two months later....

i would say, so far a success! i'm still waiting, though, because when i had a similar procedure done 5 years ago the most dramatic results actually took over a year to come about.


(taken about a week ago with my webcam)

6 years ago the scars on that side of my face were deep and red, and immediately after, they were still quite deep and still pink. it was only after a while that they gradually healed and got better.





you'll see there is still a pink square where the zapping happened, and some (shallower) marks - it might not look like that much of an improvement, but to me it looks loads better. or maybe it's just that i have a feeling it will be pretty darned good in a year or two.

Day 22?

It's been a full three weeks since I had the procedure done, and things are coming along nicely. I'm back to normal as far as behaviour is concerned - no aquaphor, just regular daily moisturizer, which is what I used to do before anyways. With makeup, you can't tell anything happened at all. There are still a few small spots that aren't completely smooth, but I have to say I'm satisfied with how things came out.



The few small spots you can see beneath are the remnants of the allergic reaction I had to either the aquaphor or the anasthetic - I've had a rash kind of thing before from anasthetic, so I'm thinking it's that. Anyways, they aren't scars so they'll go away in time.

Also, a close-up so you can see the results so far:



So far, so good. Over the next few months I'll see the full outcome, but I'm very pleased.

Day 7

Well, it's been a week since I had the procedure done, and today the last few flecks of crusty-gross fell off, around 4. I thought that was a good sign that it was time to wash my face and see what was going on. The aquaphor is giving me a bit of an allergic reaction on the parts of my face that avoided the laser but still get swathed in aquaphor, so I'm excited at the prospect of not having to put it on anymore.

Tonight's the last night, but this evening was a fancy party, and I figured since the crusty was gone and things were looking pink but healthy that I could risk some Cetaphil moisturiser and a bit of mineral makeup. You couldn't even tell there was anything going on under there! Most of the swelling has gone down and the skin is very smooth, except for a few spots that I hope will resolve themselves in time.

I'll edit this to include a photo tomorrow when I download my photos from my camera, but I'm quite pleased at how things are progressing.

EDIT: Here's the photo!




Today it looks the same. The rash is worse, and my face feels hot, but really it's no different. I'm just using moisturizer tonight, as the aquaphor prevents me from having a good sleep because I'm so worried about wiping it off or staining the pillowcases with grease.

Day 6

My face is so much better today after another 24 hours with aquaphor. Almost all of the brown crust just dissolved or fell away on its own, and the skin underneath is pink but healthy-looking. I have a bit of bruising underneath, like around my jaw, but it's pretty faint.
I'll keep doing the aquaphor until Monday and then I think it should be good! It's already loads better from yesterday! I'm feeling optimistic again. :)

Day 5 - no pic today!

So I went for my check-in with the clinic today. All is well, but I have to go back to aquaphor duty and leave off attempting regular moisturizer and make-up until next week sometime. They took pictures from all angles, and if I come back in the summer I'll get more taken so the full effects can be seen.

My face looks pretty raw, and I still have some crusties, but it feels loads better with a nice thick aquaphor coating. Not as pretty, but healing better. I'll update with a picture tomorrow, but it looks pretty much the same as yesterday!

The good news is, I can enjoy a Christmas egg-nog and/or glass of wine now that my face has healed sufficiently. :)

Day 4 - first non-aquaphor day!

Well... today I was a bit worried about things. It was supposed to be my first day without the aquaphor moisturizer stuff, and without doing my vinegar soaks. I was scared of doing something wrong, of stopping too early. It's still really red, and there are scabby/crusty patches from where there was some oozing (I did say there would be gore!)

So I called the clinic about 5 times. Each time, the person I talked to said everything sounded fine, and that it was ok to stop the aquaphor and just use the wash and moisturizer they'd provided. So I did. I used the face wash and I put on their moisturizer, but my face felt dry and cake-y all day. I put on some mineral make-up to go out, because they said it would be ok today, and that made it feel a little less dry somehow, but tonight when I took off the makeup and washed my face gently with their cleanser, it just looks raw and scabby. The sheet they gave me said to expect this, but I'm terrified of doing something wrong!!

This one is from earlier in the afternoon:



See how it looks dry and scabby? There's sort of a brown crust on the far right hand side. :(

This one is from five minutes ago when I'd just washed my face for the night:



So I put the aquaphor back on for the night, and we'll see how it goes tomorrow. I've got a check-up appointment with my laser doctor tomorrow afternoon.

Day 3 - not so hot?

This morning it seems redder than it was last night, but maybe that's just because my head wasn't so elevated for a long time, during the night. It is also still puffy and a little itchy now. I'll be relying on Benadryl from now on.

Last night I woke up a few times because I smushed my face on the pillow by accident and had to reapply the aquaphor. As a result, I'm pretty tired again today.

Today is the last day for the vinegar soaks, and later on tonight I get to take a shower. I may just stick with the baths and give it one more day to heal, though.