Has anyone had treatments with this new laser? (Cynosure is the manufacturer.) My dermatologist says it will get rid of the lines around my mouth and tighten up the skin. I would like to hear what other people who have received the treatment think of the results.
Affirm CO2 LaserSkinRenewal?
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I have not tried Affirm but I recently did my first treatment with Refirme Laser skin tightening, no dramatic change noticed yet at 24 hour time but my face feel a little firmer. I think the deep lines I have under my eyes and between my nose & mouth I notice a very little improvement. I plan to do 3 treatments every3-4 weeks and I cringe at price it's going to cost me. I'll you know my final result.
I am considering doing full face CO2 in the Autumn after summer has gone. I was going to look into full face (mostly for some scars actually but figured may as well go for it all) and then do some TCA peels on neck and decolletage as these cannot be treated with CO2 lasers. Any CO2 Laser is extremely effective in the hands of the right person. You may end up lighter though and go through a period of acne after the redness subsides. I know a woman in my building who did it and she is in her 60's, looked it and now looks in her late 40's. I also have a friend who had tons of sun damage and did it and looks a good 15 years younger. She did have some pigmentation issues and acne though at first. Took about a year for it to all calm down. Well worth it in the hands of the right person.
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CO2 laser isn't new! It's been around for a while. The newer Fraxel lasers are more refined but I had CO2 laser of my crowsfeet and undereye areas 10 years ago. It did erase the lines but it caused permanent lightening of the skin in those areas - so much so that it looked like the reverse raccoon look! Eventually my skin has faded around these areas so that it isn't as noticeable.
The lines will come back in time, since it doesn't stop the hands of time, but with good skin care I am eeeeking some more good years out of it! Glad I did it, but it wasn't pretty for about 4 weeks afterward: redness, peeling, swelling, weeping, crusting....it's a 1st - 2nd degree burn, after all.
I assume you are talking about Fraxel though - fractionate laser ablation - which has less downtime and allows for more precise depth of treatment. The most important factor is the person who is doing the treatments!!! Ask to see his/her portfolio and talk to pts who have had the procedures! I would go to MakeMeHeal.com for support/advice/guidance also.
There are certain facilities mentioned that you would want to stay away from!!!
Good luck and keep us posted!!
The lines will come back in time, since it doesn't stop the hands of time, but with good skin care I am eeeeking some more good years out of it! Glad I did it, but it wasn't pretty for about 4 weeks afterward: redness, peeling, swelling, weeping, crusting....it's a 1st - 2nd degree burn, after all.
I assume you are talking about Fraxel though - fractionate laser ablation - which has less downtime and allows for more precise depth of treatment. The most important factor is the person who is doing the treatments!!! Ask to see his/her portfolio and talk to pts who have had the procedures! I would go to MakeMeHeal.com for support/advice/guidance also.
There are certain facilities mentioned that you would want to stay away from!!!
Good luck and keep us posted!!
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I havent done the CO2 procedure. But I have done the Cutera Titan skin tightening. Didnt really do much for me, or maybe the results weren't what I expected.
But fawnie is right. When doing this procedure or any facial procedure lets just say procedures in general.......DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! I have seen some bad results on a lot of people.
But fawnie is right. When doing this procedure or any facial procedure lets just say procedures in general.......DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! I have seen some bad results on a lot of people.
Well being a medical procedure I would not do it against medical advice. I am now in a "healing" process from the over-exfoliation and my intention is to remain this way until and unless I need to start exfoliating again rather than being aggressive as I was in an effort to do a "at home resurfacing". I have learned my lesson on that. Just two days into it and my facial skin is much better and body/arm skin is showing some more laxicity. I am using retin-a (tretinoin) on my face and neck as this is recommended to "build collagen" and that is the only thing that could be considered somewhat abrasive. Other than that I am on all natural oils, moisturisers, aquaphor and replenish soaps. I know a p.s who works with a great laser surgeon and will likely get a consult with her in May/June with aims to do anything I do being in August/September depending on her opinion. Ironically lasers build collagen so they actually put you on a tri-luma or tretinoin regimen before laser surgery in most cases.
WOW, people. I'm thinking I didn't get what I paid for with my first Affirm treatment. I didn't even have any redness, peeling, swelling, weeping, or crusting as FAWNIE states. I've not noticed any difference from my first treatment and am scheduled for the 2nd one on July 3. The only thing noticeable was a small scar between my eyebrows that has lessened. A high price to pay for $600! I had 2 Fraxel treatments last year and didn't go back for the 3rd because I saw no difference there either. So what's up? Is it all a scam?
The Affirm and other CO2 lasers today are mainly what is called micro-ablative technology. I personally would only agree to laser if it were the old-fashioned full CO2. The micro-ablative tries to mitigate the downtime usually associated with CO2 laser resurfacing by leaving strips of skin in between treated areas (this is why you need more than one treatment). I personally do not like it because it lets the doctor performing it choose how much OR little they want to do. Most doctors will a. Opt for conservative out of fears on injuring you (this is good but even better is a very qualified laser surgeon using full force ablative laser IMHO). b. If they do less you need to come back for more treatments.
The theory behind this is somewhat like skin-grafting in that leaving matrixes of intact skin forms a sort of web and the skin heals faster. They can go deep or shallow and do several treatments. Some doctors are able to achieve similar results to fully ablative laser but IMHO it is not as profound. YES there is less risk of scarring but as stated if a laser surgeon is very qualified that is not a large risk to begin with. There is also less downtime but why would you want to go back for a relatively painful treatment 3 or more times and have 2-3 days downtime each time over what can be months when you can go once, get twilight sedation, have profound effects from a full ablative procedure with about 10 days down (one chunk of time rather than bursts of small time)and emerge with full results?
This to me is no better than the Rhytec Portrait which was using plasma technology heating the skin underneath the top layer and leaving the top layer by ablating BELOW the epidermis which stayed on the face like a mask and as new cells grew out it peeled off. This technology was very advanced but the results were not profound and eventually after about a year on the US market they went bankrupt.
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I had 2 affirm laser treatments summer of 2009. It is now Sept. 2010 and my skin now has boxcar scars, ice pick scars, rolling scars, lines, wrinkles, sagging, tremendous fat loss, dna damage, discoloration and I could go on and on. When I wash my face pieces of my skin literally come off. I have "gouges" on my face. I'm 45 and look worse than my 75yr old father!! It's horrifying! These laser were not meant for your face! They are pure radiation/heat damaging! It may look fine at first, but just wait a year, then two. My advice to everyone who is considering lasers is DO NOT DO IT! YOU WILL REGRET IT! They're only after your money and don't care what happens to you when you leave their business!! It's not just the physical scars..it's the mental/emotional damage as well. Your life will never be the same! PLEASE HEED MY WARNING AND NEVER HAVE ANY LASER PROCEDURES DONE!!! I will not stop posting until 'skin resurfacing' lasers have been banned/outlawed/stopped!
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Fawnie..you remind me of a neighbor we had when I was a child. Anything we wanted to know we would go and ask her and she would Always have some kind of answer!
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depends if she was the type of neighbour that kept your ball when it went over the fence like my old polish neighbour mrs dubrowska.
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349 Posts
I did the refirme and was promised smaller pores and other things. Nope. Huge waste of money that left me dealing with more problems then I started out with. The people there said it was my fault. I do not trust non ablative lasors at all.
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