Isolaz : Light Therapy + Suction

Isolaz was described to me by my dermatologist as an `alternative to Accutane`. It was supposed to CURE my sudden and painful, cystic acne. Although these were far fetched claims, I was desperate for relief (as acne sufferers are) and dared to hope. Despite going regularly for treatments I broke out much worse (``Oh don`t worry, it`s just purging``) and at the end of 14 sessions was left with deeper acne, more scars, and new redness. Not to mention after every session I was left a swollen, red mess bleeding from my cysts. Please don`t waste your money on this treatment because you will most likely regret it. I know I do.

I went for a consulation for Ppx/Isolax at the Harley Medical Group. I suffer from mild acne on my skin. The nurse was very lovely and assured me that I will get rid of the spots on my skin including any blackheads. I decided to pay for 1 treatment before committing myself to 5. Before my treatment the nurse came in with a piece of paper and said " during the consulation you hear all the positive things but I am now going to tell you all the negative ones and please sign at the bottom". The side effects included hyper/ hypopigmentation, scarring, redness ( and many more things). I was so annoyed that after happily taking my money and although I specifically asked if there were side effects I was lied to and told there were none. I got so freaked out that I only got a small area of my chin treated. 2 months later I still have the spots that came out after the treatment. Although I was told that the spots that would have come out will come out I just think that it caused the oil to come to the surface and caused more congestion. I am so glad I did not allow them to do my whole face and that I did not pay for a course of treatmenrs. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY like I did. I wish I gave it to charity now and my deserperation wasn't exploited in this way.

My derm told me this was sure-fire solution basically. So I was optomistic. I am a teenager with mild acne and oily skin. I had three treatments, which is supposed to be enough. Isolaz is like a little vacuum, it sucks on your skin then zaps it with a laser, supposedly to kill the bacteria. So it makes sense in theory. PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY! It is disgustingly expensive and did nothing for me. I think it just gave me a bunch of blackheads because it brought all the oil to the surface.

Really expensive. Caused my ENTIRE face to break out, which I have never before in my life experienced. It is taking weeks to heal, which just infuriates me. I had the Isolaz treatments done first. Then, when my face broke out like mad (which was rather alarming to me), they tried Allumera and IPL to help "clear" me up. Well, the next week I had 8 cyst like lumps on my face. I have never had anything even remotely like this happen to me, even on my worst PMS days. I went to see a dermatologist for two small blemishes on my chin-the rest of my face was clear, believe me. This was just an awful experience and has taken weeks to heal. I ended up having to go see my dermatologist in Los Angeles to get this thing under control-I live in San Diego now so I had wanted to find a derm closer to home. Never again. I am still in the process of healing and it's been over two months now. TCA peels people. Take the ten day downtime of the TCA peel and watch it do wonders to clear your acne. Because when you consider the alternative, weeks and/or months of downtime, from major breakouts from having ISOLAZ treatments, well, 10 days is nothing compared! Just make sure you have a professional (and ask for references) giving you the peel. A doctor is best to see for this. And just so you know, on top of the TCA peel I had, I've had to be put on both oral and topical antibiotics to help get this thing under control. The good news is, its working. But what a nightmare and what a waste of money on top of days worth of freaking out over what this ridiculous treatment caused me to suffer from. I cannot stress enough to those thinking about doing ISOLAZ, DON'T! Don't do it.

I did not have this treatment for acne but for visable thread veins on my cheeks and nose. While after my 1st treatment I was left with bearable bruising, after the 2nd treatment I was left with serious rectangular burn marks all over my cheeks and scarring where blisters eventually healed within the borders of the rectangles. My face was also swollen for 4 days following the treatment. The procedure was extremely painful at times and although I was in tears, the nurse operating the machine encouraged me to go on, and because she was a medical professional I trusted her. I guess the lesson is to listen to your body and if you think something is wrong speak up!! I was being physically burned but thought that I must just be over reacting to the pain. I have paid £450 for 5 sessions of Isolaz which I will not now be completing and I doubt that I will be refunded any money. I really don't care about the money as much as I am distressed by the damage to my face which I fear is permanent (and ironically may only be salvagable with further laser treatment) I know that this treatment works for some people and I would say that where my skin has not been burned (where a lower setting was used) the skin texture is improved and smoother. But due to my overall experience I would not recommend this treatment as the risks are, in my mind, too great. If you are determined to have this, then please be aware that it is certainly not painless and if you feel severe pain during ask the nurse/doctor to stop before permanent damage is done.