Thermolysis disaster (I want my face back)

30
u/No_Way118
Tue Jul 23 23:21:05 2024 UTC
(17 comments)

all 17 comments



35
u/Melia9090
Wed Jul 24 03:41:59 2024 UTC
(0 children)

This is fixable. I don’t know if it will be affordable but doing things like CO2 laser is a good option for you. You have the optimal skin tone for it. Things like that and also you can look into other fractional laser treatments. They will deliver the results you want.

u/[deleted]
Wed Jul 24 00:41:12 2024 UTC
(2 children)

[deleted]

5
OP
Wed Jul 24 08:20:30 2024 UTC
(1 child)

Hi Autumn!! I hope you're healing well, we actually spoke in private on my non throwaway account and I really appreciate your input on trans procedures.

I'm really interested in seeing a similar type of scarring to mine be treated with lasers and most of the pictures you can find online are promotional images for cosmetic derms in which the patient is still swollen, the lighting is different or from people from acne.org or r/acnescars who are less biased but it's not an overly positive place as a whole either, many people on these sites have been botched pretty hardcore by "trustworthy" derms. If you've got anything like that you could show me or know anyone who does, it'd give me a lot of hope but no pressure honestly.

I'm very scared of the next step in terms of procedures, I'm sure my damage is quite deep, it's gotta be right? But I'm holding onto the fact that I'm in my 20s and that it can be sorted out with the right treatment.

Thinking of making a YouTube video about my experiences so that it'll help the next person dealing with this kind of thing or even prevent it happening at all, I want to see some good come from this situation and document my worries as well as my recovery in a community led way, I was inspired by the channel "your hairy godmother" and it struck me how much her work does for PCOS and trans girls alike.

Tldr;

  1. Very scared of future damage, especially lasers
  2. I don't want an Instagram derm but they are the easiest to find as that's just marketing, want a reliable way to find a trustworthy place in the UK preferably.
  3. Any chance of sharing images of similar recovery?
10
u/plasticsurgerythro
Wed Jul 24 02:50:12 2024 UTC
(4 children)

This is treatable. What methods have you looked at?

Co2 fractional laser is expensive but it works. Try switching to laser right now as your hair looks dark enough.

Cheaper options are chemical peels, microneedling, and retinoids, the prescription kind

2
OP
Wed Jul 24 07:51:48 2024 UTC
(3 children)

I have looked into those things you've mentioned, I'm terrified of frying my face fat with laser as a result of looking thru r/laserdamagesupport but I am really desperate. Some of my icepicks are quite deep and I think multiple treatment approaches will be necessary.

Tca cross seems to be the best way to treat deep ice picks scars but I don't think that's a risk worth taking at all, it's basically putting acid on a scar and hoping that your scar grows back in a more visually pleasing way eventually, in fact, none of these methods seem to actually do anything but create more scar tissue in a more visually pleasing way which is great and all but won't it all fall apart one day with collagen loss from aging? I don't know I'm not educated enough.

I've also heard reports of microneedling causing volume loss and since I have lots of pigmented cells, I don't really want to push them down any further into my face as a first approach.

Full chemical peels are interesting but overall a bit overkill to apply to my whole face, I'm also facing pretty horrific pigmenting issues as is and I'm sure thats influenced by oestrogen pills.

There are a few dermatologists in London and I live in the UK, it's just finding one who is trustworthy and I'm a bit paralyzed from not knowing how to find a trustworthy one rather than who has the best marketing team.

Wondering if I should turn this into a community based project as this is so much for me to deal with on my own and I'd love to document my journey for the next person who gets fucked like this. It'd also stop me answering the same initial questions multiple times too.

3
Wed Jul 24 21:53:36 2024 UTC
(2 children)

Laser hair removal does not face fat atrophy; sometimes Co2 laser can, but there is a such thing as facial fa transfer, but fat deposits around the mouth aren't usually a problem.

You don't have to get deep chemical peels, a series of medium depth over time will drastically reduce your issue. Controlled damage is not the same as uncontrolled damage, they don't have the same results. All dermatological treatments involve a transcriptional change, all of which has a low potential for bad outcomes, but its the only way forward.

Microneedling does not face volume loss, on the contrary, but you most be thinking of RF microneeddling, which does, and not regular microneedling

1
OP
Wed Jul 31 10:57:05 2024 UTC
(1 child)

I think fat atrophy around the mouth usually isn't an issue because not many are treating scarring around that area, my scars are quite unique and it wouldn't be very nice to have saggy upper lip or lower cheeks, fat transfer also seems to carry a bunch of its own risks as well as being crazy expensive which is how I feel about subcision.

Also, aren't these icepick scars? A lot of them very shallow icepick scars but nonetheless are they not deeply tethered and treatments on top wouldn't bear much influence on depth?

I've also seen people from the facial damage from lasers Facebook group report fat loss from regular microneedling.

1
Wed Jul 31 17:14:32 2024 UTC
(0 children)

Losing fat doesn't equal sagging. Do you want these scars treated or just be afraid of rarer end of side effects?

Nano-fat is not the same as microfat transfer, and traditional fat transfer isn't done in the face.

Subcision works but its usually not done on that part of the face.

And no you cannot get fat loss from non-rf/non heated microneedling. They are probably misspeaking and unless they got the proof its hearsay.

3
u/SoCalSanguine
Wed Jul 24 04:57:52 2024 UTC
(0 children)

There’s also erbium (Er:YAG) laser resurfacing, to rejuvenate scarring.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560931/

2
u/[deleted]
Wed Jul 24 09:28:35 2024 UTC
(5 children)

I think you can do laser. Hair seems dark enough.

3
OP
Wed Jul 24 09:32:09 2024 UTC
(4 children)

Not all of it is but yeah some is, most of what you're looking at is actually scarring and not hair which is quite distressing

1
Wed Jul 24 11:29:22 2024 UTC
(3 children)

I see you maybe you can do some laser treatment for the scars?

2
OP
Wed Jul 24 16:03:19 2024 UTC
(2 children)

Yeah laser resurfacing is on the table but I'm not overly confident in it's ability to change the texture of scars by that much but I could be wrong, I am also worried about laser damage after reading other's experiences on r/laserdamagesupport .

2
Wed Jul 24 18:42:49 2024 UTC
*
(1 child)

I honestly feel really sorry for you which of course doesn’t help you , but you know in all those treatments trans people must have. It’s always some side effects. I’m suffering from some shit from FFS so I wish you the very best and that you find somebody who can fix this for you or maybe you can find a way to cover it up with make up people must have. It’s always some side effects. I’m suffering from some shit from FFS so I wish you the very best and that you find somebody who can fix this for you or maybe you can find a way to cover it up with make up

2
OP
Wed Jul 31 17:17:43 2024 UTC
(0 children)

Thank you queen I hope you can get your ffs stuff sorted with time, none of us deserve any of this shit

2
u/nikitakinka
Wed Jul 24 11:15:18 2024 UTC
(0 children)

C02 laser and retinosl creme

1
u/desirable-partner
Wed Jul 24 16:02:11 2024 UTC
(1 child)

i’ve been going through a lot of electrolysis on my face the last few months and i’m pretty terrified of this sort of thing. how much electrolysis did you go through and what do you think you could have done differently to prevent this outcome

1
OP
Wed Jul 24 16:18:55 2024 UTC
(0 children)

Just be diligent with your aftercare, inspect your face with a phone torch at different angles and don't go back until you feel like your face has healed enough, my choice of practitioner was absolutely abysmal and I really doubt this would happen to someone more careful.