Wow! I am so sorry to hear so many sad stories. I had a chemical peel about a year ago. Extremely painful and long recovery - I looked scary for the first ten days. Did nothing for scarring or pore size, but did make overall skin smoother and did make noticeable change in deep wrinkles. Recently I had two Smoothbeam treatments ($150 each, 3 weeks apart at Dermatologist office). I am very pleased. It's not painful, there is no down time and have noticed that pores and scar's are significantly softened. A nice plus is wrinkles are also softened and skin is firmer. Active cystic acne has also improved - although the brochure says that activity can resume in six months and "touch-up's are required every six months. However,I am concered about the past entry that Smoothbeam kills oil glands - I'll need to check that out. I also use a 30% solution of Alpha Hydroxy (Doctor's prescription) once a week and am extremely pleased about the skin smoothing and fine line reduction. My doctor is trying to talk me into the Erbium laser to minimize lines and some scarring, but now I am afraid after all the previous entries. I will do more homework. Has anyone ever tried the Derma-K laser? Regarding ice pick scar's - I have been told the only way to minimize these types of scar's is to have them "punched" out by a plastic surgeon, which will leave somewhat of a softened depression. Not sure if lasers will address the results. Recently I discovered a product by Clinique - "Pore Minimizer". I use the tinted version under my make-up and am amazed at the cosmetic results. Good luck to all!

hello when you have scars everyone needs something to believe in and you must keep beliveing that the lasers will work ive had laser and its great .dont lets other peoples experiences put you off trying it foryourself.dont give up.

I'm a medical student, and I had a very shallow scar on my chin(caused buy a scratch when I was young),so I went to see a Dermatologist,and He told me that the Erbium laser is much better, Well I've done A 2-YEAR Research...BELIEVE ME it ain't worth it. You could suffer from additional scars in addition to PIGMENTATION and redness( 6-8 months ). SO, I tell you it might work BUT only on some people with very fair skin and the improvement won't exceed 10-25 %. THAT'S ALL. SO, before operating THINK TWICE.

I have tried both the NLite laser and the Smooth Beam laser. I had two sessions of each. The lasers did work for like 3 months most of my acne cleaned up in my face, chest, and back. However, it came back about 4 months later.

Before 2 years I had about 6 treatments of laser smooth beam cantela combination with chemical peelings and didnt help at all. My scars are still the same. This method it not help for scars it is waste of money.

I had laser skin resurfacing and I've had some success and some setbacks. After the treatment my skin was less prone to acne. I also had good results on the acne front with Proactiv facial soap (and I've tried it all, MD Forte, prescriptions, Azelex). However, the improvement is really only slight and I found the CO2 laser can do more harm than good.

Actually, Erbium micropeels insted of laser resurfacing (CO2) are really incredible, I highly recommend them. In addition, I would recommend going to a Plastic Surgeon and not a dermatologist. The fact is, Plastic Surgeons have more training and can offer you more choices. I know dermatologists would decry this statement, but I've gone to both and the Plastic Surgeon was much more honest with me and after 10 plus years, he got me the results I was looking for. He used a combination of surgical and laser methods, and he was truthful. Most of this stuff really doesn't work and you kind of have to waste your money until you find something that works on your skin. Plastic surgeons have more experience and training dealing with scars and a longer residency that is cosmetic in nature. They also have older but time tested techniques for hiding scars that dermatologists don't perform.

I have had smooth beam done twice. I waited almost 3 months untill I had my second session. I had scaring and acne.
I am very pleased with smooth beam! Theres no down time at all. I saw results after my first treatment. After my second I saw even better results, results tht were so noticable even my family and freinds noticed the difference in my skin.
My breakouts are gone and my skin looks firmer and better than ever! Im already planning my 3rd.

It works, you just need alot of treatments and it can make a hole in your pocket.

I had erbium for slight scarring from cauterisation on my chin. The scars after the erbium were like depressions and in one spot- an ice pick scar. I now have to have Nite lazer every two weeks to try and stimulate the collagen. It is very red and I am very concious of the ice pick scar. Definately not worth it.

Had Smoothbeam two weeks ago for acne scars, will have second treatment next week. I'm using vitamin C oil and renova in between treatments. Something about my skin looks different already, I'm afraid the scars are worse or maybe my freckles have faded from the renova and I can see the scars better. Has anyone seen any differences this early into treatment?