Fraxel Repair for Acne Scars - Birmingham, MI

I'm not seeing much improvement- the scars are a little shallower but my skin is still a little swollen so I think that's why- overall skin condition seems worse than before procedure....

I had bad acne when I was a teenager that resulted in acne scars. They have always really bothered me but much more so lately. As I'm getting older they seem to be getting worse and my Dr said that they would continue to get worse as the skin loses elasticity as you get older. I've done microdermabrasion, chemical peels and light therapies in the past. All make my skin look a little nicer in the short term but no real long term results for the scaring. I finally decided to go for the fraxel repair. My best friend knows a girl who worked as a fraxel sales rep for our area and asked her who the best Dr to go to for it was. She referred me to Dr. Charles Boyd in Birmingham. Coincidentally, I knew someone who went to him for fillers and she looks amazing. So I went for it. During my consultation I asked if I was going to be bloody like some of the pictures I'd seen online and he said no that I would be really sunburned looking afterwards. NOT TRUE! I went in for the procedure and they applied a numbing cream, asked if I had a driver so I could take a valium- um no? Didn't know I was supposed to... The procedure felt like hot knives ripping through my skin. The pain was so intense I was shaking and crying by the time it was done. It smelled like burning skin! I actually asked if my skin was burned off! I had no local anesthetic, which from what I'm reading now is crazy! I couldn't believe my face when I was done. I was bloody and swollen. I was so upset, I had to go home to my 2 young children like this. I was not prepared for this at all. The Dr had said I would just be really red and there are different kinds of fraxel and the pictures I must have seen were probably from the fully ablative laser that takes off the whole outer layer of skin- the kind done in the operating room. There was a huge misunderstanding there. Afterwards I wasn't in any pain, I slept elevated for three nights and never had too much swelling. I cleaned with hydrogen peroxide every few hours and applied tons of Aquaphor. A side note about hydrogen peroxide- it bleaches your skin. I had a false sense of improvement because of this. Once I stopped using the peroxide my skin became more red. By day 4 it started to itch pretty bad, I couldn't sleep at all so day 5 I took Benadryl before going to bed and either that helped the itching or just knocked me out enough where I didn't notice it! I think a little of both. My biggest concern are the lines on my face. They said I'd be pink in 5-7 days but what they didn't mention was that it would not be an even pink like I expected. I look blotchy, red in some areas and white in others. When I called to express this concern they assured me it would start to blend in 2 weeks or so- 2 weeks?? I look ridiculous. I could handle being pink but having the distinct lines of the laser tracks looks terrible. I can't pull this off as a little sunburn. Good thing I'm great with makeup. I'm just praying that they start to go away soon. Currently I'm on day 8 and my skin is much less itchy and irritated. I feel depressed because of the weird lines and unevenness of my skin. I just wish I was a more even pink. I can cover it with makeup but I need kind of a lot. I got a color-correcting CC cream by Stila and is amazing and I wear it around the house. It comes out green but blends into my skin and works pretty good. When I need to go out I use Dior Airflash foundation- its an airbrush foundation- expensive but amazing! When I have makeup on my skin actually looks pretty good- pretty smooth but I know there is still some micro swelling and that the scars will come back when that it all gone. As of now I would say I see am 80% improvement in the scarring but like I said I'm not counting on that being the end result. I would be happy if I get a 50% improvement though- if thats the case then I would say this horrible experience will have been worth it.