32 replies to this topic

[james77]

Take that monday off and by tuesday you'd look like you cut yourself shaving that's all.

[christpunchers]

Well I think fraxel as far as Ive been told can help with red marks that are slightly indented but it is quite expensive for what could possibly give you very very little improvement. Also it was not really made for red marks, more for wrinkles/sundamage but ive read stories about skin tone evening out but there are not enough posts about that to make me want to go do fraxel right away.

Right now my biggest problem are the red marks. Ever since Ive started taking care of my skin (in 2005) the tan that I once used to have disappeared and my skin appears more and more light (for an asian) since then. (I have NEVER wore sunscreen before I turned 20). As a result, my red marks dont blend in with the rest of my skin anymore and I begin to notice after some through exfoliation that I do some very shallow scarring but mostly what highlights the blemishes is the redness inside.

Im hoping that vbeam will get rid of the redness 100%, my face would look 85 percent better by then. Afterwards I should be able to pursuit fraxel or maybe even TCA cross as suggested by a local european beautican (who spent many years in south korea where its really popular). So yeah, as soon as I can get rid of the redness will work on the depressions aftewards. If vbeam dont work out then Ill go back to the beautican, she told me that I could try TCA right off the bat, maybe it will do something for redness maybe it wont, but she seems nice enough to work with me so she'll probably do a test spot before I commit to doing all my marks.

Btw james did your doc ever tell you if you could be cleared or are you just going with instinct that redness can be eliminated by 100%?

[legend08]

Ok i jsut found someones posts on here with pics of his v beam treatments before and after the treaments. kind of scary but its worth it to me if i can get rid my my redness which is a alot like u, 85% on my cheeks. http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php...p;#entry1797273

Oh when u got your V-beam treatment were u that red cause 2 days for that guy dosent look very presentable for school, i can say it dont look like a shaving accident lol

i just found this link http://youtube.com/watch?v=I2ONQYp3_T0 video on youtube on the Vbeam, it says that this personjust got it done and then went to work? comparing the link above of the guys pics i, i guess u could go to wrok but people might be wondering why your face was just hit with bat... Iam having second thoughts on the VB....

[sweeping]

I had vbeam done and there was very little downtime for me. I looked nothing like the guy in the other thread, but I think he also had another treatment that day. Besides, there are different settings for the machine. I think my redness disappeared later that day - next day I was fine. By the way, if you decide not get a numbing cream, it will hurt like a mothereffer, but it's still bearable. A derm mag article mentioned that it may be a bad idea to get numbed beforehand because you won't be able to tell if the treatment is too aggressive, which is the reason why some have bad reactions to it.

[sweeping]

By the way I can't believe the BS in the youtube video about the laser actually feeling good and tingly during the procedure. Again I want to say this thing hurts pretty bad - i'd say it's about as painful as pain gets before you have to start making noises.

[christpunchers]

lol ive done 4 ipls and one gemini and they ALL hurt, the IPL hurt the most, the gemini hurt the least. Im pretty sure Vbeam isnt comfortable at all but its within reason.

[james77]

Yes my derm said it would be 100% clear after 3-4 treatments. I don't doubt her. And no, my face didn't look like that guys, it was small red marks, like you get when you cut yourself shaving. It really does hurt, but nothing intense. Go get it done!

[legend08]

thx alot, yeah the thread on utube did sound like a scam but iam willing to take pain to get rid of the redness and scarring, but do i really have to not get the numbing gel stuff to tell if it is to intense? cause cant they just set it on a low intensity so it wont be ?
Oh sweeping, so u didnt have any swealing or anything like that and how much was cleared up for u after the treatment?

[legend08]

James, so the shaving scars even though i dont have mucht o shave yet lol it prolly looks a lot better than having redness from acne right?

[james77]

They can put the numbing cream on AFTER you get it done. And the first day, the bruises it makes are worse then the actual acne red marks. But, it's gone in a few hours... SO yeah

[legend08]

how much was cleared up b/c comparing the pics of the other guy in my thread and what u got it sounds like urs was low intensity, so how much was cleared up and how bad was ur acne?
and will the brusing be better if i dont use the numbing cream?

[james77]

My acne red marks were horrible. I have a regimen log under Topical called "New Laser: V-Beam" or something, on page 1 or 2. The last one was from 2/28/07. At 3/15/07 I got the V-Beam, it's probably ... 60% better now. My right side is pretty much all gone, I have about 8 red marks compared to around 150. My left side... eh... not so good. Next time they'll blast my left side. And, I have no idea what intensity it was. I did have swelling and redness, but the swelling went away in a few hours, the redness in about 2 days. The guy in the thread I saw had/has a pretty swole face and it's really red and peeling. I don't know, but definitely not what they promised me was "normal".

[christpunchers]

I think the biggest question is how long have you had these red marks? I think ive had them in some shape or form for years but just within the last 12 or so months theyve been REALLY noticable.