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In April of 2016 I had co2 laser done to my whole face to get rid of my acne scars. I didn't even need it for my whole face just for the deep scars on my forehead and on the tip of my nose . My dermatologist told me if I was his daughter to do my whole face and it costed over $2000. And now my skin is completely ruined. Since the procedure I have experienced dry eye problems, extremely dry and sensitive skin, and my face is completely coated in blackheads/bumps/cysts and also still have the same scars as before. Makeup won't even hid it. A few months after my procedure he prescribed my trention cream which only burned and made my acne worse. I told him about it and he told me to use a smaller amount but it still burned and caused more acne. I've stopped going to him since he never actually helped or even cared. I've tried everything else to help but my skin has become so sensitive that everything burns except for sulfer based products. It's now January 2017 and I'm so ashamed about about my face being coated in acne/dry skin/deep scars that I now never leave the house except for work. I had to break up with my boyfriend because I can't stand the way I look and cry every time I look in mirror and get ready for work. I don't know what to do. Please someone help me
Most acne preventing creams and even sulfur act as a acidic treatment to the skin as they get rid of acne, for you being burnt by the laser you do not want to use this. Your best bet is antibiotics or Accutane. You could possibly do PDT - photo light therapy with LED's, but the liquid used to photo sensitize can burn, your inducing a sunburn like reaction (it's a alternative to Accutane). You need to goto a few dermatologists and get a second opinion. This could be bacterial from the procedure and a culture might need to be taken. I have always gotten more acne and worse skin after laser until the tissue re-granulates this can take up to 6 months or more for some.
If you are overly dry you need to be using 100%hyaluronicacid serum from like Amazon and pills internally. Also for burned skin Aloe vera is great.
Please post your pictures and use a flashlight to create shadows on the scars of your face (see the below faq for how) on reaslself.com. this can get you many doctors opinions or you can read more on someone who is like your case.
If you broke up with the BF and it's emotionally draining (trust me I really do get it!!), I would suggest seeing a therapist, if you don't want to leave the house there is a therapy app for the iphone / android called talkspace. This might help more than the treatments itself.
Thanks I will definitely look into posting on realself and get hyaluronic serum. I have been on minocycline pils but those seem to make my skin worse. I believe I might have Pityrosporum Folliculitis or some other fungal infection I'm not sure if that's common after co2. I'll post pics here too. My skin very irritated, dry, bumpy with braille texture and with cysts. It has NEVER been this bad until after co2 laser
Goto the derm please before it gets worse. It could be fungal or staph, have them take a sample with swab and send to the lab. While your waiting for your appointment, goto any store and buy Hibiclens it's blue in color, they use it before surgery, it kills bacteria and is pretty gentle. Put it on for 30 mins and let it sit there. You can wipe it off, no need to wash it off, or have it on overnight. It kills bacteria. That's a temporary fix till you goto the derm. Quite common to get infections after laser.
Oh dear, your skin looks so irritated.I am trying to judge from a picture, but it looks almost 'raw'.
I agree with beautifulambition...it appears that your skin may be swollen? It could be a staph infection and you should get checked out right away--that can be dangerous.
My skin looked similar to yours a couple months ago...I was "over-exfoliated". I stopped all the "acne" geared products and went back to mild basics for a while. Over-processed skin is vulnerable skin.I would suggest backing-off the harsh products.
Something you should know--sulfur is comedogenic. Although it makes a GREAT spot treatment, I wouldn't recommend smearing any sulfur-containing products all over your face randomly or regularly (even if product instructions say so). If you try anything new, I recommend spot-testing it for several days before applying to any large areas. I learned that lesson the hard way.
(It could be a fungal-based too. I've heard that tea tree oil is fairly effective against many forms of fungal-based acne.)
Good luck.
I have an appointment for the doctors next week, I assume I can get tested for these infections on my face and receive some help from there.I am currently looking for a new dermatologist and it is a difficult task living in a rural area.I honestly do not want to return to the dermatologist I was seeing, I would have to drive over a hour just to be briefly looked at, prescribed some pills, and then pushed out the door.
Your face looks like it's purging from using tretinoin cream/gel. Personally, I didn't like tretinoin (retin-a), I thought it was too harsh for my skin and it gave me cystic acne. Retinoids work, unfortunately you have to be really patient while undergoing the horrible purging period (this can last many months for some people), but if you survive it, you will be rewarded with a beautiful face. If you're going to use a retinoid, I would recommend trying something more gentle like tazorac or differin (which is now available OTC). You can try using it really slowly at first, like only once or twice a week, and then use it more often as your skin gets more used to it and is not that sensitive. Also, don't forget to moisturize, it is very important!
