32 replies to this topic

[legend08]

Hey ive been using a retin cream for bout 2 months and the minocycline pills for bout a month and i havent seen much improvment at all in my acne. Ive been considering trying out fraxel or Smooothbeam and V-Beam ,but was wondering how many treatments would be nessasery and if theres redness and swelling thats very noticable after treatment, this all considering i have moderate severe acne on both cheeks along with acne scarring.

[legend08]

well how long of using retin-a will breakouts stop coming or at least subside a little?

[james77]

Ok. I am/was in the same boat with you.

I used taz cream (same as retin-a just the highest of them all). I started Blue-U (kills acne bacteria) for 6 weeks, once a week for 30 minutes. Then I waited a week, and started V-Beam. I do V-Beam alone since Smoothbeam I heard can cause acne breakouts after it. I've only done 1 treatment, but WOW what a difference. My next one is April 25th.

[legend08]

ok well can u tell me some details on your v-beam treeatment, like was there redness for a long time? also how long will retin-A cause me to hve breakout cause i thought i was over the initial breakouts, which is how i have so many scars on my cheeks... and usualy still have 4 pimples coming around

[james77]

ok well can u tell me some details on your v-beam treeatment, like was there redness for a long time? also how long will retin-A cause me to hve breakout cause i thought i was over the initial breakouts, which is how i have so many scars on my cheeks... and usualy still have 4 pimples coming around

V-Beam treatment:
They made me wash my face with cetaphil in an office waiting room. I waited about 15 minutes until they called me in, they made me put on those silly eye-caps you see the tanners wear. It took about 2 minutes total. They put a numbing lotion on afterwards. I had 89 shocks on my right cheek and 58 on my left. It hurts, but it didnt make my eyes tear up or scream or anything. Afterwards I looked at my face once and wanted to vomit. I had about 21 bruises on my right side of my face and 13ish on the left. They were red, like my skin got ripped off there. It was REALLY bad for about 2-3 days. Then I could go out again. No one asked "What's that?!?!?!" around day 8 they were completely gone.

Retin-A:
I never had a break out on any retinoid. Call me lucky. But, at 12 weeks, all your skin will have flipped so you shouldn't get any/very much anymore.

I hope I helped. I would really recommend you getting a V-Beam. It's amazing.

[legend08]

i just dont wanna show up at school with bruses and stuff just to make it look totlay worse than it already is but i hope ur right bout the retin-a cream cause iam on week 7 and iam not seeing any letting up on the redness and whiteheads ... But what do u know bout fraxel, with that leave me with bruses and stuff?

[christpunchers]

Hey james what your skin like before vbeam, what did you do it for and how were the results?

[theblueprint2004]

hey legend08 i have very strong feelings about the fraxel i think it has little improvment to show for the procedure. there is a fraxel 1 and 2 but they are both scams why would there be a fraxel 2 if 1 worked? just go for the real deal and facts use the ALA Photodynamic therapy which is cheaper than fraxel or use the v beam or ray the other dude on this message post told you about. be prepared to looked disgusted with your self if you use ALA or v beam this is no joke this is serious shit for us desperate people and be prepared to be out for a long time maybe 8 months in darkness if you use 1 or more treatments.


caution - try ALA or the other procedure the dude talked about before that fraxel shit - fraxel in my opinion is a fucken scam but that is just me.

[christpunchers]

Uh... what? Okay i know about the fraxel stuff and how its really risky since you may not get any results at all, but you said one may have to hide for MONTHS if they do vbeam? The derms told me it would take a week or two for most of the side-effects to clear up?

[jeffy83]

before i got vbeam i researched fraxel.. and the doctors and websites said fraxel isn't for acne or acne scarring.. its for wrinkles and sun damage.. i looked at before and after pictures of patients having 4 or more treatments and i wasn't really impressed with their results.. vbeam is for acne and acne scarring..

[james77]

My skin before V-Beam = Very very red, tons of blood red marks all over my face. I'd say I had about 150 on my right side and 95ish on my left (yes i counted :\) RIGHT AFTERWARDS it was even more red and lots of purple/deep red marks and I hated them. I didn't go to school the monday. ( I had it done on a friday afternoon.) Now, my skin is feeling good. It's not red, I still do have red marks, but I wouldnt consider them "red" they'r'e fading I can see it. I have another one in a week. Fraxel causes serious bruising for 2-4 weeks. They say it's "slight" downtime. That is definitely putting it lightly; unless you have a ton of self esteem/blind. I would really really get V-Beam done A.S.A.P. Don't waste time. Yeah, it was $200 for me, but money is not a problem for my family, but if it is for you. I would look into 10-11 chemical peels/home kit peels. Or the photodynamic therapy if you are interested.

[legend08]

so u had bout what 1 week till the spots and red marks were gone for u?

[christpunchers]

So okay you're saying your marks are bad to begin with, my marks are not as bad on good days, but theyve been there for over a year, do i still have hope to fade them back to normal color? Ive been gathering information and it seems that theres no hope for red marks to disappear 100%.... its quite disappointing but if the redness is inside a scar i guess that would make sense since the scar may not be in its final form.

Also how does vbeam compare to other options (peels, dermabrasion, etc)?

[legend08]

Just to be clear what dose V-beam clear up? Cause i have a lot of redness on the cheeks and just marks that i really dont like with a mix of white heads. Will V-beam fix that up?

[james77]

V-Beam will take care of your red marks (fixes broken capillaries). It won't do a single thing for your whiteheads. And, it's better then peels. You need 10 chemical peels to compare with 3 V-Beam's. Dermabrasion I heard takes about 6-7, but I've never had one so I can't help you there.

[christpunchers]

james, using vbeam, is there any hope for 100% clearance on the red marks (the ones that are not scarred/depressed/indented) or can one only expect improvements (80%ish)?

[james77]

After 1 treatment I got cleared about 50-60%, I'm sure by my 3rd or 4th it will be 100% gone. I just have about 3-4 indented scars, hopefully I can find something to help those other then a fraxel. Only heard bad talk about it, and it's $1000 at my derm... per treatment... and I'd need 5...

[legend08]

well if i got it on a friday, tell me when the brusing would go away so i look normal cause i got school every week and id rather not show up like i got hit in the face by a car...