you went all the way to the uKRAINE based on a certain website ive seen before...saw it when i typed in acne scarring
www.vsm-skinlaser.com.ua

this one right? yeh his before and afters look good..but who cares..3 pics isnt enough.. docs need to put at least 30 pics up...y dont they? simple..becayse they dont have much success.

Wow- I would be happy if I got the results shown in those pics. I am planning to do ActiveFX (w DeepFX in areas) in February, but I am so scared that it will be another waste of money. When I read that some, like nma here, are disappointed, I don't know what to decide. I have seen photos online that look like there was no improvement at all and some that look amazing- so I wonder if they're fake. When reading reviews you hear of people who are very happy and others who claim it did nothing for them.

I am anxious to see silversunpickup's results.

hey kevin..looks like a top practise..i do believe the Smartxide and Deep Fx are the best 2 co2 fractionals out there..still tho..could your website post a substantial amount of before and afters ( acne scarring) just so people can have a good idea.I know that sounds odd but ppl are becoming very skeptical. I do know its in the right hands a great laser.but still..need more pics. like you know..breast augmentation..it seems docs have 10000000's of pics of beforeas and afters of that procedure LOL

Believe me, I put all my hopes in this treatment. And since it was a deep laser, it was supposed to give good results. At first I thought, oh my god, my face looks amazing, I couldn't see any more scars. That is because my face was still a little bit swollen I guess. Gradually they became more and more visible.

Here are 2 photos before the laser procedure:

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v332/orientale/foto026.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v332/orientale/foto027.jpg[/IMG]

Scars look the same even after the laser procedure.

NOTE: They look the same but not worse ....there is a difference even though it may not be of interest.

Oh, what a relief. )

At this moment, I only want my skin to return to its normal color. If there is no improvement in the way my scars look, at least I want my face to look like before the laser procedure.

you do not want to pick or peel these scabs. leave them to fall off naturally. be gentle with washing. no harsh cleansers or exfoliants right now.

just keep your skin moist and cool.... i would just stay in touch with your treating physician/office.

aquaphor, made by eucerin, is a healing ointment that should be available in your local drug store.

stay away from anything hot and avoid prolonged direct sunlight. you will reduce many complications and aid in your skin's natural healing process.

best,

kevin

Hi everyone. This forum has been a wonderful source of information for me and I wanted to pay it back by relaying my laser resurfacing experience.

I just had the newest laser treatment that is a cross between Fraxel and traditional CO2.
Background: In addition to cystic acne scars, I have terrible scars from 3 seperate facial traumas and uneven skin tone. I was desperate for improvement and consulted with many plastic surgeons and a few dermatologists.

Treatment so far: 1.Face lift (recommended by 2 diff drs) to tighten skin - done 9 mo ago. Great looking but not sure it did much for scars.
2. Continued use of Tanzorak (Retin A) and hydroquinine 10% (also great but must use every single day)
Drs. recommended REAL dermabrasion (too scary for me) and CO2 (big downtime, higher risks) and Fraxel (5 treatments for $5k - you've got to be kidding - less than impressive before and afters) and this new laser - Fractionalized CO2 (my choice)
I had some sculptra injections in one very depressed area and was not impressed.

I plan to finish out with other dermal fillers in a few months - still deciding on which one.

Anyway - thought I would share my experience so far. Lumenis makes this laser. See for info and video.

TIME - It took about 45 minutes but I had to get there an hour early to get topical anesthetic and a ativan (which i insisted on). This is a one time laser treatment. I was unconvinced about the 4-8 fraxel treatments that I would have needed.

PAIN - I won't lie to you - it hurt like hell. They did 2 passes. The first pass was "DEEP FX" on the scars. It stung like being slapped in the face but was tolerable. I could actually smell burning skin - not awful, just weird smell.
The second pass was "ACTIVE FX" all over - which treated skin discoloration and wrinkles (I didn't have any after face lift)It is not as deep as DEEP FX and should not have hurt much but, evidently, the first pass made my skin VERY sensitive so the second pass felt like red hot needles being poked deeply into my face. They would do 4 pulses in a row then stop to let me breathe. No kidding. The morale of the story is don't do this without some kind of heavier sedative and a ride home (halcion?)- if you have a 2 pass treatment. However, the nurse told me that another patient had 2 pass treatment and didn't have the pain that I seemed to have. I never really thought I was a pain wimp, but perhaps I am. I had halcion for major tooth surgery and it was GREAT - don't remember a thing.

DOWNTIME - I was hidden from the public for about 4 or 5 days. On the 4th or 5th day I went to gro. store for a short time. Can't stay out too long because face continued to peel and makeup would peel right off with it.

Right after the procedure my face was beet red with tiny red dots all over. The red dots are where the laser actualy penetrated skin. I had to wear gooey gel to keep it moist for the first 4 days. Unpleasant to sleep in, but worth it. Each day I would wash my face and dead skin would slough off - not like a peeling sunburn though. Each day the redness would lessen, as would the sloughing until about the 4th or 5th day. Amazing how this didn't hurt.
However, 12 days later my skin still sloughs off - which is a good thing. Doesn't look bad with makeup, though.
--- note -- I had a deep chemical peel about 10 years ago and it DID hurt post-procedure and my face peeled off like a bad sunburn for about a week. I don't think it did that great of a job improving much of anything.

RESULTS: I will upload pictures later. I am very happy with the results so far. The Dr. says I can expect to see continued improvement (healing) for up to a year as collagen is built down deep. Specifically, depressed scars are MUCH softer already and continue to look better each day. One surprise was the reduction in pore size, which I didn't really expect. My pores look like they did at 20. I am 47 now. Skin discoloration improvement is not as great as I thought it would be, but I hope it will also improve over time. I had white spots interspursed with brown sun damage discoloration. Skin bleach was my only hope there.

COST: Here in Tampa, expect to pay at least 2500. I don't think this is bad because fraxel is about $500 each time, not including the pain-in-the-butt-factor.

OVERALL PERCEPTION:
Fast (45 min), one time - as opposed to fraxel 4+ visits
No risk of worse scarring (chem peel or co2 can scar)
High procedure pain factor (co2 is no pain because you are out)
Fair cost (CO2 would be 5k - anesthesia required -deep chem peel too)
Low post proceure pain (chem peel DID hurt afterwards)
Expect 4-6 days downtime (co2 or chem peel realistically at LEAST 10 days fraxel no downtime)

Actual improvement - I will know in about 4 months. So far I am really happy. I am glad to answer questions but admit I don't log on every single day ...
- tampagirl

Is anyone still reading this forum? A few of my scabs have fallen off to reveal craters much deeper that the original scars. What's other peoples experience? will these craters flatten out over time? When can I expect all of my scabs to be gone - its now day 9 and only about 10% have fallen off.

I have to go overseas in 4 days and I am scared my scars will look worse than before.

G

Check out this link.

It looks worse before it gets better I think.Btw,how much did you pay for deep FX?

What does the doc suggest to fix the problem?
Read the threads about stem cell repair,blood injections.

I just had Active Fx 5 days ago to try and diminish some of the icepick scarring that I have. It did hurt like hell, and up until day 4, I looked like an oompa loompa alien. I don't look too great right not either on day 5, but what is really upsetting me are the onset of huge cystic acne pimples on my chin and above my lip (I never get pimples above my lip) They make you wear a heavy layer of Vaseline or Aquaphor every day on the lasered skin. I am starting to slough off the old layer of skin, but I am really bummed out about the pimples I am getting. I hardly had any zits before that weren't due to self-infliction, because I have an OCD problem with picking clogged pores, but I've been better about picking lately and it improved my complexion, but now I have a whole bunch of zits, and it's not because I picked anything, they just appeared. I also have clogged pores which don't hurt, but the whiteheads are gross, and I had to gently squeeze them out, even though I probably shouldn't have, but what am I supposed to do? Ignore them? That is impossible for me. I don't know if this was worth it. I didn't want to pay a ton of money to help my existing scars only to get more deep acne which will lead to more scarring. I am 39 years old, and my skin looked pretty decent before the Active Fx (when I wasn't picking at my face), besides the icepick scarring that I've always been so self-conscious about. To be honest, maybe it is the swelling on the tissues that surround my scars, but I feel that my scars are actually MORE noticeable than they were before Active Fx. Only time will tell if this was really worth it or not. But I FREAKING HATE PIMPLES, and this caused more of them, lots more. I am actually really depressed right now. I have to keep Vaseline on my face which is making me paranoid that more and more pimples are sprouting under that thick layer of goo. This really sucks. I wouldn't suggest doing this to anyone that doesn't have too bad of a complexion, because I think this makes acne worse.