73 replies to this topic

[DudleyDoRight]

She also sold me some sort of cream with bisabolol in it that is supposed to accelerate healing and prevent PIH. I don't know...I kind of feel like I got suckered. : P

Minty, I am not sure what you mean by your last comment. Bisabolol sounds legitimate.
http://www.dermaxime.com/bisabolol.htm

[DudleyDoRight]

Dudley, I'm confused. You gave a link that lists the specs of Active FX and Deep FX along with Repair.

http://www.mixtoskinresurfacing.com/downlo...heticTrends.pdf

The specs say Active FX has an ablation depth of 120 microns whereas Deep FX has a depth of 700 micron. Repair is listed has having a depth up to 1.6mm.

After further reading on MedicalSpa, I believe that posting is correct I think deeper ablative depth is why Repair is the most expensive procedure.

[Minty Peas]

Minty, I am not sure what you mean by your last comment. Bisabolol sounds legitimate.
http://www.dermaxime.com/bisabolol.htm

I just mean I'm not sure it's as great a product as it claims to be. It was quite pricey, so if it doesn't do anything I will feel ripped off. I'll keep using it for a couple weeks and see how it goes.

[zrbx]

My derm always prescribe me bisabolol. Don't know if helps, but acts like anti inflamatory.
How your treatment is going Minty?

[Minty Peas]

Okay, so I do kind of like this cream. It naturally has a sort of yellow/beige color which does wonders to help camouflage the redness. So I guess I like it for that reason, but a green liquid primer would have had the same effect at less cost. Well, it's only been three days so we shall see. I do feel that the skin on my cheeks is less dry. I also stopped trying to use the powdered mineral foundation from Everyday Minerals and switched to a liquid foundation (glominerals) so that's probably helping to keep my skin moist too.

xrbx - I'm pretty much back to my normal life now, just waiting for the redness to go away. At this point there is really nothing to do but wait and see. Although I can't see my scars at all right now, they will come back into view as the microswelling goes down. I won't really be able to report on any real improvement for another three months or so. :)

[Minty Peas]

Bad bad bad. One of these two products (bisabolol cream, glominerals foundation) is breaking me out. For the time being I am stopping both products and waiting for my acne to clear up. Once I'm clear again I'll reintroduce my skin to one product at a time to determine which is to blame.

[Minty Peas]

Well, it looks like the new Glominerals foundation the doctor sold me on was to blame for my breakout. Money down the drain.

I went out and bought Bare Minerals and, although it is a powder foundation, for some reason it looks a lot better than Everyday Minerals on my skin. It doesn't settle into the pores and lines as much. Maybe it's made with larger particles, I don't know.

Anyway, it's been a month (in three days). Still red, but getting better every week. Skin texture feels normal now. It doesn't feel any different or dryer than the surrounding skin when I run my finger over it.

Scars also look good. Swelling is down and scars are visible again, but looking very good. In my bathroom mirror I only really notice them at certain angles. Right now I'd say my scars are 70-80% improved after two rounds of Total Fx. Despite the redness, I feel so cute!

I am excited to go back to my doctor and see my followup photos in a few weeks. Here's to seeing continued improvement over the next six months.

[DudleyDoRight]

MintyPeas, You Go Girl!! The best part is the way it makes you feel about yourself.

[raiderdood]

always brings a smile to see someone beating their scars!

congrats on your current success and wish for more to come as your skin heals!

any chance we could get before/after pics?

[Minty Peas]

Thanks you guys! It really does feel great to finally see something making a difference!
Like Dudley I had an expensive dermabrasion procedure about 5 years ago, and it did nothing for me.

I will definitely be sharing the pictures with you all. I like to use the ones my doctor takes because I know they're in the same lighting at the same distance, etc. I also have my own photos, but I feel they are somewhat less reliable.

[annasui]

Thanks for the links, Dudley.

Here is some information I found about Deep Fx settings:

http://www.medicalspamd.com/clinical-user-...ian/post/532580

DeepFx Energy and Depth

10 mj = 900-1200 microns
15 mj = 1300-1700 microns
17.5 mj = 1600-2000 microns

1000 microns = 1 mm

So my treatment at 15mj was at a depth between 1.3 and 1.7mm.

hi there! ive found a paper by lumenis indicating ablation depth/energy of their system!
acc to this your ablation depth was about .45mm, ablation+thermal residual zone .6mm - individual "effect" may vary slightly


http://www.newhopelaser.com/Guidelines.pdf

Edited by annasui, 11 September 2009 - 06:08 AM.

[simplybeautiful]

I checked out the fractionalc02.com site and sent in a question about how effective the lasers are in the treatment of acne scarring and how much of a difference the depth of penetration could change your results. Apparently, they have received this question quite a bit and have a Cosmetic Dermatologist that is writing an article about this issue. I looked her up and she doesn't have any financial involvement with the laser companies or the fractional laser site.

I feel like a lot of the doctors out there only sell the procedure that they offer in their office or get paid to promote. It just seems like a lot of fluff in most cases. Dr. Tierney works at Boston University and she does not have any affiliation with any of these companies. She will also cover the difference between Fraxel Re:pair and SmartXide Co2 Laser.

I just think this will be an interesting article as I have been contemplating Fractional laser treatment for the last 6 months.

[DudleyDoRight]

Annasui, Great Link!! That is the kind of info I love!!

SimplyBeautiful, always keep researching. You are on the right track.

[annasui]

[quote name='DudleyDoRight' date='Sep 11 2009, 07:34 PM' post='2706949']
Annasui, Great Link!! That is the kind of info I love!!

(: actually i would not have looked for it if you wouldnt have incited me to by providing slightly different information!

however i noticed that there just the a-depth graph for the active fx while theres both, an ablation depht + thermal depth graph for the deep fx! if i was to provide information about my products i would make sure its equally detailed...

[DudleyDoRight]

Annasui, perhaps there is insufficient thermal damage with Active FX to bother accounting for. I think Active FX is pretty mild compared to Deep FX.

http://www.aesthetic.lumenis.com/wt/page/activefx

[annasui]

i agree as regarding the mildness of the Active FX - however i think i prefer its bigger spotsize^^ (cause theres a greater chance to cover scarred tissue tho i know density settings, patterns etc have to be taken into account as well...)

how about the repairs spot size, max ablation depth?

---

does anyone know about ultra pulse, super pulse (and CW)?

[DudleyDoRight]

Annasui, Here I come with another link. This should answer your questions. What I like about the Re:pair is the method of delivery that appears to create less "line" problems. The Re:pair is applied with a rolling motion while all the others are done in sections.

http://www.fractionalco2.com/comparison.html

[annasui]

great link! the spot sizes seem to be correct: (i def know for the Mixto + Active,Deep FX) - but again the ablation depth seems to be conflicting: (Lumenis - compared to that paper)

funny thing is that in my imagination theres more potential overlapping with the repair, i think the scanner is a little unhandy when it comes to certain areas (but actually ive never seen the repair scanner, just the restore one which i assume is of same size)

what i dont like about the active, deep fx device is that it isnt placed "directly on the skin" (in contrast to Mixto and Fraxel) - how can they adjust the distance as everyone's shape is different (not sure if u understand lol)

i would prefer the repairs 600um spot size to the deep fx 120um

[Minty Peas]

I went back to my doctor on Friday and had some followup pictures taken. Unfortunately my skin was very red and irritated that day so the pictures didn't come out very well.

I could still see enough that I was very disappointed. I saw visible and significant improvement after the first round of Total FX, but after the 2nd one it doesn't look like I got much more. And my scars are still very bad. We talked a little bit about fillers, and I said I would try it. I booked an appointment for this coming Friday.

I ended up crying that night, wondering if I would ever be able to look normal.

I took these pictures today. Both of my right cheek from different angles. I don't know what to do anymore...

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[testytest]

you know... I know this probably isn't going to help but I still do see improvement from where you were at originally. At the same time, I can truly feel your pain, and trust me, my scars are FAR worse than yours but nonetheless, it would still be very dishearteningl. I am about to get my first treatment next Thursday and if i were to see not see dramatic improvements, i would seriously be very sad as well.

For what its worth, you're a beautiful person and you are a trooper for going onto this board and sharing all the valuable information that you've provided. You've helped people like myself set my expectations and provided us with what to expect from theses treatments.