8 hours ago, helloitsmee said:I am wondering how long it will be before I look fairly normal after CO2 treatment. I was told 2 weeks after I can start to wear makeup - but Ive seen others saying they waited6 weeks?!
anyone have any insight or experience with this?
It depends on how aggressive the treatment is. If it's "non-ablative" laser, then probably less than 2 weeks. If "ablative, likely 6 weeks.
45 minutes ago, Sirius Lee said:It depends on how aggressive the treatment is. If it's "non-ablative" laser, then probably less than 2 weeks. If "ablative, likely 6 weeks.
6 weeks?! Jesus. Yes its ablative... but hoping to return to work after 2... no chancein hell I can hide for 6!
11 hours ago, helloitsmee said:I am wondering how long it will be before I look fairly œnormal after CO2 treatment. I was told 2 weeks after I can start to wear makeup - but I™ve seen others saying they waited 6 weeks?!
anyone have any insight or experience with this?
Yes I have experience with this you will look normal most likely after two weeks. You can definitely wear make up at that time and there is no need to go into hiding for 6 weeks lol. I mean you™ll still be red and you™ll still be healing but you™ll look normal enough after the two weeks and make up will hide redness 
That™s my experience with fully ablative erbium. I™m not a stranger to aggressive laser treatments and that™s my experience.
1 hour ago, shei514 said:Yes I have experience with this you will look normal most likely after two weeks. You can definitely wear make up at that time and there is no need to go into hiding for 6 weeks lol. I mean you™ll still be red and you™ll still be healing but you™ll look normal enough after the two weeks and make up will hide redness
That™s my experience with fully ablative erbium. I™m not a stranger to aggressive laser treatments and that™s my experience.
Yes, two weeks should be good enough. I had aggressive fractional CO2 laser done and I was bloody and scabby for the first week. I completely peeled in about 8-10 days. It's probably best to add a few days after the scabs come off.
On 3/2/2021 at 12:14 AM, Amanda Hall said:Yes, two weeks should be good enough. I had aggressive fractional CO2 laser done and I was bloody and scabby for the first week. I completely peeled in about 8-10 days. It's probably best to add a few days after the scabs come off.
Thank you! I hope so... did you find you had good results?
On 3/1/2021 at 11:09 PM, shei514 said:Yes I have experience with this you will look normal most likely after two weeks. You can definitely wear make up at that time and there is no need to go into hiding for 6 weeks lol. I mean you™ll still be red and you™ll still be healing but you™ll look normal enough after the two weeks and make up will hide redness
That™s my experience with fully ablative erbium. I™m not a stranger to aggressive laser treatments and that™s my experience.
Oh I think that™s the same one I™m having! How did you find the results?
im relieved, I™ve already been in hiding with my recent punch excision marks so I don™t want to be in too long with CO2!!
5 hours ago, helloitsmee said:Thank you! I hope so... did you find you had good results?
Oh I think thats the same one Im having! How did you find the results?
im relieved, Ive already been in hiding with my recent punch excision marks so I dont want to be in too long with CO2!!
Yes, I've written about this numerous times but I realize that I'm talking to different people. Lol.
My most aggressive laser treatment helped smooth out some boxcars and one crater scar. The shallow one on my forehead isn't even noticeable now. But there were still scars (mostly deeper) that didn't see improvement. A second treatment "lifted" a few other scars. With the most aggressive one, recovery was about 7-10 days and no fun. I was scabbing like crazy. I also got new scars from it - either from treatment or recovery. Hyperpigmentation lasted about 2-3 months but it eventually went away.Overall, it was worth it though.
I've also had it done by another doctor with less aggressive settings and I didn't see any changes - I just got PIH. Had Erbium done several times on a few scars and that treatment is too light for me. I've only seen Dr. Lim (and maybe Emer) go deep with an Erbium laser. Still, CO2 can go deeper.
On 3/3/2021 at 8:48 PM, Amanda Hall said:Yes, I've written about this numerous times but I realize that I'm talking to different people. Lol.
My most aggressive laser treatment helped smooth out some boxcars and one crater scar. The shallow one on my forehead isn't even noticeable now. But there were still scars (mostly deeper) that didn't see improvement. A second treatment "lifted" a few other scars. With the most aggressive one, recovery was about 7-10 days and no fun. I was scabbing like crazy. I also got new scars from it - either from treatment or recovery. Hyperpigmentation lasted about 2-3 months but it eventually went away.Overall, it was worth it though.
I've also had it done by another doctor with less aggressive settings and I didn't see any changes - I just got PIH. Had Erbium done several times on a few scars and that treatment is too light for me. I've only seen Dr. Lim (and maybe Emer) go deep with an Erbium laser. Still, CO2 can go deeper.
What skin type are you ? And did u always getPIH after fractional CO2 ?
On 3/4/2021 at 3:34 AM, helloitsmee said:Thank you! I hope so... did you find you had good results?
Oh I think thats the same one Im having! How did you find the results?
im relieved, Ive already been in hiding with my recent punch excision marks so I dont want to be in too long with CO2!!
The results werent great. I actually needed a lot of manual work done but I started off with lasers as I was told this was the best course of action. Spent a lot of money for basically nothing. I was told I would get 50% improvement and was desperate. But that is just my story and everyones story is a little different. Lasers have helped me in my scar revision journey so Im not hating on them.
@shei514Can I ask how long the redness persisted? I just got fractional ablative erbium 3 days ago.
Just wanted to comment to people on terminology I found confusing at first because somearen't answering the OP's question: "non-ablative" is basically a weaker laser that is good for some things but not acne scars really. "Ablative" is stronger (more downtime) and good for acne scars. "Fully ablative" means you're treating the whole skin surface with this ablative laser, which is in contrast to "fractional ablative" where you're treating some areas but leaving small areas in between intact (imagine you put a filter with holes in it in front of the fully ablative laser, something with the pattern of a cheese grater).
From what I've heard from two doctors, fully ablative (CO2 or erbium)has the most downtime. I was told about 2 weeks, but also that you can expect to be MILDLY red/pink even3 months after (different skin types respond differently). It doesn't sound like you need to hide from people after 2 weeks, but just something to keep in mind. Both doctors said you definitely shouldn't go to the beach until you're no longer pink.
15 hours ago, shei514 said:The results werent great. I actually needed a lot of manual work done but I started off with lasers as I was told this was the best course of action. Spent a lot of money for basically nothing. I was told I would get 50% improvement and was desperate. But that is just my story and everyones story is a little different. Lasers have helped me in my scar revision journey so Im not hating on them.
Everyone's scars are different. Lasers would probably be a bad choice for icepick and rolling scars. Also, the type of laser makes a difference. I got no results from Erbium and non-ablative lasers. I also had a fractional CO2 treatment that only got me PIH. But when another doctor used that same laser with different settings, I saw results. So it's also the doctor. There are a lot of factors.
Subcision didn't work for me but that's because my scars are mostly mild-moderate boxcar. I haven't had enough Cross treatments to say it's effective for me. So again, scars and different and things don't work for everyone.