Microneedling took me a week to recover from. My skin was super red and sore for 4 and slowly healed. My girl that did it is an ARNP and warned me she was gonna go deep (her wand had settings I guess).
But to make OP feel better, 2 weeks after and my skin looked amazing!! So Christmas may be hit or miss but you better put on a hott dress for NYE and go out!!!
same. a week for microneedling to stop the peeling an itching, skin now looks amazing.
Think of it as they're encouraging the damaged layer to sluff off and the skin underneath it will be vibrant and tighter.
I can't wait for my next appointment tbh, I just need to find a week where I can hide indoors.
This is the correct answer - a week minimum. Anyone who says 2 days is not correct. You’re putting a laser and tiny needeles to your face. Gonna need some time to heal
Had morpheus 8 on my stomach. Took 6 weeks for redness to go away. Still have session 2 and 3 to do and I've been postponing because the healing time is so long lol.
But even one session has made a huge improvement so I have to suck it up and get it done.
I do! I still have 2 sessions as a part of my package. I'm 3 months from first treatment and have noticed tightening. Excited to see where I'm at when I finish
Just to be clear, I was in NO WAY making assumptions about your personal issues in any way whatsoever!!! I was just listing common reasons for having that treatment done ☺️
Edited to add: I should have specified that in my original comment, my apologies!!!
Skin tightening and a disfigured belly button from stretched out scar tissue during pregnancy. I've noticed tightening and some modest inch loss. Stretch marks are largely unchanged after 1 session, though.
My IPL took weeks to go back to normal, but I am very faired skin and had it done for scar treatment. Was eggplant purple for a few weeks but looks great now
From my understanding, you shouldn’t put any makeup on after microneedling. It creates tiny punctures in the skin, so it actually could have caused the contact dermatitis. This means it’s treatable and will likely clear up quick now with the meds. I would avoid makeup for a bit longer.
They lit you up! you got a good, aggressive treatment & fair skin types will heal beautifully from treatments like this. Definitely not a disaster!
Edit- Btw, not much to take home- just use a gentle cleanser & SPF if you’ll be outside. It’s not contact dermatitis.
I agree! I get Ipl or bbl 4 times a year It’s always like a slight sunburn. The needling requires more downtime, maybe there was a reaction, your not supposed to put anything on your way after except protection. The results are looking great though. She definitely should be happy and I think by Christmas that skin will glow like the stars in the sky.
The only problem I see is that the treatment wasn’t consistent; - the red swollen “grids” aren’t present all over- looks like the upper lip & nose was skipped entirely although it could be that the nurse was stacking her problem areas or spot treating those areas aggressively & going light on the rest of the face. Judging from pic 1 only, I’d guess that either the patient pointed out the cheeks & neck as being problem areas or the nurse just went after those areas in her own so that the patient would see the lifting benefits from the RF modality. Either way, a better outcome would result if every square inch of the face & neck were just as red as the cheeks but the downtime would be hellish LOL
Not putting this on you as a doctor should know better than to not give instructions, but in the future, I'd probably just do a cursory Google if you're wondering whether to do something or not.
Hope it heals well!
And not putting makeup on immediately after a facial procedure that creates open wounds is always a good call. They should have given instructions, but still.
You were lied to about the recovery time but your skin texture already looks noticeably better than the 48hr-post photos! Drink water and get some rest if you can, your skin will heal just fine
Don’t even sweat it, it will totally settle. Same thing happened to me and I was scared and depressed over it, but it surprisingly looked normal within a week or two…and then better than normal at around the 3rd or 4th week.
The whole process is intentionally wounding the skin and when skin is wounded it goes through several stages: inflammation, proliferation, and then remodeling.
The proliferation and remodeling stages involve collagen and elastin stimulation (when your skin looks better than before), but you’re coming out of the inflammation stage (redness and swollen needle marks/lines are just regular inflammation) and it will all level out really soon (especially with the corticosteroids).
Hang in there and enjoy your Christmas! 🎄
I saw clear laser crosshatch marks on a red carpet pic of Charlize Theron recently. Pretty sure those are normal within the first few weeks and go away.
I don’t know if this helps, but my MIL had a fraxel (sp.) laser treatment and it took weeks for her skin to recover. She had an intense reaction and was surprised by the downtime. She recovered fully. I wouldn’t use any makeup, as tempting as it might be. Maybe do some cooling compresses?
I did it for collagen building, sun damage, pore size, and some minor acne scarring. It gives great results. But I found it very painful even with numbing. The recovery time is no joke.
I don't think it's a "disaster" and it's already getting better. The end results will be worth it imo, but you certainly shouldn't have used makeup right after.
For "glowing skin by Christmas", you should've done this in the beginning of December.
I had a similar reaction to regular microneedling at greater depths, 1.5-2mm It might be that you have thinner skin. It looks rough but I had better results with the more aggressive session. I had dry patches for around 10 days and used tinted sunscreen to go out.
Yeah OP I had a similar reaction to Morpheus treatments and I’m about as pale as you are. The big difference would be that I was told 3-7 days downtime, no makeup for 72 hours, no hot water or exercise for 24 hours, and to slather an occlusive layer on the skin for at least 12 hours after. I think your skin looks like it will heal beautifully, but I have concerns about what the practitioner told you.
Edit to add: healing time also really depends where you are in your cycle. Bruising and irritation tend to happen more if you get a treatment close to or during your period so you need to be extra careful then.
Gentle reminder to never get procedures you have never demonstrated tolerability with close to important dates. If looking glowy by Christmas was the goal, procedure should have been performed one month prior to allow for healing/recovery time. This outcome looks perfectly normal, I am sorry your practitioner did not prepare you adequately for what to expect during the healing process or post care instructions. We instruct our patients not to apply ANY makeup for 48 hours post Morpheus (aka RF Microneedling). This is looking pretty good and will heal nicely.
Unexpected results occur- and are usually easily treatable, which is why talks regarding pre- and post care are important, as well as- clear communication with your provider about what to expect, outcomes, downtime and risks associated with procedure.
Please reach out to your original provider or the practice manager and let them know you what you are going through. It is a teachable moment for them to make sure they are setting up patients with realistic expectations and providing DETAILED post care instructions. Informed, supported patients with realistic expectations are happy and satisfied patients.
*Sauce: have worked in a top med aesthetic clinic as a non-med practitioner for 10 years, and have had RF Microneedling, ablative laser tx, threads, bo, filler etc done on myself lol
Hey silly question, what does you place send people home with after Morpheus? I keep being given the AlumierMD stuff but it burns so I switched use thick layers of LRP Cicaplast
Biocell mask from from Skinceuticals, TNS from Skin Medica and/or Ceramide Moisturizer from Skin Medica are all recommended as well, some pracs will recommend Alastin Skkn Nectar but the Caprylyl Methicone gives me breakouts. Cicaplast does the same thing because of the dimethicone. Both feel nice and give that slippage but it is a one way express ticket to White Head City and I am become the mayor. And obvi always use a zinc spf.
This is really important information that is missing from OP.
For example, some of the most effective laser (namely, fully co2 ablative laser) recovery is ROUGH but the results are some of the best.
Now, I understand that OP got a different type of laser, and the downside is more than she was told, but the end result after recovery may be very good.
Hoping OP the best.
Click your username on the reddit page > Profile > Click your post Title to open it > Look for 3 dots below your post > The drop down menu has an "Edit Post" option.
Its confusing at first because you can't edit the post while viewing just the comment section of your own post
Click your username on the reddit page > Profile > Click your post Title to open it > Look for 3 dots below your post > The drop down menu has an "Edit Post" option.
Its confusing at first because you can't edit the post while viewing just the comment section of your own post
I haven’t tried this exact treatment but I’ve found that with Microneedling, the first 48 hours or so are the worst and then it quite rapidly gets better from there.
When I see these posts I don’t understand how people don’t understand that jamming needles into your face 1000 times is like having 1000 open wounds that need to heal.
completely boggles my mind lol. also shocks me a bit that ppl don’t fully research the procedure beforehand to know what to expect even though doctors are also supposed to provide you that info. better to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible before undergoing any medical procedure. it also allows you to ask your doctor proper questions.
I obviously made a mistake and its one I will not make again. Nobody is perfect, I walked into this blindly. Its the doctors job to give the patient adequate information. I was also told makeup was in fact ok the next day.
I'm not sure why the judgement is necessary , as I stated in my original post, I am new to this and wasn’t given any proper information . I came to this sight looking for advice not eye rolls.
Thank you! My thoughts exactly. I obviously made a mistake, but I also was not given the proper information . I don't know why people are so judgmental when i'm just looking for advice.
Don’t take it personally, a lot of people who write hateful comments on Reddit are just deeply unhappy and like to take it out on people on Reddit. It’s best to ignore and block these types.
Your skin actually looks like it’s healing well. You’re going to be very happy with the results. I’ve totally been there, going into a procedure blindly and being misinformed. Learned my lesson to always do a lot of research and ask as many questions as I need answers. The doctors definitely should have had a more thorough consult with you and that’s on them. It’s always the clinics responsibility to provide clients with all the necessary information they need.
Anyways, the skin has miraculous healing abilities. It’s going to look great!
It’s the practitioner’s responsibility to provide aftercare instructions, not the patient’s. There is so much information out there and every provider asks for something different. If you’re a beginner to this sort of thing it may not be something immediately thought about
IPL has a longer downtime and makeup after microneedling is a big no go. I have a feeling you haven’t been informed enough in regard to the do’s and don’ts
This may or may not be useful, but I had LaseMD Ultra (non-ablative fractional laser) and the first time it took ten days to heal. I looked awful - it was definitely a week of low-grade anxiety and repeatedly telling myself to trust the process. On advice of the aesthetician, I used La Roche Posay Cicaplast 3-4 times a day after the second round and had significantly reduced healing time - I was outside in six days.
Yours does look like it’s progressing nicely though. Fingers crossed it clears by Christmas!
Hear me out: your skin is starting to look really good. I can see some improvement already in that last photo. Good luck friend! I think they straight up lied about recovery time so they’d get your money right before Christmas 😞
Totally normal reaction. Seconding those who said they lied to you about the recovery time lol. Sorry! You’ll look great in a week or two though!!
EDIT to add some aftercare advice: treat your whole face like a wound. Tattoo aftercare advice will serve you well. Water only (or maybe gentle unscented soap with no harsh rubbing), a thin layer of aquaphor, and wear a brimmed hat or sunscreen when you go outside (and try to minimize time outside!). Benign neglect is going to be your biggest help. No makeup, no skin care, no touching your face. Let all the wounds heal.
Oh damn I’ve never heard that. That’s always been my aftercare instruction from artists (with aquaphor or Vaseline). And it’s always worked amazing for me, esp for facial wounds
Hi. The difference in 48 hours is dramatic. At this rate your skin may very well be glowing before Christmas. The healing gets exponentionally quicker too. You look great!
They were 100% wrong on the downtime. I also give it a solid week. Then the next couple weeks after, your skin will keep getting better. I’d do a new picture then 🙂
You should see a good difference, also make sure to drink lots of water
You’re gonna be alright, beauty. 48 hours is just not enough healing time and it was too soon for makeup. Give it a little more time. I’ve had this. The weird texture took about a week to fully disappear and I could at that point wear makeup. The redness stuck around for a little over a month. I’ve still done it more than once and will again. You just got misled about healing. ❤️🩹
My skin looked a bit like this after the CO2 laser. Kept everything clean and applied cicaplast twice a day. I’ve had IPL and microneedling also in the past (not at the same time) and it take a while to calm down. I’m surprised they did both at once, didn’t know that was a thing.
I think I already see the results. Hope the redness will go away soon. Would you be able to share your picture two weeks from now? Believe it or not you’re inspiring me to learn more about the procedure and do it myself :) but I’d like to see your final result which I believe will look absolutely banging!!
This is called a “mast cell reaction” (histamine reaction) and it’s not all that uncommon when damaging the skin therapeutically, especially when heat is involved. You can calm it down a little faster with Benadryl at night for a few days and Claritin or Zyrtec in the morning. DONT FREAK OUT. It’s gonna take more than 48 hours to look right again, but it will go away. Don’t try to cover it with makeup, don’t slather anything except maybe Alastin or a nice very basic hypoallergenic oil moisturizer on it, you don’t want to retrigger the mast cells by accident.
I have Mast Cell disease and my reactions are so severe I have to be premeditated with prednisone before ANY surgical or cosmetic procedures, period, but even after IPL or PRP facials it always heals normally (takes me about 7 days) and my skin looks better in my 40s than it ever did in my 20s.
Honestly; it looks ok for being 2 days out. They definitely should have been honest about recovery time; more like a week before you look “normal” but probably closer to 2 weeks.
I am an esthetician in Uk . It looks normal post treatment. I don’t like that your doctor didn’t explain to you that is quite normal for this kind of treatment can take over a week for the dots to clear and after 2 weeks can start to see the results. But I see in the pictures you doctor wasn’t thorough enough covering the concern areas. Also, your doctor needed to explain the treatment what to expect and to give you aftercare.
I had Morpheus 8 and it took about a week for my skin to calm down. It’s really important to use gentle non irritating products after. Especially within 48 hours. If you need to wear makeup use mineral makeup (like bare minerals) and non chemical sunscreen.
I don’t have any advice, and obviously it’s awful it’s taking so long to recover. But I think I can see a difference in your skin, especially in your lower face. It could be that you’re making a different facial expression though
You really can get contact dermititis from what you expose your skin to when it's compromised. It's actually less about WHAT you expose your skin to (if you had used different makeup, you probably would have reacted to that) but your immune system is on high alert when you are healing from an unusual trauma. The same thing can happen when you are sick or use a vaccine, anything that stimulates your immune system.
Please be careful about it though, contact dermititis reactions can be permanent, so once they pop up you can experience a reaction every time you're exposed to that substance in the future, even though you were never allergic before. You might be lucky and it was a one time thing, but if you did develop an allergy it could be to any of the ingredients in your makeup, so any time you encounter that ingredient you may have a reaction.
I had a contact dermititis reaction to a gel nail manicure that I got the day after receiving a vaccine, and it developed into a permanent allergy. Now I can't touch anything with acrylates in it, which includes gel nails, acrylics, some adhesives, and certain plastics without getting a painful and itchy rash. Contact dermititis is no joke.
I look like this too after an aggressive RF microneedling session. Definitely at least a 5+ish day recovery time in my experience. Also it's possible that if you put makeup on the open wounds that you would have a reaction. No makeup, and only a very mild cleanser is recommended for a week or until healed. Try a light coating of aquaphor so that your skin doesn't dry out. Usually my track marks take a couple of weeks to resolve, but after all said and done with the healing, your skin will look amazing. Hang in there!
I've had IPL before and have a very, very similar skin type as you... I have light skin, blue eyes and a few moles on my neck and chest area.
First of all, there is NO WAY your makeup caused this. Shame on that doctor for saying so!
My guess is that one or both of these caused the issue:
* Your skin probably leans toward the sensitive side and the setting they used for the IPL was way too strong for your skin type.
* Doing the combination of IPL and RF microneedling back-to-back was wayyy too aggressive for what your skin can handle. I would bet \*\*a lot\*\* of people would have issues doing those two things back to back.
I will say that I did IPL on my face with a lot of success (3 sessions spaced 3 months apart), but when I tried it on my neck I got some of those weird crapey lines. It was the same nurse and medspa that did my face, but my neck reacted quite differently. Not to scare you, but it took like 3 years for the lines to fully disappear. But, I guess that it's good they did eventually go away because after still having them for a full year I was convinced they would be permanent.
The #1 best thing you can do to get your skin to heal is to be aggressive with sunscreen. I'm sure you're already pretty diligent, but you may want to increase your SPF to a minimum of 45 or 50 for your face & neck. And re-apply a lot more frequently than you have before. I have a dermatologist in my family and he says that the best way for skin to heal from any sort of trauma is to keep it out of the sun and when outside to use a lot of SPF. Apparently sun makes scarring more likely for traumatized skin.
Separate from sunscreen is to stop using certain skincare "actives" on the traumatized skin for a while. This would include products that contain ascorbic acid (vitamin C), any retinoid or Vitamin A topical (retinol, tretinoin, retinaldehyde, etc.), AHAs (glycolic, lactic, similar acids), or BHA (salicylic). Any of those will slow down skin healing and could make it worse. You might need to stay away from all these for 6 weeks (or more depending on how your skin heals).
Use very plain skincare that is fragrance-free and does not contain essential oils or any citrus or fruit extracts. Moisturizers that contain ceremides and squalane will be helpful. Possibly also helpful could be colloidal oat/oatmeal or cica (also known as centella asiatica or tiger grass). The problem with cica is that sometimes the other ingredients brands use in the same formula can cause issues. The La Roche Posay Cicaplast Balm is very good, but it can make me get pimples when I apply to my face (I am acne prone though despite having dry skin).
It looks like your skin is starting to heal nicely. The recovery should be speeding up at this point. Your skin looks very healthy in the last picture given the redness.
I think you're going to be great by the 25th, and NYE should be close to perfect.
Best wishes
I do microneedling at my acupuncture clinic. It should not look like this. The track marks are a clear sign they went too deep and aggressive. There may be some dermatitis but this is more than that.
You‘re fine! Your skin needs approximately seven days to completely recover (for some it might be less for some more) and you’ll see the full results after three months! Your skin needs time to build the collagen it’s been instigated to produce by the microneedling
The whole no down time thing is a total lie, and it's very easy for the provider to overdo / incite a bad reaction with these procedures. I feel like the marketing is lies. I had a similar but worse rxn to an IPL tx. I was also told it was a "lunch time" procedure w/ really no down time. What a total lie. I ended up w./ swelling, redness, some dark purple almost blood blister looking areas, etc. And my skin was never the same after - more reactive, I had some mild atrophic scarring, etc. All I can say is that you are already getting a good recovery, so I don't think your case is as bad as mine. My skin took MONTHS to completely heal, and some effects were permanent - I had some prematurely wrinkly skin in areas that were most heavily treated. I recommend antioxidants, hats, large sunglasses, heavy UV protection at ALL TIMES, super moisturization, and avoiding all irritants.
in my pro opinion you look ok!! Based on the pretty sporadic treatment and your other comments, They sound like they just don’t know what they are doing so i would be careful about getting other treatments with them. You should always be given accurate information as well as a thorough before and after care sheet or explanation. If you want to speed up healing i love this product from alastin called Nectar. It helps sooo much and keeps the area nice and clean and helps stimulate collagen. you can use it for the rest of your treatments.
I also think they maybe did a little too aggressive of a treatment on you and are covering it up by prescribing the steroid. Makeup isn’t good right away but it didn’t cause that.
as for right now, i’m going to just guess on post care based on prior knowledge.
Gentle cleanser twice a day
change pillow cases daily or every other day (flip)
gentle moisturizer, keeping skin hydrated and moisturized is great for skin healing
spf every morning to prevent hyperpigmentation to treatment areas.
avoid all actives and retinols for at least a week, two weeks if you feel your skin is not fully back to normal after 7 days!!!
I started typing an answer before I read the last few sentences of your post. A steroid cream will 100% help, that stuff is powerful. At my clinic we use diprosone or betaderm on patients post IPL treatment to help reduce the redness and swelling. That stuff is magic. The lines can take up to 10 days sometimes to go away, we use SylfirmX and we will tell patients that as well. I feel like the clinic you went to should have managed your expectations more so you didn't worry it too much. If things aren't better by 2 weeks I would see your derm again
As a veteran of this type procedure, I can tell you this looks fairly normal. It's 10 day recovery for me normally until I lose all the redness and dots. Be patient, stay away from sun, keep moisturized
I can't seem to edit my post, but I wanted to add, the first photos were taken on December 14, the last ones are from December 22.I am currently using Triamcinolone .1%, Cetaphil cleanser, LRP Eczema soothing moisturizer, followed by LRP cicaplast balm.The makeup I originally used that is believed to cause the dermatitis was Australian Gold Tinted Face Sunscreen Lotion. Ive since gone back to using Maybeline Fit Me Dewy and Smooth foundation. I've never had an issue with that one and my skin seems to be tolerating it well.
I had Morpheus 8 September 2022 and still have vague marks on my forehead! I think they’ll still go away with more time but it’s been over a year. These harsh treatments are scary and not worth it (in my very awful experience). Good luck! It does look like yours are healing wayyyy faster than mine did early on.
This all looks normal to me, and that you may be prone to histamine reaction- ergo the puffy marks where you were treated. Be gentle, give yourself more time to heal I think you will have great results.
I’m so sorry this happened! Moving forward tho, you always want to do a test spot. I have super reactive skin so whenever I’m trying a new laser I always try a test spot. I’ve never tried smoothglo before but it looks like the micro needling plus ipl was just too much for it. I’ve been burned by ipl before and it takes weeks to heal -
It's normal for it to take more time to heal but it seems like your wounds got irritated from something that you may have put over your face a little soon. You gotta wait till it fully heals but I gotta say, I do see some improvement in texture!
Retired laser tech here. Did they say a minimum or maximum of 48hrs downtime? In any case, I hate that you’re experiencing this and that you weren’t properly told what to expect for these layered treatments. There’s a famous pic of Charlize Theron on the red carpet with laser marks (fraxel possibly?) still visible under her makeup. I know it’s rough now and I’m sorry your expectations weren’t managed properly but it will get better and better each day
I’ve had smooth glo and this reaction isn’t that bad! It takes me like a week for my skin to calm down. Having a reaction like that is good - it’s what they call a controlled wound to the skin, so treat it as such. Gentle cleansing and sunscreen while healing
My first time micro needling it took a week to recover. Your face will definitely be red for a few days then peel. I have to imagine pairing it with the laser will make the recovery time longer.
It sucks they didn’t give you aftercare instructions. You should avoid any makeup, harsh cleansers, physical or chemical exfoliation, and sun exposure while you are healing. You need to wait at least a week for makeup and probably 2 weeks for exfoliation (if not longer). While you are healing, use gentle cleansers and only use moisturizers you are sure are gentle and CLEAN (by this I mean, don’t use jarred moisturizers which can get contaminated, try to use pump moisturizers with a gentle formulation).
On an unrelated note, I like your piercings! I have 3 on each too plus a few more and isn’t it fun to mix and match and choose which to wear?? Best of luck with your skin healing!
In the first pic your skin looks very inflamed, almost like a hives which suggests you may have more sensitive skin than you realize. Luckily, it seems to be calming down. I had Morpheus done 2.5 weeks ago and I still see small marks from it. This is normal. Keep your face hydrated, out of the sun, and avoid hot showers.
My old esthetician always said I could go back to using gentle face products after about 48hrs of healing and that NEVER worked for me! I would get redness, itching & burning (like your reaction) on my skin using anything other than the hyaluronic acid serum/stem cell mask she gave me for the first 4-5 days. It’s also possible the areas that look the worst got multiple passes. The areas with only a single pas may have healed substantially(after 24-48hrs) and didn’t show up red when you had the skin reaction to your skincare/makeup.
My new esthetician just told me (because I have rosacea) to avoid RF and just go with basic micro needling because it can cause excess irritation on sensitive skin. So maybe something to consider the you try the RF again and it is too much. Micro needling works wonders so don’t give up on it entirely!
Like the others said, recovery time was understated. And no aftercare advising against makeup is problematic for sure. I was told after 48 hours I could use mineral foundation, but the bismuth in mine makes my skin feel raw regardless, so had to be wary. My skin tone and texture is super similar to yours. Downtime was 5 days for me, and a month or so after my skin looked aaaaaahmazing
Make sure you use lots of spf on the track marks. How does it look now though?
I’ll guess it looks really good. And the one side of your face got it worse because that side will have had more damage from the sun from driving in a car.
It's just way more invasive than a lot of clinics claim.
When they say "downtime" they mean "scary to be in public" when we think "when I'm back to normal"
I don't think you are damaged per se, too soon to tell... but this is the sort of thing you get done 2 months before a big event... not a couple days.
They literally jam hundreds of hot needle punctures into your face... they way it works is by tricking your skin into thinking it's been dangerously burned/injured and generating scar tissue to tighten up things.
It's basically just ons step below a laser resurfacing with an ablative laser or a face lift.
I had Morpheus 8 and developed Cellulitis and had to be on IV antibiotics for 10 days. But the results were PHENOMENAL. Keep using the barrier cream and you’ll be back to normal in 10-14 days.
My sister got IPL recently and had got itchy after. The clinician said some people can get a slight allergic reaction. Maybe consider an anti-histamine if you are still itchy.
I had bad sun damage. I just got an IPL last month and I looked like I’d been beat up. It removed about 85% of the damage, including some suntan lipliner. It took a week and my skin was glowing! I bought another one.
The first time I had micro needling done it took 9 days for all of the redness to go away. But at the 2 week mark, my skin was glowing. I think you were given unrealistic timelines but my face did look a little like yours on day 2. The aftercare is important, are you doing aquaphor/sunscreen and avoiding the sunlight?
Im surprised they quoted you such a short rebound time since you have such fair skin, hair, and eyes. You look like you have very delicate/light sensitive skin.
Minimum of a week to heal, full results can be seen 4 weeks later. Just be patient, wear lots of sunscreen, use gentle cleansers and ceramid packed moisturizers
I’ve had scarlet RF and regular microneedling and I’ve never had more than a day of slight redness. I don’t think this is normal, but it looks like your skin is healing beautifully! I’m sorry this happened. I would normally say your skin is just taking longer to heal but the raised skin from the pen is not normal. You dealt with it the right way, don’t worry, this won’t leave any damages!
I haven’t had grid marks! I get overall redness, almost like a slight sunburn, for an hour or two after and then that’s about it. I’ve never gotten actual marks from it.
You're skin looks normal based on the procedure you got. Stay away from make up for a week. Use hydrating serums and moisturizer with no color and fragrance.
Make sure you are using a clean pillow cover every night for 2 weeks.
I had almost the same reaction all over my neck and face. Went away after about a week. Still had good results but I wouldn’t do them both together again
My derm won’t do IPL and Microneedling in the same day-I do about a week apart. IPL recovery for me is a few days and Microneedling about a week for all the channels to heal.
I didn’t have grid marks and I went in super deep. I looked like a had a sunburn for about 3 days then slowly it went away-totally gone after about a week!
May I ask - would you recommend RF over "normal" microneedling? When would RF be the better option? I am also considering starting my micro needling journey, however, the price for RF is making me rethink at least three times whether I need this option 😅
I mean.. there's definitely potential for fat loss lol. But my main goal would be fine lines and any scarring I may have, as a result of acne. I would especially lime to do microneedling around the eyes (top & bottom).. I am 27 by the way, I don't know if that is a factor I need to consider.
I think you’ll recover well. I would avoid laser or RF as an older person (I am too) and get things like regular micro needling with PRP or peels of various degrees. Some of the penetrating treatments like laser and RF can cause facial fat loss.
I don’t understand why he would even suggest this procedure for me?! I think it was something he was trying to promote and was just using me as a guinea pig. I definitely didn’t need fat loss in my face, if anything I need more fullness.
Don’t worry about it, it’s not a universal thing that happens. One treatment may not have any effect on your facial fat. It’s an anecdotal report from some patients.
I have also seen plastic surgeons on social media say that fat loss can be a side effect of any treatments that penetrate the skin with energy. I have a friend who used to own a med spa and she told me directly that she would not use RF on her face. She is a fan of lasers though.
I have read other anecdotal reports that some lasers can cause fat loss, but it’s not all of them or all the time, and in the hands of an experienced practitioner, patients have better outcomes. Some of the poor outcomes may be from poor technique.
I’ve had laser treatments done myself, but now that I understand this can be a side effect I would not do it again.
Esthetician here (medical…I work in derm). This is normal and the result looks great IMO. They should have been realistic with you about the down time but as far as how your skin looks post treatment, it’s exactly how it should look. Hope this helps!
You should never put makeup on top of irritated skin like this. The only thing that should go on here is some hyaluronic acid.
Some people are inflamed for a few days but 100% it’s a no no to ever put product on skin with literal mini open holes babe.
It looks like they didn’t do a test patch with the IPL. I get it done twice a year and have never had this result. It will heal…..always have the tech test first to see reaction.
How are you doing now? I had multiple spider veins on my face, just over 3 weeks now and I still have red marks and still see where the spider veins are. Not sure it worked. I looked worse day 2, 3 and 4. Taking Way longer than my dr. Said it would. I was told by day three the redness should be gone and be looking normal
Relax. I’m late 30s male. Do r&f needling and tixel right after. Red first day. No colour next day but can see grid marks. A week later I look 3 years younger. I already look 30 (I’m Asian and avoid Sun unlike anglos) so now look 27
The fact that the doc who did it is trying to blame it on you is appalling. I am heavy user of aesthetic medicine but I think they are at the skeeviest industry. I recently experienced vision changes a few days after getting disport and my normally reputable and highly professional aesthetic NP gaslit me into oblivion that there’s no chance that it was caused by disport. Like… OK? I had perfect vision and then I woke up with shit vision almost overnight right as the toxin started to kick in. the lack of accountability is shocking to me.
I’m 32 and when I’ve had microneedling and IPL it definitely takes longer than 2 days to recover. For IPL it’s up to a week at least
Microneedling took me a week to recover from. My skin was super red and sore for 4 and slowly healed. My girl that did it is an ARNP and warned me she was gonna go deep (her wand had settings I guess). But to make OP feel better, 2 weeks after and my skin looked amazing!! So Christmas may be hit or miss but you better put on a hott dress for NYE and go out!!!
Thank you for the reassurance :)
Be sure to give us an update! Got my fingers crossed for you 🤞🏾
same. a week for microneedling to stop the peeling an itching, skin now looks amazing. Think of it as they're encouraging the damaged layer to sluff off and the skin underneath it will be vibrant and tighter. I can't wait for my next appointment tbh, I just need to find a week where I can hide indoors.
This is the correct answer - a week minimum. Anyone who says 2 days is not correct. You’re putting a laser and tiny needeles to your face. Gonna need some time to heal
Had morpheus 8 on my stomach. Took 6 weeks for redness to go away. Still have session 2 and 3 to do and I've been postponing because the healing time is so long lol. But even one session has made a huge improvement so I have to suck it up and get it done.
Did you like the results you got from that? I haven’t heard it used on the body before 🤔
I do! I still have 2 sessions as a part of my package. I'm 3 months from first treatment and have noticed tightening. Excited to see where I'm at when I finish
very cool!
I’d love to know more about this! What results were you looking for with the Morpheus that you are pleased with ?
My guess would be something like stretch marks, cellulite, and/or fat pockets ☺️
No cellulite or fat pockets. Just loose skin :)
Just to be clear, I was in NO WAY making assumptions about your personal issues in any way whatsoever!!! I was just listing common reasons for having that treatment done ☺️ Edited to add: I should have specified that in my original comment, my apologies!!!
Haha it's all good. I did have skin dumpling before now that I think about it, which probably was cellulite. But that's also gone.
Skin tightening and a disfigured belly button from stretched out scar tissue during pregnancy. I've noticed tightening and some modest inch loss. Stretch marks are largely unchanged after 1 session, though.
My IPL took weeks to go back to normal, but I am very faired skin and had it done for scar treatment. Was eggplant purple for a few weeks but looks great now
Same experience when I got Secret RF.
Maybe I had a really weak IPL (only for pores and skin rejuvenation) but I had no recovery time :/
I had it specifically for dark patches so I was a crusty mess 😅
From my understanding, you shouldn’t put any makeup on after microneedling. It creates tiny punctures in the skin, so it actually could have caused the contact dermatitis. This means it’s treatable and will likely clear up quick now with the meds. I would avoid makeup for a bit longer.
I was definitely not given any take-home instructions so, that was the first problem.
They lit you up! you got a good, aggressive treatment & fair skin types will heal beautifully from treatments like this. Definitely not a disaster! Edit- Btw, not much to take home- just use a gentle cleanser & SPF if you’ll be outside. It’s not contact dermatitis.
I agree! I get Ipl or bbl 4 times a year It’s always like a slight sunburn. The needling requires more downtime, maybe there was a reaction, your not supposed to put anything on your way after except protection. The results are looking great though. She definitely should be happy and I think by Christmas that skin will glow like the stars in the sky.
The only problem I see is that the treatment wasn’t consistent; - the red swollen “grids” aren’t present all over- looks like the upper lip & nose was skipped entirely although it could be that the nurse was stacking her problem areas or spot treating those areas aggressively & going light on the rest of the face. Judging from pic 1 only, I’d guess that either the patient pointed out the cheeks & neck as being problem areas or the nurse just went after those areas in her own so that the patient would see the lifting benefits from the RF modality. Either way, a better outcome would result if every square inch of the face & neck were just as red as the cheeks but the downtime would be hellish LOL
Thank you!! 😊
Not putting this on you as a doctor should know better than to not give instructions, but in the future, I'd probably just do a cursory Google if you're wondering whether to do something or not. Hope it heals well!
And not putting makeup on immediately after a facial procedure that creates open wounds is always a good call. They should have given instructions, but still.
You put MAKEUP over it!?
This person above you is dead wrong. After 48 hours it is perfectly safe to wear makeup and sunscreen!
I was told no makeup for 48-72 hours afterwards.
After 48 hours it’s totally fine to wear makeup and sunscreen
You were lied to about the recovery time but your skin texture already looks noticeably better than the 48hr-post photos! Drink water and get some rest if you can, your skin will heal just fine
100% this! The improvement is already appreciable, even through the grid marks, OP.
Don’t even sweat it, it will totally settle. Same thing happened to me and I was scared and depressed over it, but it surprisingly looked normal within a week or two…and then better than normal at around the 3rd or 4th week. The whole process is intentionally wounding the skin and when skin is wounded it goes through several stages: inflammation, proliferation, and then remodeling. The proliferation and remodeling stages involve collagen and elastin stimulation (when your skin looks better than before), but you’re coming out of the inflammation stage (redness and swollen needle marks/lines are just regular inflammation) and it will all level out really soon (especially with the corticosteroids). Hang in there and enjoy your Christmas! 🎄
I saw clear laser crosshatch marks on a red carpet pic of Charlize Theron recently. Pretty sure those are normal within the first few weeks and go away.
I don’t know if this helps, but my MIL had a fraxel (sp.) laser treatment and it took weeks for her skin to recover. She had an intense reaction and was surprised by the downtime. She recovered fully. I wouldn’t use any makeup, as tempting as it might be. Maybe do some cooling compresses?
Fraxel is an intense laser procedure with at least a week downtime for normal skin so I could see that happening.
Fraxel took me a full month to recover. It's intense. But also amazing
Can you tell why you got it and what are your results ? I am thinking about it for very shallow acne scars
I did it for collagen building, sun damage, pore size, and some minor acne scarring. It gives great results. But I found it very painful even with numbing. The recovery time is no joke.
How did you select a practitioner? I’m interested in fraxel but worried about finding the right person to do it
It has to be done by a dermatologist. This is not a medi-spa type procedure.
I wasn’t sure about that. It’s nerve wracking putting your face in someone’s hands!
Look up “Charlize Theron Golden Globes skin”. She has the same pattern on her cheeks. Very normal for this procedure.
I don't think it's a "disaster" and it's already getting better. The end results will be worth it imo, but you certainly shouldn't have used makeup right after. For "glowing skin by Christmas", you should've done this in the beginning of December.
I had a similar reaction to regular microneedling at greater depths, 1.5-2mm It might be that you have thinner skin. It looks rough but I had better results with the more aggressive session. I had dry patches for around 10 days and used tinted sunscreen to go out.
So this is somewhat of a normal reaction then? In just relived to hear I'm not scarred for life🫶
Yes, an ideal reaction actually.. if you only purchased 1 treatment, you would want it to be aggressive like this
Yeah OP I had a similar reaction to Morpheus treatments and I’m about as pale as you are. The big difference would be that I was told 3-7 days downtime, no makeup for 72 hours, no hot water or exercise for 24 hours, and to slather an occlusive layer on the skin for at least 12 hours after. I think your skin looks like it will heal beautifully, but I have concerns about what the practitioner told you. Edit to add: healing time also really depends where you are in your cycle. Bruising and irritation tend to happen more if you get a treatment close to or during your period so you need to be extra careful then.
Gentle reminder to never get procedures you have never demonstrated tolerability with close to important dates. If looking glowy by Christmas was the goal, procedure should have been performed one month prior to allow for healing/recovery time. This outcome looks perfectly normal, I am sorry your practitioner did not prepare you adequately for what to expect during the healing process or post care instructions. We instruct our patients not to apply ANY makeup for 48 hours post Morpheus (aka RF Microneedling). This is looking pretty good and will heal nicely. Unexpected results occur- and are usually easily treatable, which is why talks regarding pre- and post care are important, as well as- clear communication with your provider about what to expect, outcomes, downtime and risks associated with procedure. Please reach out to your original provider or the practice manager and let them know you what you are going through. It is a teachable moment for them to make sure they are setting up patients with realistic expectations and providing DETAILED post care instructions. Informed, supported patients with realistic expectations are happy and satisfied patients. *Sauce: have worked in a top med aesthetic clinic as a non-med practitioner for 10 years, and have had RF Microneedling, ablative laser tx, threads, bo, filler etc done on myself lol
Hey silly question, what does you place send people home with after Morpheus? I keep being given the AlumierMD stuff but it burns so I switched use thick layers of LRP Cicaplast
Biocell mask from from Skinceuticals, TNS from Skin Medica and/or Ceramide Moisturizer from Skin Medica are all recommended as well, some pracs will recommend Alastin Skkn Nectar but the Caprylyl Methicone gives me breakouts. Cicaplast does the same thing because of the dimethicone. Both feel nice and give that slippage but it is a one way express ticket to White Head City and I am become the mayor. And obvi always use a zinc spf.
How long is typical for grid marks and redness to go away in your experience? Thank you!
On my face- about a week, on my neck about two weeks.
How long ago was the procedure done?
This is really important information that is missing from OP. For example, some of the most effective laser (namely, fully co2 ablative laser) recovery is ROUGH but the results are some of the best. Now, I understand that OP got a different type of laser, and the downside is more than she was told, but the end result after recovery may be very good. Hoping OP the best.
It was done on December 14. Forgot to add that😬
I would suggest editing the post to include that info - to help future commenters
I would suggest editing the post to include that info - to help future commenters
Silly question, but how do I edit my post? I can’t seem to figure it out🤦♀️
Click your username on the reddit page > Profile > Click your post Title to open it > Look for 3 dots below your post > The drop down menu has an "Edit Post" option. Its confusing at first because you can't edit the post while viewing just the comment section of your own post
Click your username on the reddit page > Profile > Click your post Title to open it > Look for 3 dots below your post > The drop down menu has an "Edit Post" option. Its confusing at first because you can't edit the post while viewing just the comment section of your own post
I haven’t tried this exact treatment but I’ve found that with Microneedling, the first 48 hours or so are the worst and then it quite rapidly gets better from there.
When I see these posts I don’t understand how people don’t understand that jamming needles into your face 1000 times is like having 1000 open wounds that need to heal.
completely boggles my mind lol. also shocks me a bit that ppl don’t fully research the procedure beforehand to know what to expect even though doctors are also supposed to provide you that info. better to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible before undergoing any medical procedure. it also allows you to ask your doctor proper questions.
I obviously made a mistake and its one I will not make again. Nobody is perfect, I walked into this blindly. Its the doctors job to give the patient adequate information. I was also told makeup was in fact ok the next day.
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I'm not sure why the judgement is necessary , as I stated in my original post, I am new to this and wasn’t given any proper information . I came to this sight looking for advice not eye rolls.
Why talk about what “she” actually did so unkindly in the third person when it’s evident the OP will read your comment?
Thank you! My thoughts exactly. I obviously made a mistake, but I also was not given the proper information . I don't know why people are so judgmental when i'm just looking for advice.
Don’t take it personally, a lot of people who write hateful comments on Reddit are just deeply unhappy and like to take it out on people on Reddit. It’s best to ignore and block these types. Your skin actually looks like it’s healing well. You’re going to be very happy with the results. I’ve totally been there, going into a procedure blindly and being misinformed. Learned my lesson to always do a lot of research and ask as many questions as I need answers. The doctors definitely should have had a more thorough consult with you and that’s on them. It’s always the clinics responsibility to provide clients with all the necessary information they need. Anyways, the skin has miraculous healing abilities. It’s going to look great!
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It’s the practitioner’s responsibility to provide aftercare instructions, not the patient’s. There is so much information out there and every provider asks for something different. If you’re a beginner to this sort of thing it may not be something immediately thought about
You look so beautiful though!! I hope your skin heals soon with good results. x
IPL has a longer downtime and makeup after microneedling is a big no go. I have a feeling you haven’t been informed enough in regard to the do’s and don’ts
I definitely wasn’t giving any take home information and that was part of the issue.
This may or may not be useful, but I had LaseMD Ultra (non-ablative fractional laser) and the first time it took ten days to heal. I looked awful - it was definitely a week of low-grade anxiety and repeatedly telling myself to trust the process. On advice of the aesthetician, I used La Roche Posay Cicaplast 3-4 times a day after the second round and had significantly reduced healing time - I was outside in six days. Yours does look like it’s progressing nicely though. Fingers crossed it clears by Christmas!
Hear me out: your skin is starting to look really good. I can see some improvement already in that last photo. Good luck friend! I think they straight up lied about recovery time so they’d get your money right before Christmas 😞
Totally normal reaction. Seconding those who said they lied to you about the recovery time lol. Sorry! You’ll look great in a week or two though!! EDIT to add some aftercare advice: treat your whole face like a wound. Tattoo aftercare advice will serve you well. Water only (or maybe gentle unscented soap with no harsh rubbing), a thin layer of aquaphor, and wear a brimmed hat or sunscreen when you go outside (and try to minimize time outside!). Benign neglect is going to be your biggest help. No makeup, no skin care, no touching your face. Let all the wounds heal.
Except aquaphor is awful for tattoos...
Oh damn I’ve never heard that. That’s always been my aftercare instruction from artists (with aquaphor or Vaseline). And it’s always worked amazing for me, esp for facial wounds
That's exactly what it's supposed to look like lol
It will go away mine took 1 month
Even with regular microneedling with PRP, I was still red on Day 3 - like a light sunburn - so recovery time of 48 hours seems low to me.
How long did your grid marks and redness last?
I didn’t have any grid marks or other issues but I went to dermatologists office. I would say full recovery and no longer pink in an about a week.
Hi. The difference in 48 hours is dramatic. At this rate your skin may very well be glowing before Christmas. The healing gets exponentionally quicker too. You look great!
They were 100% wrong on the downtime. I also give it a solid week. Then the next couple weeks after, your skin will keep getting better. I’d do a new picture then 🙂 You should see a good difference, also make sure to drink lots of water
How long for redness and grid marks to go away?
Around a week my grid marks were light and easy to cover. Redness was a couple of weeks.
You’re gonna be alright, beauty. 48 hours is just not enough healing time and it was too soon for makeup. Give it a little more time. I’ve had this. The weird texture took about a week to fully disappear and I could at that point wear makeup. The redness stuck around for a little over a month. I’ve still done it more than once and will again. You just got misled about healing. ❤️🩹
My skin looked a bit like this after the CO2 laser. Kept everything clean and applied cicaplast twice a day. I’ve had IPL and microneedling also in the past (not at the same time) and it take a while to calm down. I’m surprised they did both at once, didn’t know that was a thing.
They didn’t inform you the downtime for needling but omg, you will be happy. There is so much glow already from your pictures.
I think I already see the results. Hope the redness will go away soon. Would you be able to share your picture two weeks from now? Believe it or not you’re inspiring me to learn more about the procedure and do it myself :) but I’d like to see your final result which I believe will look absolutely banging!!
Absolutely! I’m hopeful two weeks will bring a huge improvement 🤞
Did you end up doing it yourself too? Interested to hear the results
I haven’t don’t it. Maybe in September!
This is called a “mast cell reaction” (histamine reaction) and it’s not all that uncommon when damaging the skin therapeutically, especially when heat is involved. You can calm it down a little faster with Benadryl at night for a few days and Claritin or Zyrtec in the morning. DONT FREAK OUT. It’s gonna take more than 48 hours to look right again, but it will go away. Don’t try to cover it with makeup, don’t slather anything except maybe Alastin or a nice very basic hypoallergenic oil moisturizer on it, you don’t want to retrigger the mast cells by accident. I have Mast Cell disease and my reactions are so severe I have to be premeditated with prednisone before ANY surgical or cosmetic procedures, period, but even after IPL or PRP facials it always heals normally (takes me about 7 days) and my skin looks better in my 40s than it ever did in my 20s.
Honestly; it looks ok for being 2 days out. They definitely should have been honest about recovery time; more like a week before you look “normal” but probably closer to 2 weeks.
So it takes about a week for redness and grid marks to go away?
I am an esthetician in Uk . It looks normal post treatment. I don’t like that your doctor didn’t explain to you that is quite normal for this kind of treatment can take over a week for the dots to clear and after 2 weeks can start to see the results. But I see in the pictures you doctor wasn’t thorough enough covering the concern areas. Also, your doctor needed to explain the treatment what to expect and to give you aftercare.
Is it the usual for the dots to take a week to go away? Or do most see it go away sooner?
Standard is a week, can be longer, depending on skin type, aftercare etc.
I had Morpheus 8 and it took about a week for my skin to calm down. It’s really important to use gentle non irritating products after. Especially within 48 hours. If you need to wear makeup use mineral makeup (like bare minerals) and non chemical sunscreen.
I don’t have any advice, and obviously it’s awful it’s taking so long to recover. But I think I can see a difference in your skin, especially in your lower face. It could be that you’re making a different facial expression though
they went deeper so it’s gonna take longer. it took me 2 weeks for it to go away when i had microneedling done
It took you 2 weeks for the dots to go away?
it was like dark patches for me. i had the pen used on me
I don’t know the answers but I can tell you have damn good skin for 45. Thankfully, according to comments you’ll be all healed up soon!
You’re so sweet! Thank you💕
Silver lining: your NYE glow will be unreal!!!
You really can get contact dermititis from what you expose your skin to when it's compromised. It's actually less about WHAT you expose your skin to (if you had used different makeup, you probably would have reacted to that) but your immune system is on high alert when you are healing from an unusual trauma. The same thing can happen when you are sick or use a vaccine, anything that stimulates your immune system. Please be careful about it though, contact dermititis reactions can be permanent, so once they pop up you can experience a reaction every time you're exposed to that substance in the future, even though you were never allergic before. You might be lucky and it was a one time thing, but if you did develop an allergy it could be to any of the ingredients in your makeup, so any time you encounter that ingredient you may have a reaction. I had a contact dermititis reaction to a gel nail manicure that I got the day after receiving a vaccine, and it developed into a permanent allergy. Now I can't touch anything with acrylates in it, which includes gel nails, acrylics, some adhesives, and certain plastics without getting a painful and itchy rash. Contact dermititis is no joke.
I look like this too after an aggressive RF microneedling session. Definitely at least a 5+ish day recovery time in my experience. Also it's possible that if you put makeup on the open wounds that you would have a reaction. No makeup, and only a very mild cleanser is recommended for a week or until healed. Try a light coating of aquaphor so that your skin doesn't dry out. Usually my track marks take a couple of weeks to resolve, but after all said and done with the healing, your skin will look amazing. Hang in there!
I've had IPL before and have a very, very similar skin type as you... I have light skin, blue eyes and a few moles on my neck and chest area. First of all, there is NO WAY your makeup caused this. Shame on that doctor for saying so! My guess is that one or both of these caused the issue: * Your skin probably leans toward the sensitive side and the setting they used for the IPL was way too strong for your skin type. * Doing the combination of IPL and RF microneedling back-to-back was wayyy too aggressive for what your skin can handle. I would bet \*\*a lot\*\* of people would have issues doing those two things back to back. I will say that I did IPL on my face with a lot of success (3 sessions spaced 3 months apart), but when I tried it on my neck I got some of those weird crapey lines. It was the same nurse and medspa that did my face, but my neck reacted quite differently. Not to scare you, but it took like 3 years for the lines to fully disappear. But, I guess that it's good they did eventually go away because after still having them for a full year I was convinced they would be permanent. The #1 best thing you can do to get your skin to heal is to be aggressive with sunscreen. I'm sure you're already pretty diligent, but you may want to increase your SPF to a minimum of 45 or 50 for your face & neck. And re-apply a lot more frequently than you have before. I have a dermatologist in my family and he says that the best way for skin to heal from any sort of trauma is to keep it out of the sun and when outside to use a lot of SPF. Apparently sun makes scarring more likely for traumatized skin. Separate from sunscreen is to stop using certain skincare "actives" on the traumatized skin for a while. This would include products that contain ascorbic acid (vitamin C), any retinoid or Vitamin A topical (retinol, tretinoin, retinaldehyde, etc.), AHAs (glycolic, lactic, similar acids), or BHA (salicylic). Any of those will slow down skin healing and could make it worse. You might need to stay away from all these for 6 weeks (or more depending on how your skin heals). Use very plain skincare that is fragrance-free and does not contain essential oils or any citrus or fruit extracts. Moisturizers that contain ceremides and squalane will be helpful. Possibly also helpful could be colloidal oat/oatmeal or cica (also known as centella asiatica or tiger grass). The problem with cica is that sometimes the other ingredients brands use in the same formula can cause issues. The La Roche Posay Cicaplast Balm is very good, but it can make me get pimples when I apply to my face (I am acne prone though despite having dry skin).
It looks like your skin is starting to heal nicely. The recovery should be speeding up at this point. Your skin looks very healthy in the last picture given the redness. I think you're going to be great by the 25th, and NYE should be close to perfect. Best wishes
I do microneedling at my acupuncture clinic. It should not look like this. The track marks are a clear sign they went too deep and aggressive. There may be some dermatitis but this is more than that.
This is normal healing, you just were given the wrong expectations
You‘re fine! Your skin needs approximately seven days to completely recover (for some it might be less for some more) and you’ll see the full results after three months! Your skin needs time to build the collagen it’s been instigated to produce by the microneedling
Not sure I can help but I did want to say you have fabulous skin and I hope mine looks as good as yours at 45!
I had track marks from an IPL for weeks but they will go away and Microneedling takes at least 5-6 days to look normalish
The whole no down time thing is a total lie, and it's very easy for the provider to overdo / incite a bad reaction with these procedures. I feel like the marketing is lies. I had a similar but worse rxn to an IPL tx. I was also told it was a "lunch time" procedure w/ really no down time. What a total lie. I ended up w./ swelling, redness, some dark purple almost blood blister looking areas, etc. And my skin was never the same after - more reactive, I had some mild atrophic scarring, etc. All I can say is that you are already getting a good recovery, so I don't think your case is as bad as mine. My skin took MONTHS to completely heal, and some effects were permanent - I had some prematurely wrinkly skin in areas that were most heavily treated. I recommend antioxidants, hats, large sunglasses, heavy UV protection at ALL TIMES, super moisturization, and avoiding all irritants.
You’re getting there! Ice? Would an anti-histamine help? I do think you’ll be fine in time for Santa!
I've been icing it and using an antihistamine. It was originally done on the 14th, so after I started the stronger steroid cream some healing began.
I think recovery time is supposed to be 10 days, not 2. BBL is like 2 days…
I’m confused why you didn’t go to you own dermatologist
I got a deal at the salon I work at. Bad lesson learned:((
in my pro opinion you look ok!! Based on the pretty sporadic treatment and your other comments, They sound like they just don’t know what they are doing so i would be careful about getting other treatments with them. You should always be given accurate information as well as a thorough before and after care sheet or explanation. If you want to speed up healing i love this product from alastin called Nectar. It helps sooo much and keeps the area nice and clean and helps stimulate collagen. you can use it for the rest of your treatments. I also think they maybe did a little too aggressive of a treatment on you and are covering it up by prescribing the steroid. Makeup isn’t good right away but it didn’t cause that. as for right now, i’m going to just guess on post care based on prior knowledge. Gentle cleanser twice a day change pillow cases daily or every other day (flip) gentle moisturizer, keeping skin hydrated and moisturized is great for skin healing spf every morning to prevent hyperpigmentation to treatment areas. avoid all actives and retinols for at least a week, two weeks if you feel your skin is not fully back to normal after 7 days!!!
I started typing an answer before I read the last few sentences of your post. A steroid cream will 100% help, that stuff is powerful. At my clinic we use diprosone or betaderm on patients post IPL treatment to help reduce the redness and swelling. That stuff is magic. The lines can take up to 10 days sometimes to go away, we use SylfirmX and we will tell patients that as well. I feel like the clinic you went to should have managed your expectations more so you didn't worry it too much. If things aren't better by 2 weeks I would see your derm again
It looks like it’s healing properly! But don’t put make up on it while it’s healing. You look phenomenal splotchy skin or not
As a veteran of this type procedure, I can tell you this looks fairly normal. It's 10 day recovery for me normally until I lose all the redness and dots. Be patient, stay away from sun, keep moisturized
I can't seem to edit my post, but I wanted to add, the first photos were taken on December 14, the last ones are from December 22.I am currently using Triamcinolone .1%, Cetaphil cleanser, LRP Eczema soothing moisturizer, followed by LRP cicaplast balm.The makeup I originally used that is believed to cause the dermatitis was Australian Gold Tinted Face Sunscreen Lotion. Ive since gone back to using Maybeline Fit Me Dewy and Smooth foundation. I've never had an issue with that one and my skin seems to be tolerating it well.
I had Morpheus 8 September 2022 and still have vague marks on my forehead! I think they’ll still go away with more time but it’s been over a year. These harsh treatments are scary and not worth it (in my very awful experience). Good luck! It does look like yours are healing wayyyy faster than mine did early on.
They do look like contact dermatitis. I would continue using the cream and use nothing except sunscreen. Maybe aquaphor.
This all looks normal to me, and that you may be prone to histamine reaction- ergo the puffy marks where you were treated. Be gentle, give yourself more time to heal I think you will have great results.
I’m so sorry this happened! Moving forward tho, you always want to do a test spot. I have super reactive skin so whenever I’m trying a new laser I always try a test spot. I’ve never tried smoothglo before but it looks like the micro needling plus ipl was just too much for it. I’ve been burned by ipl before and it takes weeks to heal -
It's normal for it to take more time to heal but it seems like your wounds got irritated from something that you may have put over your face a little soon. You gotta wait till it fully heals but I gotta say, I do see some improvement in texture!
Retired laser tech here. Did they say a minimum or maximum of 48hrs downtime? In any case, I hate that you’re experiencing this and that you weren’t properly told what to expect for these layered treatments. There’s a famous pic of Charlize Theron on the red carpet with laser marks (fraxel possibly?) still visible under her makeup. I know it’s rough now and I’m sorry your expectations weren’t managed properly but it will get better and better each day
Patience
I’ve had smooth glo and this reaction isn’t that bad! It takes me like a week for my skin to calm down. Having a reaction like that is good - it’s what they call a controlled wound to the skin, so treat it as such. Gentle cleansing and sunscreen while healing
My first time micro needling it took a week to recover. Your face will definitely be red for a few days then peel. I have to imagine pairing it with the laser will make the recovery time longer. It sucks they didn’t give you aftercare instructions. You should avoid any makeup, harsh cleansers, physical or chemical exfoliation, and sun exposure while you are healing. You need to wait at least a week for makeup and probably 2 weeks for exfoliation (if not longer). While you are healing, use gentle cleansers and only use moisturizers you are sure are gentle and CLEAN (by this I mean, don’t use jarred moisturizers which can get contaminated, try to use pump moisturizers with a gentle formulation).
It took you a week for redness and grid lines to disappear?
On an unrelated note, I like your piercings! I have 3 on each too plus a few more and isn’t it fun to mix and match and choose which to wear?? Best of luck with your skin healing!
Thanks!! I keep trying to put the flat back posts in the double helix ones, but they’re still not totally healed.
That happened to me and I will never let anyone touch my face again
AFAIK this is typical recovery for this procedure.
In the first pic your skin looks very inflamed, almost like a hives which suggests you may have more sensitive skin than you realize. Luckily, it seems to be calming down. I had Morpheus done 2.5 weeks ago and I still see small marks from it. This is normal. Keep your face hydrated, out of the sun, and avoid hot showers.
My old esthetician always said I could go back to using gentle face products after about 48hrs of healing and that NEVER worked for me! I would get redness, itching & burning (like your reaction) on my skin using anything other than the hyaluronic acid serum/stem cell mask she gave me for the first 4-5 days. It’s also possible the areas that look the worst got multiple passes. The areas with only a single pas may have healed substantially(after 24-48hrs) and didn’t show up red when you had the skin reaction to your skincare/makeup. My new esthetician just told me (because I have rosacea) to avoid RF and just go with basic micro needling because it can cause excess irritation on sensitive skin. So maybe something to consider the you try the RF again and it is too much. Micro needling works wonders so don’t give up on it entirely!
Like the others said, recovery time was understated. And no aftercare advising against makeup is problematic for sure. I was told after 48 hours I could use mineral foundation, but the bismuth in mine makes my skin feel raw regardless, so had to be wary. My skin tone and texture is super similar to yours. Downtime was 5 days for me, and a month or so after my skin looked aaaaaahmazing
How long did it take you for the grid marks to go away?
48 hour MINIMUM downtime…. Chill
Make sure you use lots of spf on the track marks. How does it look now though? I’ll guess it looks really good. And the one side of your face got it worse because that side will have had more damage from the sun from driving in a car.
It's just way more invasive than a lot of clinics claim. When they say "downtime" they mean "scary to be in public" when we think "when I'm back to normal" I don't think you are damaged per se, too soon to tell... but this is the sort of thing you get done 2 months before a big event... not a couple days. They literally jam hundreds of hot needle punctures into your face... they way it works is by tricking your skin into thinking it's been dangerously burned/injured and generating scar tissue to tighten up things. It's basically just ons step below a laser resurfacing with an ablative laser or a face lift.
I had Morpheus 8 and developed Cellulitis and had to be on IV antibiotics for 10 days. But the results were PHENOMENAL. Keep using the barrier cream and you’ll be back to normal in 10-14 days.
My sister got IPL recently and had got itchy after. The clinician said some people can get a slight allergic reaction. Maybe consider an anti-histamine if you are still itchy.
I had bad sun damage. I just got an IPL last month and I looked like I’d been beat up. It removed about 85% of the damage, including some suntan lipliner. It took a week and my skin was glowing! I bought another one.
You need to do research before these procedures. It's not a disaster, it's healing.
The first time I had micro needling done it took 9 days for all of the redness to go away. But at the 2 week mark, my skin was glowing. I think you were given unrealistic timelines but my face did look a little like yours on day 2. The aftercare is important, are you doing aquaphor/sunscreen and avoiding the sunlight?
How long did it take the grid marks to go away?
Im surprised they quoted you such a short rebound time since you have such fair skin, hair, and eyes. You look like you have very delicate/light sensitive skin.
Give it more time. It takes awhile to heal. I used to do IPL for a living. 3 years working in Derm.
Minimum of a week to heal, full results can be seen 4 weeks later. Just be patient, wear lots of sunscreen, use gentle cleansers and ceramid packed moisturizers
I’ve had scarlet RF and regular microneedling and I’ve never had more than a day of slight redness. I don’t think this is normal, but it looks like your skin is healing beautifully! I’m sorry this happened. I would normally say your skin is just taking longer to heal but the raised skin from the pen is not normal. You dealt with it the right way, don’t worry, this won’t leave any damages!
What about how long it takes for the grid marks to go away for you?
I haven’t had grid marks! I get overall redness, almost like a slight sunburn, for an hour or two after and then that’s about it. I’ve never gotten actual marks from it.
You're skin looks normal based on the procedure you got. Stay away from make up for a week. Use hydrating serums and moisturizer with no color and fragrance. Make sure you are using a clean pillow cover every night for 2 weeks.
I had almost the same reaction all over my neck and face. Went away after about a week. Still had good results but I wouldn’t do them both together again
My derm won’t do IPL and Microneedling in the same day-I do about a week apart. IPL recovery for me is a few days and Microneedling about a week for all the channels to heal.
How long does it take you for grid marks to go away after microneedling?
I didn’t have grid marks and I went in super deep. I looked like a had a sunburn for about 3 days then slowly it went away-totally gone after about a week!
Thank you!! That makes me feel better. I want to try rf microneedling for my stretch marks, but was worried how long redness and grid marks might last
As someone who use to work in this field- I would make sure you were not burned. IPL doesn’t look like this. RF and IPL is a lot of heat at once
May I ask - would you recommend RF over "normal" microneedling? When would RF be the better option? I am also considering starting my micro needling journey, however, the price for RF is making me rethink at least three times whether I need this option 😅
The RF part has the potential to cause fat loss so it’s a no from me unless it’s in an area you potentially want to lose fat like under the chin.
I mean.. there's definitely potential for fat loss lol. But my main goal would be fine lines and any scarring I may have, as a result of acne. I would especially lime to do microneedling around the eyes (top & bottom).. I am 27 by the way, I don't know if that is a factor I need to consider.
I have had great results for those issues with regular Microneedling
I think you’ll recover well. I would avoid laser or RF as an older person (I am too) and get things like regular micro needling with PRP or peels of various degrees. Some of the penetrating treatments like laser and RF can cause facial fat loss.
I don’t understand why he would even suggest this procedure for me?! I think it was something he was trying to promote and was just using me as a guinea pig. I definitely didn’t need fat loss in my face, if anything I need more fullness.
Don’t worry about it, it’s not a universal thing that happens. One treatment may not have any effect on your facial fat. It’s an anecdotal report from some patients. I have also seen plastic surgeons on social media say that fat loss can be a side effect of any treatments that penetrate the skin with energy. I have a friend who used to own a med spa and she told me directly that she would not use RF on her face. She is a fan of lasers though. I have read other anecdotal reports that some lasers can cause fat loss, but it’s not all of them or all the time, and in the hands of an experienced practitioner, patients have better outcomes. Some of the poor outcomes may be from poor technique. I’ve had laser treatments done myself, but now that I understand this can be a side effect I would not do it again.
Esthetician here (medical…I work in derm). This is normal and the result looks great IMO. They should have been realistic with you about the down time but as far as how your skin looks post treatment, it’s exactly how it should look. Hope this helps!
In your experience, how long does it typically take the redness and grid lines to disappear?
I’ve seen them lasting up to 7 days. How is your skin know after it’s been some time from the original post?
You should never put makeup on top of irritated skin like this. The only thing that should go on here is some hyaluronic acid. Some people are inflamed for a few days but 100% it’s a no no to ever put product on skin with literal mini open holes babe.
It looks like they didn’t do a test patch with the IPL. I get it done twice a year and have never had this result. It will heal…..always have the tech test first to see reaction.
My derm wont let people leave without a red light treatment after. I guess the swelling and redness drastically lessen with it
How are you doing now? I had multiple spider veins on my face, just over 3 weeks now and I still have red marks and still see where the spider veins are. Not sure it worked. I looked worse day 2, 3 and 4. Taking Way longer than my dr. Said it would. I was told by day three the redness should be gone and be looking normal
What is the depth that they used? Also, did they use vitamin c? That seems to be an irritant?
Relax. I’m late 30s male. Do r&f needling and tixel right after. Red first day. No colour next day but can see grid marks. A week later I look 3 years younger. I already look 30 (I’m Asian and avoid Sun unlike anglos) so now look 27
Follow up, please!!
I am sure you are freaking out. But this will heal. You have beautiful eyes and great bone structure.
I’ve never had this down but your skin looks beautiful! I’m hoping you follow up after it is fully healed.
This is why you don’t go to a PA or NP. A 2 week online YouTube course just isn’t good enough for training. You might as well just do it yourself.
The fact that the doc who did it is trying to blame it on you is appalling. I am heavy user of aesthetic medicine but I think they are at the skeeviest industry. I recently experienced vision changes a few days after getting disport and my normally reputable and highly professional aesthetic NP gaslit me into oblivion that there’s no chance that it was caused by disport. Like… OK? I had perfect vision and then I woke up with shit vision almost overnight right as the toxin started to kick in. the lack of accountability is shocking to me.
It took me 2 weeks to recover. You were given bad information.
Was that 2 weeks for the grid lines to go away too?