What is it?

Blue/red light acne treatment is an acne treatment for mild/moderate acne where you shine bright 'blue' (actually it's violet) and red lights on your skin to prevent new acne spots. It's thought to be safe, and improves acne by ~75% for 80% of people over 3 months. Another 10% of people see some improvement. This is comparable or better to BP, and similar to other treatments like antibiotics.

The violet light kills a bacteria called P.Acnes- this is the bacteria that is killed by most acne treatment- removal of the bacteria greatly improves your skin and prevents most acne. The light activates a porphoryn in the bacteria that isn't present in human skin, and the bacteria cooks itself.

The red light is anti-inflammatory and improves healing and increases the rate of production of collagen (giving a handy gentle facelift/antiwrinkling effect that lasts as long as you keep treating). Skin tone ends up better than normal on this treatment, a nice side-effect. It also helps heal up red marks; >10% or more faster.

Does it work?

For pictures see: (managing director of Androv); he got pretty good clearance.

also http://www.caci.co.nz/imagelibrary/100060.pdf (they're a couple of people who have had only violet light treatment- blue/red light treatment gives slightly better clearance and results.)

There's been one major published study in the UK:

http://www.wasauna.com/bluelight/journal.pdf

This involved 120 people using the light everyday, at home. Also, quite a few people have tried this form of treatment to good success. Yes, it really works.

That study used fluorescent tubes, but LEDs seem to work just as well: LED study.
Also other studies: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_docsum and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_docsum

How do I get this treatment?

You need *really* almost stupidly bright blue/red lights for this to work. To get intense enough light you need to buy special lamps. Or you could go to a dermatologist, but I do not recommend that, it's nearly always much more expensive, awkward to travel to, and works less well. Plus if you buy the lamps you can use them for years, for little or no extra cost. If your acne improves you can sell them on ebay or something.

Any of these products will probably work (note: light is light, don't expect expensive ones to work any better, they won't)

BeautySkin
http://www.acnelamp.com/
http://www.acnestar.co.uk/
http://www.lumiport.com
http://www.naturebright.com/products/skin_care_lamp.html
Verilux happyskin acne light

The more powerful the lights are, the less time you need to spend treating, but your acne won't be any better or worse.

n.b. small handheld LED lights that only cover a small area mean you can spend ages treating; I think most people are better off with lamps that can cover a large area.

Also:

http://www.kaliszincolor.com/A_natural_acne_treatment.htm
(Sci/Art Lamps- or it's cheaper to just buy the dichroic bulbs and holders: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/forums.html...5113)

They sell dichroic lamps these seem to work, or at least a few people here have claimed that they did.

They also ship LED lamps. But the LEDs that have been shipped are a deep blue, at 470nm. These should not work since it is incapable of killing the acne bacteria. The colour that works is a deep violet colour at 405-420nm; 470nm is too far off. They claim that they will be shipping a violet lamp later on, but until they do, avoid this type at all costs.

How quickly does it work?

You'll see some improvement in a few days; that's mainly the red light acting. However the violet light will kill the P.Acnes almost completely in the first few days or so.

It will then take a good 12 weeks for the pores to completely unblock themselves and the skin to grow and the red marks to fade. In the meantime you will continue to get acne; but at an ever slowing rate. Most people don't notice any effect for the first 6 weeks, because normal variation in acne covers the effect. Some people don't get good clearance till the 12th week. Under no circumstances give up!

How long should I use the lights for?

You should follow the instructions. Some people find that using the lights slightly less than indicated gives better results (e.g. 10 minutes instead of 15). It seems to be a bad idea to use the lights longer than the manufacturer says, it tends to irritate the skin slightly and if anything causes more acne.

You should use the lights once a day (everyday!) You can however use the lights up to twice a day. So, if you miss a day, you can top up with two treatments, several hours apart the following day. Try to average 7 treatments a week.

Once your acne clears, as with benzoyl peroxide or antibiotics you need to keep using the lamp at least a few times a week.

Is it safe?

None of these lamps produce dangerous amounts of ultraviolet. Scientific experiments indicate that neither blue nor red light causes cancer.

There is a report that some of the lamps might cause a slight tan in asian or mexican people. The fluorescent lamps produce small amounts of UV-A (about the same amount per day as standing outside in the sun for 1 minute). If that's a concern, choose one of the non fluorescent lamps.

It is very important to keep the violet light out of your eyes. It's thought that normal blue light even in sunlight gradually damages the retina, so 100% protection against the blue light is essential. Closing your eyes is probably not sufficient. The lamps generally come with goggles, but at a pinch painting some swimming goggles or wrap them in aluminium foil would be good.

It's really expensive isn't it?

No, it's cheaper than benzoyl peroxide including the washes and moisturisers you need to use for that.

Sure, if you were to go to a dermatologist to have blue/red treatment, then yes it's often really expensive.

But if you buy your lamp, it's reasonably cheap. If you add up the cost of BP, moisturisers and cleansers over a couple of years you will find it comes to more than the cost of the lamps, particularly the cheaper lamps.

Who has used it on Acne.org?

Worked (i.e. >75% clearance):

biochembabe (Sci/art dichroic), wolfkeeper (dermalux), GTO, seamus (Sci/art dichroic), delboy, Locked In Grace, stanno(beautyskin), DeeAgony, Ronin (beautyskin), Rupert (dermalux)

At least some improvement (e.g. 50%):

don't look, timmytim, kanmi

Failed:

Posh, B24K, Le Chiffre (dermalux)

(Posh didn't follow the instructions correctly, and gave up early, but I've still counted it as a failure; B24K saw some improvement but not enough to justify further treatment).

Anything else I need to know?
You can use it with most other treatments, except Accutane. It's important that you face is clean when you use it though. It may be a useful adjunct to tetracycline antibiotics- these antibiotics are 'bacteriostatic' in other words they don't kill the bacteria they just hold it at bay; whereas this treatment kills them. So the combination is likely to be a good one.

Overtreating:

Some people with very sensitive skin seem to get a slight irritation/redness from their lights. This doesn't seem harmful, but indicates that they need to reduce the time. People that fail to reduce the time if this happens seem to get much less improvement. However even then the lights don't seem to be harmful- people have fallen asleep in front of their lamps for over an hour without anything really bad happening (i.e. no 'sunburn' or peeling,) but it's not a way to calm skin. Used sensibly blue/red light calms skin down and this seems to give less acne.

Particular products:

- I personally do not recommend buying a dermastyle pen; the beam is very narrow and the manufacturers make IMHO misleading claims as to its effectiveness (Chu's study says that it takes about 3 months to clear acne, NOT a few days- there is absolutely no evidence of any noticeable reduction in acne in his study results that quickly.) These blue/red light products largely prevent new acne in a region, and that's difficult with a pen-size treatment. It might work if you only have acne in very, very limited regions; but the vast majority of people's acne isn't like that.

- Dermalux lamps work (they're the same as Dr. Chu's study). The Beautyskin is basically the same product, and uses essentially the same kind of bulbs. You can even swap the bulbs between the units.

Hello all.

I stumbled across these forums whilst looking up laser treatments and thought it seems friendly enough and registered.

Im writing here as I'm about to have this new Isolaz treatment next Friday, I couldnt help but notice a lack of information and more importantly real before and after pics, I dont like going off the companies pictures what with the wonder of Photoshop. So I'll give you a quick background as people seem to want to know, and then the pics, I'm having 2/3 treatments depending on the success I have and will update it.

Background


Im male, 21 years old. Just check out the picture if you wanna know what skin and acne type. I have had acne since about the age of 12, both of my parents suffered with it and so I blame them

I am undergoing this procedure for one reason only, I am applying to the Royal Air Force, my application was going wonderfully until I had my medical and I was failed due to my acne, so in order to continue my application I had to improve my skin and quickly, after doing some research decided on Isolaz.

Before now I have tried various pills, lotions, creams and pads and found none to be really effective. At the moment I simply use Oxy pads for men. They seem to stop my dry skin and get rid of oil and keep my acne fairly under control (at least for me, it used to be far worse).

I would also like to point out that because I want to join the air force, I have significantly upped my daily excercise, I drink a lot more water and eat more fruit and veg and ensure I have 3 meals a day. This alone has made a massive improvement to my skin, and I think anyone who has acne and complains about it without changing their lifestyle is never going to be rid of it.

Anyway, I will continue to update, wish me luck for Friday.

P.S Kept the image quite large, so you can see the full scale of my acne, sorry if it takes long to d/l.


Pics!

Hello all. I'd like to share my views to anyone considering having pixel laser treatment for acne scars (ice-pick and deep pits around chin and cheek). I am fair skinned and have had the scars for between 10 - 15 years. I had 4 treatments at the Private Clinic, London. The treatments were a month apart from Aug - Nov 08. I was treated with a Harmony laser and the intensity was increased over each session.

The first treatment felt like rubber bands snapping on my face, the last treatment felt as if someone was pricking my skin with hot needles. Regardless of what I was told I couldn't leave the house for about 3 days. This is because the treatment burns the top layer of your skin and subsequently sheds itself. During the shedding process I regularly applied Aqueous cream to keep the skin moisturized. I also drank loads of water, ate lots of protein, increased the Vit C - took it easy!! I should also mention that the first nights sleep after each treatment was quite difficult due to a hot, tight face.

Once the dead skin had peeled off my skin looked pretty amazing and smooth. This is due to inflammation caused by the treatment. Within a week my scars looked exactly the same as pre-treatment. For about 2 weeks after treatment I also had quite dry skin.

So, I had 4 treatments and now for the results. Overall my skin looks fresher, which pleases me. However, the scars haven't gone. The scarred area is slightly smoother but again I stress - the scars have not gone. I entered into the treatment with a hopeful, yet realistic attitude. I was hoping for about a 60% improvement to the scarrring. My opinion and 2 honest dear friends give the treatment to my skin a rating of 30%.

If you are considering this treatment I wish you luck. I did my research prior to treatment and understand that some people have had very good results. Just remember to always use sunblock!

Hi i had before an Co2 laser and it was very good for my face, and i will continue to do it til i get the result's that i want, in Greece i pay 200 euros(279.54 US$) to have one laser Co2 treatment
I dont know why in US is so expensive because 2000$ per treament is very very expensive

So i want to ask if someone knows what combination with Co2 is the best no matter the cost for face

I have discovered a forum which has collected stories from various people having negative side effects from IPL treatments:

http://messageboards.makemeheal.com/viewtopic.php?t=68824

I am uncertain if this is the explanation to my recent changes in skin texture. Over the last couple of years, (ever since I had 3 ILP treatments from LaserGenesis) my skin has dramatically "aged" in ways I can barely describe. I suddenly have "male skin" - it seems alot thinner, with orange peel texture around my lower cheeks, and my pores are very dilated, and I have lots of very fine wrinkles which moisturizer just doesn't help.

I know I did alot of picking & squeezing in my younger days, but until now I still had pretty smooth skin. I am fair with northern European skin. The only way it showed - I had a couple of ice pick scars & when I got cold I had a bazillion purple marks. I was assured IPL treatment STIMULATE collegen regrowth, REVERSE AGING, and won't penetrate deep enough to do any damage anyhow. I took the treatments to reduce the redness caused by some broken blood vessels which had surfaced in the apples of my cheeks, and some superficial brown "masking" caused by the hormones in BCPs.

Anyhow, I'm not convinced this is the entire reason of my new problems .... it could be a combination of other factors along with the treatment. It could be my genetics, but I have been analyzing the skin of other family members - (cousins, aunts, great aunts) and nobody has this radical damage. It could be the person who gave me the treatment wasn't qualified, or the machine was a first generation of the technology.

Anyhow, I've posted this to help others. DO YOUR RESEARCH - It seems it might work well for some, but there also seem to be lots of other horror stories like mine.

Hi everyone I'm very new to the site and I noticed that there aren't many information and pictures results for profractional treatments so I guess I can help by sharing my own experiences and helping people get a peace of mind when considering something major.

So far......
Well I paid 3k$ for a packaged 3 treatments, My advice that be prepared to take Tylenol and NOT aspirin because aspirin is blood thickening so nooooo aspirin even if you think its a good idea, Valium also helps because it relaxes you tremendously

Preparing...
They put numbing cream on my face and also injected me at least 10+ shots on my face to numb the inside bec my first treatment is and very deep and the images are quite grotesque as will be posted.
YOUR MENTALITY IS A HUGE HELP that's what I can say, I came and I knew what I wanted and I kept my eye on the priority I was more preparing and finding my inner voice and reminding myself why I wanted to get through it is how I prepared my attitude, a scared mind will only deteriorate and will make the body react strongly negative to anything, as that being said, since I came in very at peace with myself nothing of the day was ever traumatic, you only struggle more when you are scared I think. And that's how I got through injections in my face and the laser procedure itself. It wasn't even painful

Procedure....
Was funny because yes it hurts but nothing intolerable, its something bearable I think if we imagine its not a laser stabbing your skin, the intensity of pain is really about how you see the perspective of what's causing it. I was actually thinking its like me poking myself without puncturing anything with a needle, painful but not excruciating, it was funny at times really because I felt more tickled than pain, but it comes with the attitude if you are not tensed your body will not overreact to anything it comes in contact with

After treatment...
The burning is what you feel instantly, that's probably what you have to endure a lot, I thought I did ok and when I looked at the mirror WOW I was horrible and bleeding! but it never felt like I took so much so just remember it goes to show that inner peace in your inside goes a long way.

Here's the pic :

[attachment=20213:0630092132a.jpg][attachment=20214:0630092133.jpg]

[attachment=20212:0630092132.jpg]

My doctor advised me not to wash my face until tomorrow morning so yes it looks very gruesome and you guys might be wondering how I stay positive, I hope I can help anybody here in some ways by sharing my experiences, those are blood lol, I look like a zombie I know, but I'm not whining and moaning in bed lol it may look horrible but I feel fine lol

Hi everyone,

Long time reader, first time posting.

Yesterday I was looking for the Enlux bulb on intelligentacnetreatment.com. Well, they obviously stopped selling the Enlux and started to sell this new type of light. They claim that this new light treats the whole face in 30 seconds.

Uhhh ... 30 seconds to treat the whole face?!
How could this be possible? That would be like 30 times faster than with the acnelamp or beautyskin. I somehow find this claim ridiculous.

Could someone with more technical expertise than I have please shine a light on this and give his or her opinion. How could it be possible that it only takes 30 seconds to treat the whole face with a 7 watt led bulb? Could it be that much stronger than the acnelamp or beautyskin?

Any opinion is welcome. Thanks!

Hello

I have been holding off writing this review for a couple of months, I didn't want to tempt fate!

I have had acne for 20 years, it was successfully controlled by the pill, but I came off that to try to get pregnant and was back to square one.

The doctor prescribed doxycycline, which got me most of the way there, but I suffered really bad side effects once (took it and didn't eat quickly enough - felt AWFUL!!) and despite his assurances I wasn't happy being on antibiotics long-term.

So I decided to try light therapy, which I've been interested in for years, but I was always worried about spending the money and not getting a result.

I was tossing up between Beautyskin and Caribbean Sun Lamp and in the end went for the latter for several reasons. It's cheaper, smaller, the bulbs are LED so don't need replacing (particularly of concern to be if traveling where I thought bulbs might 'go' because of vibrations etc.) and they offer your money back for up to 3 months (I think) albeit with a 10% restocking fee after 30 days....

I was really exciting waiting for it to arrive and MASSIVELY disappointed when it did. The photos on the site only show the light when it's on, in the flesh it looks like a circuitboard behind glass. I nearly sent it back straight away because I thought it looked so rubbish, but as there was a money back guarantee I thought I may as well try it for a bit...

First time using it was also an anti-climax, I didn't feel heat or tingling on my face and the light didn't buzz or do anything to make me think I was getting some fantastic high dose light therapy!

But... to cut a very long story short, 2 months later I have been totally off the doxy for a month (previous month on half or quarter doses) and apart from very occasional single spot I am clear!

Also, the occasional spots are totally different from ones I had before. They are white heads that appear quickly, I have a quick squeeze and then they vanish without trace almost as soon as they are squeezed. This is where the red healing light is I think so effective. I am now starting to wonder if I shouldn't use the red light on every form of injury or cut I have, it seems to heal it so fast.

So, there you go. I use it for 10 minutes every night for batches of 3 or 4 nights and then one day off.

Any questions please ask. I came on here looking for info before i bought it and I couldn't find anyone who had used the Caribbean sun lamp, so I had to go in blind, but hopefully my experience will help others.

Clare

just wondering..
Everyone here took antivirals before laser treatment?

my doc said i don't need it. I never had a cold sore..
but i readed somewhere that even if you don't had it.. you might have after the procedure (80% of population is positive to herpes)
I'm thinking of taking antivirals even if my doc said i dont need it.

thanks!

Hi! I recieved my BSL yesterday and had my first session.

is it sufficient to do just one 15min session seeing as i have acne on both cheeks, chin, nose, forhead...PRETTY MUCH EVERYWHERE

or would i be better doing 5-10min of facing towards the light and and then another 5-10min on each side?

Thank you!

Hey everyone.

I bought an enLux lamp a few weeks ago, and it got here 3 days ago (at which point I immediately started using it). I'm starting this log a bit late, but I'll continue it for about a month at which point I'll decide if it worked for me or not, and hence return it or keep it for further use.

A bit of background: I'm 19, Caucasian, and a vegetarian (in case that changes anything).
I've tried:
- Proactive for about 2 years
- Exposed for about 2 months
- Dan's Regime for 6 months
- Erythromycin (Antibiotic): 3 months
- Tetracycline (Antibiotic): Used it twice, 3 months each for a total of 6 months.
- Minocycline (Antibiotic): About 2 months
- Accutane: Used it twice, about 6 months each time.

So you can call this yet another desperate attempt.

DAY 1-3

I used it for 1 minute intervals straight on and then on both sides like they recommended. I haven't seen any improvement, although it's been to early to really tell. The lamp is pretty bright and you really wouldn't want to stare directly at it. It's best to use the eye protection included. I'm thinking I'll increase gradually up to the recommended 5minutes over the next week and a half.





If you have any questions let me know!

i you have a blue or red home device all you need is the ala kerastick to do ala-pdt at home if interetsed pm me

I just got my Spatabulous acne light and I have been using it for 3 days. So far I haven't noticed much, but I will keep using it and come on every now and then to say what's happening. I'm supposed to use it for a couple months before I see a real difference.

My friend has one and says it works, so I'll trust that.

Have you heard of Isolaz, or tried it? It seems like it would be great, but I tend not to trust this kind of thing (seems too good to be true, if you know what I mean.) So, I'm wondering what other people think of it. I guess it's fairly new, I'm surprised I haven't heard of it before now. Anyway, I'm really interested in hearing anyone's opinions on this! Thanks!


Here's the website if you have not heard of it:
www.ISOLAZ.com

Hey There,

I'm totally new to this site, and I just had my first Pixel treatment (Harmony 2940) done yesterday at (allegedly) the most aggressive setting.

The reason that I wanted to get this done is b/c I had pretty bad acne issues in my late teens/early 20's, of which left some pitted scars on my cheeks and forehead. I also have a scar from a dog bite on both my upper and lower lips (albeit, very small) anddd I have also lost a lot of weight in the last few years, and I think the lack of fat in my face has made the skin look a bit loose and I feel like I look older than I really am.

Before my appointment, I was disappointed b/c I couldn't find any pictures of what people looked like RIGHT after their sessions, so I wanted to post some pictures of my "after", just in case someone else had the same curiosity as I did.

I feel like I was lucky, in that all of the "pain" I was told I would probably experience never really came to fruition. It's almost 1 1/2 days after I had the procedure done, and MAYBE the first hour was a little tough (I had to drive myself home, that was a total pain in the you know what), but otherwise, the recovery has been quite painless. I had little to no swelling, I didn't feel the need to use cold wet washcloths on my face, or lidocaine, or any pain medication. I felt just a tad bit of discomfort, if anything. By the way, I tried to catch the actual texture of my skin with the last picture. You can physically see the "plaid-like" grids that the laser produces.

The procedure itself was uncomfortable. I had to hold a hose blowing super cold air on my face while the laser was being used, and it got really really hot, especially in the places where they "stacked", meaning the spots where I need the laser the most. I'm really freaky about my eyes (I assume everyone probably is), so when the laser was around that area, I could feel myself tense up a lot and I was getting anxious...it didn't hurt around the eyes or anything, but I was just scared about that the most.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone that may be considering getting this treatment done. I will add to this post in a week or two to tell you guys about my hopefully obvious and positive changes. I'm really excited about having nice skin!!

I've looked for the answer to this question but so far have not found what I was searching for. My question is this: is it safe/okay to use an exfoliant like BHA/AHA while also using acne light treatment or would using something like that in conjunction with the light be harmful for your skin?

i herd that if you have acne and you are exposed to the sun a lote it helps. Is that true?

Its a little device that uses red and blue light to improve acne. Below is the link. It looks interesting.

http://www.ansr.com/

Well can you? I mean instead of incision, can you get laser treatment to remove it.

THIS IS VERY LONG SO I WILL APOLOGIZE UP FRONT!!

I posted back before I had the Pearl fractional laser done (in Feb 09?) but couldn't find it to update! First - please note the type and name of the laser. I can only talk about this specific treatment and don't want anyone expecting the same from another treatment and being disappointed.

The total cost for the treatment was $3000. Included was the consult with the Aesthetician, the Doctor and a home care kit for two weeks prior and for post treatment. I used the pre-treatment products and had my treatment at 1pm on a Wed.

Doctor consult - The doctor was SO honest with me that I was almost upset - but I then realized it was a good thing. He told me right up front that my skin would be a challenge because it is thick (I'm european background with olive/oily skin -- not CO2 lase friendly ...unfortunately). He then told me my worst problem was the scarring! For YEARS I thought the spots/dark marks on my face were from pigmentation - turns out they were shallow scars! I have seen 5 different doctors for minor facial treatments (TCA/IPLs) for 10 years and he is the First to figure that out.

PLEASE NOTE: FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!! The whole - wash your sheets/pillowcase in fragrance free detergent, sleep elevated, and use the vinegar soaks ALL DAY EVERY DAY directions are a must!!!!! You will regret it if you don't!

The big day: I am not a nervous, low pain tolerance person and I was scared. I have read lots of horror stories about lasers and was terrified to come out looking worse than when I started! This is why I CANNOT stress enough how important it is that you absolutely trust your doctor!!

Pre-treatment: The nurse lathered my face with some anesthetic creme which is very goopy and as it sits on your face and warms up it looks and feels gross and runs down your face but it does numb you up pretty well. I also was given a vicoden (they were going to give me Codeine but it makes me nauseus).

After about 30 minutes they took me in the treatment room and the doctor gave me some injections to numb me further (This should have clued me into the pain...). He also put drops in my eyes and put eye shields in so he could get right up around my eyes. At this point I was REALLY nervous, but heck I figured I might as well do 100% so why not?

The actual treatment took about an hour. He did three passes over my whole face and it HURT! It is not for the feint at heart - it is not fun and in fact I believe I teared up a bit though I'm not sure since my eyes were numb

When my husband picked me up about 3:00 I looked like a burn/accident victim. My face was a Giant tomato - beet red with a thousand pin pricks of blood all over it -- NOT PRETTY.

Day One: was a bit of a blur - got sick from the vicoden and napped in a chair...scared the kids...did a couple vinegar soaks but not as well as I should have (more on that later)

Day Two: I felt much better but still hideous. My face felt a little tender but really no pain at all from that point on. I slept in a chair the first FOUR DAYS! I did not sleep well, but I did not have breakouts, rashes, excess swelling...so you choose...

Vinegar Soaks: WASH YOUR HANDS before you do these!
I did the first few vinegar soaks with the gauze pads the doctor gave me. Gauze pads suck. They are little and take FORever. I learned quickly that I would not do nearly as many soaks if I stuck to the pads. So...I washed 2 old hand towels in fragrance free detergent and cut them in half and then had 4 semi-sterile soaks. I also put a big bowl in my bathroom, a measuring cup, spoon and vinegar. The mix is 1 spoon vinegar to 2 cups water. Use COLD water from the tap and mix in the vinegar. My 'soak rags' were about washcloth size - I left them open and laid them in the solution and lifted out the soaking wet rag and put it right on my face (it's a little messy but effective). The important thing (in my opinion) is to make sure you are gently pressing the soaking cloth against your skin. It feels really good and it SPEEDS up the healing! I did not have stinky nasty skin - swollen and red - yes, but not smelly! I was told to do the vinegar soaks about 6-8 times a day - and that there was no limit - the more the better. However, I was lazy and did them about every 4 hours ...maybe 5 times max on day 2.

Day Three: I woke up and I was SO depressed. The doctor warned me and I didn't believe it but yes, between 48-72 hours your face is the MOST swollen. I was making good progress and that really brought me down. I woke up and was almost as swollen as day one and I wanted to cry all day... I was lazy on days one and two with the vinegar soaks...so I ramped up the vinegar soaks because I was going back to the doctor for a check and I was trying to make up for being bad! I then realized how much the vinegar soaks sped up the healing. I started putting 4 cups of water/2 spoons of vinegar and soaking every 2 hours or more. Doctor visit went well - except for looking like a freak show and driving and parking and trying to sneak in the Doc's office!! I walked in and they all told me how great I looked...HA HA!! I must have looked at them like they were crazy because they all laughed and assured me I looked 'normal' for day three. Also - I did start getting whiteheads on my chin and lower cheeks where the peeling was farther along (still had to slather on the Aquaphor...so...) BUT - I did notice that the more I used the vinegar the white heads didn't last but a day or two. I never 'broke out'. I was VERY tempted to stop the aquaphor but my Doc had not let me down yet so I stayed with it-I just put a little less aquaphor on the skin that had peeled already. Turned out - there was still peeling going on that I didn't realize because the skin looked kind of new. A lot of skin was peeling off - coming off on the vinegar soaked rags and exposing the new skin.

Day Four: Woke up and swelling was down quite a bit (noticeable - but still not back to normal) I was doing the vinegar soaks a LOT. Sometimes only an hour apart - a couple times - 3 hrs (because I was watching a movie...eating...etc) The amount of healing on day 4 was great and the cooling water and vinegar helped the redness. After about 2 hours my face would feel warm and I would look in the mirror and it was very red... I was very worried that the redness would never go away! Kept up the vinegar soaks out of fear because I had to go to work on DAY 7!!!

Day Five: Wow- huge difference - my face on one side was back to normal size (not swollen) and the other side was only slightly swollen. Still pretty red so I kept up the vinegar soaks hourly - or every other hour. Most of the dead skin was gone - little bit left around the hairline and jawline. Vinegar soaks are the KEY to getting the skin to peel and not be so red. Saw my doctor again (who is awesome I might add) and he said the progress was great, keep up the soaks, no more aquaphor and stick with the post treatment products so as not to irritate the new skin.

Day Six: I am a passable human being. I did not put any make-up on, just some healing balm. More soaks - all day -- redness all but gone...

Day 7: went to work and wore makeup that is a little light for me to balance out the redness. Swelling - tiny bit on the one side, but only I could notice. Still using the post-treatment products and staying Well out of the sun! Note- if you get hot - your face turns pretty red for about a week or two after you've healed (so 3 weeks total....for me)

Day 10:went back to the doctor - no makeup on, only sunscreen and looked better than I have in a LONG time. I was Extremely pleased with the results....read below!

BUT...
Ok - here's the truth. About Day 10 I was Ecstatic...no makeup and I looked GREAT! Well - unfortunately that's because the swelling was not completely gone. About day 15 I wanted to hurt someone and get a refund...but... I did NOT realize that my skin was actually still peeling a little bit every day and that last layer of crap was making me look washed out and crappy again. My skin was healed enough to gently exfoliate with a washcloth and the difference was night and day. I did a couple more days of occasional vinegar soaks and exfoliation and got to the 'final' result which is where I am now. Let me preface this by saying that I did NOT expect my skin to be baby smooth perfect. I went in with a bunch of shallow scars, some hyperpigment, fine lines around my eyes and just felt my face was 'aged' (I'm 37). I would take about 20 minutes to put on my makeup - just on my face. I would put concealer, foundation, powder, and reapply the powder often. I could still see the scars (which looked like dark spots), my pores were very large, and my face looked made up and not even. After about 4 hours, especially if I had to be outside, my makeup was not looking good, my skin would look Bad, my pores would look Bad.

After the treatment, the aesthetician cleaned my face and put some Colorescience pressed mineral pigment on me (this is a compact pressed powder that's a mineral make-up). It has more coverage than the regular pressed powder with tint, but less than a liquid foundation. It's expensive ($50 a compact) but I LOVE it. This is ALL I use now. I put on sunscreen and the compact and done. I have worn this makeup for literally 20 hour days (I'm in the military) outside, all kinds of weather, and I still look Better at the end of the day then I did with full fresh makeup on before the treatment. The doctor suggested 2 treatments although he said usually one is enough - I might want to do two. I plan on doing a second one and I am VERY happy with the results. I would say the shallow scars are reduced by about 50% or more. The evenness of my skin is improved about 70%, my pore size/appearance improved about 75%-that made a huge difference in the overall appearance of the texture of my skin. Saw my sisters about 12 days post treatment and both said they could absolutely tell a difference and that my skin looked great. And -- they would tell me if I wasted my money!

Bottom line - don't expect a miracle, know and trust your doctor and follow the doctor's directions to a T. If your doctor doesn't talk about staying away from pets, fragrance free sheets to prevent breakouts/irritation, and what the day to day process is like - I would be worried. They should be able to go into serious detail...

I hope this helps anyone interested in this treatment. Good Luck everyone!

Hi all, I am new here. I just had my 2nd Fraxel Re:Store treatment done and my chin and mouth are broken out like crazy! I have about 8 cysts and 6 mouth sores. I had light whiteheads appear after my first treatment but nothing like this. I got 3 at once 2 weeks ago and now they are starting to deflate but now 2 new ones are popping up in other parts of the chin.

The doctor gave me a prescription for oral Acyclovir, Clindamycin and Doxycycline (all at once) to make it go away and this was 3 weeks ago. I am afraid the Fraxel treatments won't work if I don't have them done every 4 weeks as reccomended but I can't continue until the chin breakouts go away. Now I am starting to get cysts on my cheeks, places I have never had them before. Is this normal? Did anyone else have this type of reaction?

I am having this done to treat 3 deep scars I had from cysts I had in the past but I have never more than 3 at once and my face has been relatively clear for years. I am fearful that these new cysts will leave new scars. I think this doctor (he's a plastic surgeon) doesn't know what he's talking about. I hear that doxycycline doesn't start working until after about 4 weeks and he said it would work in a matter of days. I have been using Proactiv again to help soothe the blemishes but I don't know what to do. I didn't know it would do this.

Hi Guys,

I am 21 year old australian. I have a few pitted scars on my cheecks. I recently went and saw a a cosmetic surgeon about laser skin resurfacing. After I did research I wanted to enquire about the Erbrium laser however when I had my appointment, the surgeon recommended the new PEARL FRACTIONAL LASER by Cutera. Now I have been trying to google to see if anyone has used this laser before but I havent been able to find anything except actual surgery places recommending it. I dont want to fork out Australian $3,000 for a laser that wont even minimalise my acne scarring.
The link to the pearl laser is

If anyone has used this laser before or know someone who has your comments would be greatly appreciated. I am booked in to get it done next month so i need some advice ASAP.

Thanks

Ok. I am on doxycyline and spironolatone antibiotics. The first 10 days i was only on doxy only to go back to the doc n realised the pharmacy missed out on my spiro. So now im on day 4 with 2 of those medications taken together day and in the evening. My question is. Can i go get the Isolaz treatment just to speed up the recovery on my face. I currently hv 3 active cyst acne on my forehead. And one big cyst on me jaw line. And not to mention my face gets oily too. N also some of other mild acne (Blackhead and Whiteheads). Hv anyone done something like that before and if so what is ur results. I will really love to know. Its gonna cost me USD999 for 4 treatments so i wanna make sure its good and safe to hv it done all together.

I made an appointment to get a laser treatment on my face in 3 weeks' time. The doctor explained the procedure, showed me pics of other patients he treated (with very good results) and then suggested I should use sunblock for a full three weeks before the operation. Apparently, the machine is a Lumenis Quantum. The goal I'm after is the reduction of redness on cheeks, forehead and nose, and hoping also that the procedure will normalize my sebaceous glands' daily excess oil production which clogs each and every one of my pores. I've white heads on nose, cheeks and forehead.. and a couple of blackheads on my nose. I also have seborrheic dermatitis on my scalp. I forgot to ask what could be done about that. My hair looks healthy though, and I shower every day, but if I scratch my scalp, I can pick up little white "gunk" (dandruff like, but oilier) with my nails. No biggie, I'm more concerned about my face.

During my daily morning shower (or "showers" if I take another one before going to bed) I use a sponge on my face and regular Dove soap to exfoliate, to try to remove the gunk in my bigger pores (on nose, around nose and on cheeks)... they're so hard to get, I have to use my nails carefully not to damage the skin. The ones on the side of my nose are specially big and hard to get. Right after getting out of the shower, my face looks red, but ok... then the redness sort of settles to a lighter colour (much like a light suntan) and the pores tend to close and you can barely notice I've whiteheads all over. But after half an hour if I go back to a mirror, I can see tiny little oil drops in my pores. A few hours later (maybe 6-7 hours), my face looks oily again and if you look closely, many of the pores are bigger and carry once again more "white gunk".

The general look of my face is that of a guy who went skiing and used goggles. The skin around my eyes looks white, with a weird semicircle near my cheekbones, and the rest is reddish. It'll look a lot red when running, practicing sports, right after a shower, also under stressful situations (e.g. an oral exam - good thing I'm through with those) and also while eating hot or spicy food. Same ol' triggers for anyone with rosacea.

I'll be posting good quality pics later on tonight or tomorrow.

But I've been reading a lot on this subforum, and was wondering if any of you guys/gals who are more experienced on this subject, could tell me if there's any difference between all these lasers... Fraxel, Lumenis Quantum, Lumenis One, CO2... cause it seems lots of people are using them for practically the same purpose, but I haven't seen a discussion about the pros and cons of each one, or a "vs." comparison... or simply put, which one's better for a rosacea treatment.

My doctor said that what I have is mild rosacea, I guess it's type 1 according to what I've read here... and that the laser will take care of it in 2 to 3 procedures (US 600 each - I'm in Argentina). But all these different lasers have me puzzled... even more now that I've read that Lumenis One is supposed to be a "fourth generation laser", whereas the Quantum is a "third generation" one (hence older and... not so advanced and accurate?).

Any information will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

P.S.: I've just finished uploading the pics in my gallery. Dunno when they'll be available, I guess in 24hs pending approval.

Hello All,

I finally got a laser treatment. MOSAIC LASER to be exact. I was told that this system is the most advanced system/treatment available. I got my first session today. It cost me $500.00, this price is advertised as a half price special.

The visit took 1.5 hours, it included a lidocaine treatment which numb my face for the laser treatment. The nurse basically painted with a brush lidocaine all over my face and some neck areas. It took 30-40 minutes to take full affect. Next, she washed my face getting rid of any lotion and/or lidocaine.

The Mosaic is a 2 type laser treatment. The first was a point and click, the second was a rolling constant. Both were very painful. I over heard the Dr. say pump it up to 500. I assumed that was the unit of watts or amps, not sure. This took 20 minutes or less. Then the wrapped my face with gauge and cold packs for 30 minutes. That felt great.

Im home and its 8hrs later. My face is extremely sensative and red, not to mention I see mini infections happening, but I think this is normal, only b/c the doctor did a very agressive treatment on my face, he said that he was going to do that. They gave me anti-bacteria cream to use. I was told not to wash my face for 24hrs.

I'll update tis post tomorrow.

Hi. I've had success with IPL treatments in the past, whether they were treatments for the full face, only half of the face or a spot treatment. Well today I went for one to help clear a mark on the left side of my nose and when I got home I noticed that the texture of the skin felt strange. Turns out the treatment gave me a blister, (the setting must have been too hot). Anyone else get a blister from a treatment. They want me to come back tomorrow so that they can take a picture. I do not have time to do that. Oh well.

I have nothing but amazing things to say about the Scheibner Centre in Sydney, Australia. The lasers are gentler and they don't damage your skin at all. It's been 2 or 3 months since my first visit to the clinic and whilst there is a long road ahead, my skin is already amazing. I get shivers at the thought of how much better it is going to get. You should all explore this kind of alternative - Dr Scheibner is amazing. I would fly half way around the world to get her treatments - SHE IS THAT GOOD!

Hi all,

I'm new here, but not new to acne problems...

I finally have my acne under control, and I plan to have the silk touch laser treatment...

Any advice? What were your results/pain/recovery time? Do tell!!

I was wondering if anyone has experienced what I am right now. I am 39 years old and have had very STUBBORN mild acne starting in my early 30's. I've had breakouts my whole life, but nothing that Proactiv couldn't take care of. I started using Retin-A several years ago and that made my skin glow, but after using it for two years it seemed as though my skin got used to and back came the blackheads. So, my dermatologist suggested PDT. AFter the first treatment my skin seemed clear and soft. After two weeks, my skin was worse than it's been my entire life. I went back to have the second treatment last week and told the doctor that I noticed more blackheads in spots I had never had them before. She changed my oral antibiotic from Solodyn to Doryx. Anyhow, my skin is WORSE than after the first treatment. I had a cluster of blackheads (small) in several different areas of my face that, again, I had never had before. Of course I picked my face and made it worse. Has anyone else had this experience???? This has definitely had the opposite effect on my skin than some of the other postings I've read. I don't want to waste more money and time from work if only to be disappointed in the end. Needless to say, I've been crying since I had my second treatment. ANY COMMENTS would be appreciated.