any, difference. The process wasn't that bad. I looked crapy for a while, but the pain was minimal. I just didn't leave my house for 2 weeks. Considering the down time, and the minimal results, I don't recommend it. PS: it has been about 5 weeks and I'm still a little bit red (but it can be covered easily with makeup).

If you have DISCOLORATION scars, the results will be better. I did notice about a 75% improvement on the few discoloration scars I had.

BUT... if you have ICE-PICK scarring, it's not so great. Even on my most shallow ice pick scars, I saw little to no difference (MAYBE 5-10%). On my moderate ice pick scars, I see absolutely no difference.

Hi Everyone, I had dermabrasion done 3 months ago on both cheeks for acne scarring. I was very patient during my healing period as the doctor told me it will take several weeks before I start seeing results. End result - there was absolutely no change in my skin, and they actually appear much more visible now and I have hyperpigmention. On my last visit to the plastic surgeon's office he even offered to do it again at no charge due to the poor results....I don't know what to do.

I had Dermabrasion done by Dr. George Farber. It has done nothing for my ice pick scarring. Matter of fact. I now have hyper pigmentation. My cheeks are much darker than the rest of my face. I look like I have a 5 o clock shadow. What a waste of money !!! A complete let down !!!

He showed me pictures of some cases. He even raved about the success rate. I don't know where he found the before and after photos. My end result was nothing close to the photos.....

I had a medium depth dermabrasion for large pores that happened with age. Im 48. It did help significantly, but it's not as smoothe as a baby's behind as they often say. I love Obagi skin program for smoothing skin.

Three months ago I had a full-face dermabrasion. I spent $6,000 and it did nothing for me. If I saw a smoother surface, or more shallow pocks, it would have been worth the pain, blood, sleepless nights, and looking like a napalm victim for a month. I even think the texture of my skin has worsened. I'm so disgusted, I'm hoping someone will come up with a facial skin transplant treatment! So now I'm back to spending big bucks at the drug store trying to find something that will make a difference. It's so confusing... collagen products, alpha hydroxy, retinoids, blah blah. In the meantime, I'm going to be the female Phantom of the Opera and hide my face from people, only going out at nighttime.