3rd pphotofacial and solar elastosis

[Guest guest]

I just had my third photofacial with Dr. Bitter yesterday and kind of got

some bad news. At my second treatment I had a small bruise for 7 days and

some mild swelling. The post treatment swelling went down and the bruise

went away but I was left with some negative side effects that lasted for a

month until this last tx yesterday. I had started getting a lot of bumps.

They looked like acne but were small with sharp prominences. My face felt

like a piece of asphalt and sometimes the lesions would come off and felt

like little grains of sand. These were innumerable in the areas of the face

I was having continued swelling in such areas as the side of the nose and

cheeks. Additionally, my face was more sensitive than before and started

flushing more to even washing with cool purified water in areas I almost

never flushed in prior to the treatments. The areas where the bumps and

swelling were had this crawling, tingling sensation underneath the skin.

I was told that the reason for these problems were due to solar elastosis.

He said that by looking at my skin he would never have guessed that I had a

lot of sun in my life but this is because I corrected the hyperpigmentation

with chemical peels and I am still young (29). He said if biopsies were to

be taken that you would see gaps in the collagen, like oatmeal, offering no

structural support to the blood vessels. Prior to the treatments I was not

hving all of these problems because what little collagen I had was keeping

things more in check, but when the Ipl began to mess with the dermis, (

which it is supposed to do), the dermis began to react because the collagen

was disturbed. This is the principle by which new collagen is eventually

laid down after it is initially disturbed. He said this swelling was placing

pressure on the ducts in the pores and this was causing them to clog making

it look like acne. They say Ipl can increase the collagen by as much as 20

percent, but this takes time. He guesstimates that these types of side

effects may go for 5-6 treatments and that I may finally see good

improvement after 7-8 treatmnets. I really had to press for these numbers

since all people are individual. But this is based solely on his experiences

with others similar to mine.

When I ask him about improvements he says, " what do you mean by

improvement? " , and of course I told him my expectations which are not

outrageous. Im wondering if anyone else out there has solar elastosis as

evidenced by worsening of symptoms after IPL, when you began to see

improvement, and to what extent? My case is moderate but at the severe end.

Also, since yesterday, I didnt flush as much when washing tonight and the

acne and swelling are almost gone. I know it is too early to tell what is

going to happen though. Tracey

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