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laser damaged my skin/ REVIEW

MemberMember
8
(@leilazarhotmail-com)

Posted : 04/10/2020 3:47 pm

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THIS IS A LONG REVIEW BUT I HAVE DECIDED TO COVER EVERY DETAIL SINCE IT CAN BE USEFUL FOR OTHER PATIENTS. This Review is about Dr. Cynthia Lopez in Fresno, CA

 
I decided to believe in Dr. Lopez's professionalism and persued a procedure that she had recommended to me in order to diminish my acne scars. During my consultation, she suggested two different procedures for me. One involved Jplasma and the other procedure involved Co2 and Erbium.
 
During my consultation with her, she took her time and explained a lot of details. She had stated that with Jplasma I would only need one session and I will see at least 75% improvement. With the other lasers, I would need to do the procedure 3 times in order to see 80% improvement. She explained that Jplasma maybe a better choice, however, there is a higher chance that I would experience hyperpigmentation, and she noted that Jplasma is not FDA approved. With the Co2 with Erbium option, she did mention how I may experience some hyperpigmentation as well. She put these in writing and wanted to make sure I understood what the risks were,
As time went by, I contacted her and informed her that I would play it safer and stay away from Jplasma since it's not FDA approved.
Since I have darker skin, the chances of post-procedural pigmentation issues may be higher with that option. She agreed that my logic was sound. With the Co2 based treatment, Dr. Lopez mentioned that I would see 50% improvement after the first round, and 30% more improvement from rounds two and three.
 
I ended up doing the procedure and hoped and prayed that I would see some improvement. As several weeks went by and the swelling had subsided, I noticed that my face looked saggier and thinner with dents, and a lot of the scars looked deeper. My family and my friends also mentioned that my skin looked different and were all concerned as to whether this is normal?
 
I wasn't sure what to believe because I had tried other procedures for my acne scars in the past including dermabrasion and lasers. I had never experienced negative results like these and thankfully I never experienced hyperpigmentation either.
 
2.5 months after the procedure, I went in for my post-op appointment. I took pictures and I was impatiently waiting to see how it looked compared with my before pictures since I knew my skin looked different, and not in a good way. When the pictures were put on the computer screen, the more I compared the two, the more I realized that my loved ones were right. My skin looked different and not in a good way. When Dr. Lopez entered the room, I mentioned it to her and she stated how we should not look at the overall skin and we should look at the individual scars. Once she zoomed in on the pictures, she pointed out a couple of scars that looked shallower. She stated how my skin has improved by 50%. Also, my dents look more visible because scars have improved, and suggested that I have dents on my face because I used to be on Accuten and other types of fillers.
 
I did agree that a couple of the scars were shallower, however, I kept looking at the scars that were deeper and how my overall skin was looking older after the procedure. It was really hurting me on the inside. However, out of respect for the doctor, I tried to keep it to myself. However, I couldn't hold my emotions and ended up bursting into tears. I told her how having good skin has always been a dream and how my scars have had a negative impact on my life and my confidence.
 
 After my appointment, I contacted her again and explained how fearful I was about going under the laser again since my dents may look more visible and my skin might sag even more. She again said that my dents look more visible because my scars have improved.
 
The vulnerable person I am replied by saying okay I believe in your judgment and perhaps I need more lasers as you recommend in order to improve my overall skin. Again a couple of days after my post-op appointment, I visited another friend who honestly told me that my skin looks as if I have aged a lot in a short amount of time. That's when I decided to take matters into my own hands and analyze the pictures myself. I asked the office assistant to send the before and after pictures.
 
After looking at the photos on an HD TV screen, my skin does indeed look horrible compared with before. My scars are deeper, my skin looks thinner, and I look older.
 
I immediately sent the pictures to Dr.Lopez and told her to review the pictures again. She immediately replied by saying how it's because I've lost weight and my lips look thinner too. I was astonished by her reply. For a patient to be blamed, and for the doctor to abdicate her professional responsibility was devastating. I responded by explaining that I had actually gained weight since the procedure because I couldn't leave the house after the procedure. Further, every doctor knows that fillers in lips dissolve over time and that's why my lips may have appeared thinner.
 
 Dr. Lopez responded by saying that she didn't mean to blame me and it may be possible that I've had facial tissue loss. She also stated how on the big tv screen it was shown how my skin had improved. Once again, I do acknowledge that couple scars had become shallower, while other scars are deeper and my overall skin is thinner and saggier.
The nice person I am, I thanked her for understanding and told her how I'm going through a lot of anxiety and depression regarding the appearance of my skin, and I wasn't sure what to do at that point. I also mentioned to her how horrified I am to go under another laser treatment.
Unfortunately, I waited a week for her to reply to me with any sign of empathy or an alternative solution, but heard nothing from her or her office.
 I felt I was all alone in this situation and was going through panic attacks. I was confused and lost about what to do. I decided to do a consultation with a cosmetic surgeon to hear his recommendation. He informed me that my skin has definitely been affected by the aggressive laser, and that I'm now in need of a facelift and facial fat grafting.
 
I emailed the office again and pointed out all of my issues and explained my situation. I also sent the doctor more pictures of how my skin is looking as days go by. I also asked them for a refund because I would have to spend even more money to fix my skin. Not only has my skin failed to improve by 50% , but it also looks worse.
 
Her patient coordinator responded that Dr. Lopez "does inform and explain the options for their problem, including her fees". Also, "she does give a paper copy of her treatment plans and corresponding fees to patients, so it will be easier to remember what was discussed".
I do agree with this statement, however, in her paper, she wrote how I will expect 50% improvement and how there is a risk of hyperpigmentation. Never once I was told I may have thinner, saggier skin with deeper scars. I was never told that if a patient loses weight, their entire face may look worse. Again, please keep in mind that I never lost any weight and over the months. I've actually gained weight.
 
These procedures were the doctor's recommendations. I do agree I was never forced into getting these procedures and that it was my choice to go ahead with it. However, as patients, we believe that our doctors are making the best recommendations for us based on their medical training and experience.
 
The Dr. Lopez's office also mentioned how they encourage patients to do their own research based on the doctor's recommendation. I had done my research prior to the procedure. In the past, I had gone under laser treatments, however, I never had these kinds of issues. Unfortunately, we can't do detailed research because we never know the exact details of the intensity of the lasers, the penetration level or how much of our skin will be removed. We leave these judgments to our doctors.
 
The doctor also stated in their email that "we have had patients that follow the doctor's recommendation and achieve great results. You still have 2nd and 3rd treatments to go". Perhaps there are patients who luckily have had this procedure before with success. However, not every skin type is the same. Some patients may have thicker skin to begin with prior to this procedure.
My issue is how my overall skin looks after the procedure. How can I go under the same procedure and feel safe about it when I'm experiencing negative results from it now. I'm truly frightened by lasers now since the results can be unpredictable. What if I go under more laser and I'm left with super thin skin over bones. since a lot of my scars are deeper now, I may have more intensive deeper scars with the second or 3rd treatment.
It's not right for me to go under this much stress while being told that 2 more lasers are needed in order to see improvement.
The first part of the procedure is the most important factor. You can tell whether or not your skin has been improved or damaged by it. Unfortunately in my case, my skin has been damaged.
 
Overall, this has been a really difficult time for me. I never imagined going through a situation like this. To take no responsibility, to blame the patient, and to say that more lasers are needed to see improvement is not right. This first procedure has damaged my skin.
 
It was never my intention to spend so much money to be left with saggier/thinner skin, and deeper scars. I worked so hard to save all this money in the hopes of having better skin. Now I have to spend more money and go under surgeries to fix these issues. I just wish some doctors were more understanding about how situations like this can impact the patient's life. I wish they knew how hard we have to work to save money for procedures like this and to have reverse results is every patient's worse nightmare. Every patient deserves empathy and professionalism from their doctor.
I've been going to bed every night with tears while regretting my choice.

I hope this review helps individuals who are thinking about going under a laser procedure to think twice about it. If something goes wrong, you may be left alone and will have to save more money to fix the issues while having to deal with emotional distress. Going under more lasers is not going to guarantee better results, and may create even bigger issues than you started with.

 

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MemberMember
23
(@sarathegerman)

Posted : 04/11/2020 11:56 am

Excuse me for asking but how old are you?

You are right btw there is fat loss but in general I would not say that your skin looks horrible at all

If it bothers you a lot you could get filler

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MemberMember
7
(@bryan-trejos)

Posted : 04/11/2020 1:24 pm

Te comprendo totalmente, lastimosamente no soy un especialista para recomendarte algo, hay un tipo llamado "BeautifulAmbition" que te podr­a dar consejos con experiencia, mandale un mensaje privado ya que recientemente no contesta en los post..

Buena suerte y si quieres hablar con alguien me puedes escribir, se c³mo te sientes :(

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MemberMember
65
(@charisma786)

Posted : 04/11/2020 2:40 pm

Laser wrecked my skin as well. What laser does to some of us (and i have very thick skin btw that still reacted negatively to laser) is it destroys our good tissue. My good skin was ruined and I have fat loss in my forehead and upper cheeks (something non existent in my family as my parents in their 70's don't even have this issue or any siblings) now. I would only recommend people do needling treatments and subcision to lift their scars as much as they can and then do a final chemical peel. I am very anti energy devices after my experience. Not every skin type can tolerate energy devices and it should be thought about very carefully before doing it.

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MemberMember
8
(@leilazarhotmail-com)

Posted : 04/12/2020 1:43 am

Did u try to get back ur money? Im so sick of doctors who think they can ruin patients skin and take zero responsibility towards it. Its time for a judge to decide on this

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MemberMember
0
(@monkieturtlegmail-com)

Posted : 04/12/2020 11:44 pm

On 4/11/2020 at 12:40 PM, charisma786 said:

Laser wrecked my skin as well. What laser does to some of us (and i have very thick skin btw that still reacted negatively to laser) is it destroys our good tissue. My good skin was ruined and I have fat loss in my forehead and upper cheeks (something non existent in my family as my parents in their 70's don't even have this issue or any siblings) now. I would only recommend people do needling treatments and subcision to lift their scars as much as they can and then do a final chemical peel. I am very anti energy devices after my experience. Not every skin type can tolerate energy devices and it should be thought about very carefully before doing it.

Do you recommendRF microneedling or the traditional microneedling? Im afraid of RF microneedling because it is an energy device too.

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MemberMember
65
(@charisma786)

Posted : 04/15/2020 2:22 am

On 4/12/2020 at 12:43 AM, Aba2020 said:

Did u try to get back ur money? Im so sick of doctors who think they can ruin patients skin and take zero responsibility towards it. Its time for a judge to decide on this

No because I take sole responsibility for doing 8 fraxel repairs (3 or 4 were done at higher settings and the rest were lower settings) and I really should have known better and so should my doctor.

 

On 4/12/2020 at 10:44 PM, monkieturtle said:

Do you recommendRF microneedling or the traditional microneedling? Im afraid of RF microneedling because it is an energy device too.

I did one of these from Dr. Weiner in Florida and my skin doesn't care for it. I think energy devices are fine if you do them once or twice but also everyone's skin is different but like I said my very thick skin didn't tolerate energy devices (every derm has commented on how thick my skin is)so I can imagine a thinner skinned person might have bad results. In my case I should have stopped Fraxel after the second or third time and not wasted my money because my scars weren't level enough for laser to be fully successful for me right off the bat. I had to level my scarsfirst so that's why my procedures are all going backwards now.I was doing microneedling before the pandemic monthly and my skin seemed to like that. My objective is to do subcision, microneedling and maybe TCA peels while alternating and giving breaks in between and finishing off with a possible Phenol peel from Dr. Rullan (who I have seen twice). I am terrified of lasers but I am lucky the damage is minimal but it's still noticeable enough that my current derm is bothered by my fat loss and wants to do fillers on me (which I am refusing right now but may get later on). For now I follow the AsianBeauty skincare so lots of hydration lots of layers, double cleansing and so on and I use tazorac and vitamin c serums and an AHA alternating between them daily. And I haven't had breakouts in more than a decade (I am in my thirties).

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MemberMember
7
(@cookingeng)

Posted : 04/17/2020 6:35 am

unfortunately it often takes experiances like this to realise that these derms do not care about you at all and are only after your money

for them its win win, if you get botched and become a suicidal recluse it is irrelevent for them when they are relaxing in a 5 star hotel in dubai with your money

like you said, you sign the form which states you may get worse skin, its just they always make it seem like this is a <1% chance when in reality its more like 60-70%

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MemberMember
204
(@dazzed)

Posted : 04/17/2020 7:18 am

I am a long time member here, and not another drive by post. I had Mixto laser once by Rahimi in LA just on my cheeks and after the inital swelling went down I was struck by how much worse my texture as. I was not imagining it because I did not do my whole face. I immediately noticed the abrupt change in texture and demarcation lines in my skin. You could literally see where the laser started and stopped. Mixto is a fractional laser, and I could visibly see the little holes from where the laser ablated the skin. The hyperpigmenation was horrendous and lasted for a good year, but the texture remained.

Over the years it has become less noticeable, but if you looked up close you can still see the demarcation between treated and untreated and the tiny holes of removed skin.

I have been to many doctors over the years and am well versed in all their tactics to gaslight you and make you second guess yourself. I even had one accuse me of body dysmorphia even in the face of photographic evidence that my skin was jacked up and made worse. Reading your post, I can already see her pulling from the same bag of tricks. If you feel strong, pursue it court. You may end up with an out of court settlement.

 

 

 

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