PearlFusion

Is Pearl Fusion worth it??.. update

It has been 2 months since my laser treatment on my chest, neck and peri-oral area.  Is it worth it??

I am not going to give a definitive answer yet, however, these are my observations.

1. My chest area is still slightly bumpy, slightly pink and in the light you can still see the vertical lines from sleeping all these years on my side. It does look a little better and smoother.

2. Hardly any pink around my mouth area. I really so not see much difference here in the vertical lines. The technician was agressive in this area using both YAg and Ablative. I will discuss setting and depth in another blog post. I developed a very small hypotropic scar above my lip line, which I hope resolves. I am not sure why this happened- however, I apparently healed too quickly in this area. I also noticed that my lips looked flatter, consequently I felt like a needed to plump them.

3. My initial reaction is that Co2 Lasers are more effective in building collagen and go deeper.  This seems to be the gold standard. Cutera (http://www.cutera.com) is the manufacturer of the Pearl Fusion and it is not a Co2 Laser.  There is much controversy in the laser resurfacing arena.

So far I am not impressed with Cutera’s Pearl Fusion.  If anyone has had any laser resurfacing experience, I welcome your comments.

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After Laser Resourfacing with Cutera’s Pearl Fusion

It has been 18 days since my Cutera Pearl Fusion laser resourfacing treatment of the decollete, neck and vertical lines around my mouth. Plus frown lines.

I’m using a mild facial cleanser, followed by a rich moisturizing cream. I was using a barrier repair lipid formulation which is rich and creamy.  I recently switched and am testing a new skincare cream with stem cells to see if it will speed up the healing process.  I have only begun using it, so I can not comment on this yet.

My chest is slightly pink now it looks like a I  have a mild sunburn. My sun lesions look much better and I think the texture is better. Though I really need to see my before pics to compare. It looks smoother, yet  I still have the vertical lines, which also seem less noticeable.

My peri-oral area and frown lines are  still pink too. I can cover it with light mineral make-up. I purchased Oxygenetix by Ceravitae as a foundation cover-up for $60.00. It was too dark, too thick-  I found it pasty. Not a fan.  I prefer to use my Colorscience corrector kit.  Works great and blends well.

My neck area after the Pearl is not pink.  I was very conservative with the neck because I did not want to have any problems.  The laser nurse, Jeff, used  the lowest setting of the Peral Fractionated system.  The neck skin is so thin that you can run the risk of scarring if you have an aggressive treatment. I would rather opt for another treatment in this area, than be aggressive.  I am not sure that I notice any difference here.  If there is it is only slight improvement in color, no improvement in texture yet.

My opinion at this point:

I am not wowed about Laser resourfacing with  Pearl Fusion yet!  I see slight improvement and know that over time collagen builds. I will have a much better sense by August, whether I think this is worth the money.

If you really want significant improvement Co2 laser is still probably the way to go.. however, there is a lot of downtime associated with this type of Laser resourfacing procedure.

The Pearl Fusion– is milder with quicker recovery time.

Here are my observations.

It has been 2 months since my Pearl Fusion treatment on my chest, neck and peri-oral area.  Is it worth it??

I am not going to give a definitive answer yet, however, these are my observations.

1. My chest area is still slightly bumpy, slightly pink and in the light you can still see the vertical lines from sleeping all these years on my side. It does look a little better and smoother.

2. Hardly any pink around my mouth area. I really do not see much difference  in the vertical lines above my lips.  The laser nurse was agressive in this area using both YAG and Ablative. I will discuss setting and depth in another blog post. I developed a very small hypotropic scar above my lip line, which I hope resolves. I am not sure why this happened- however,  according to one dermatologist, I apparently healed too quickly in this area. I also noticed that my lips looked flatter, consequently I felt like a little Juverderm was in order.

3. My initial reaction is that Co2 Lasers are more effective in building collagen and go deeper.  This seems to be the gold standard. Cutera (http://www.cutera.com) is the manufacturer of the Pearl Fusion and it is not a Co2 Laser.  There is much controversy in the laser resurfacing arena.

So far I am not impressed with Cutera’s Pearl Fusion.

UPDATE:

SIX MONTHS LATER

Chest:

Slight difference in pigmentation, red bumps gone. Texture shows little improvement. No improvement with vertical chest lines.

Neck: No improvement

Peri-oral area (around the mouth):

Persistant bump above the lip area. It is unclear exactly what this bump is. There have been mix-diagnosis from various dermatologists. It coud be a hypertropic scar. However, it is not conclusive. What I do know is that is developed after the laser treatment. The fine lines are around my mouth are slightly better. However, I had Juverderm injected in certain areas that appear deeper or more noticeable than before the treatment. The results of the Pearl Fusion do not appear to be uniform. Some areas are showing deeper vertical lines than other areas.

 My overall opinion is that one treatment of the Pearl Fusion is not enough if you have pigmentation and vertical lip lines. Was it worth the price?  At this time I would say no.

Rejuvenating Your Skin with Laser Treatments

There are so many lasers devices on the market, all claiming to be the best.  So, I have taken yet another journey into skin rejuvenation.

This time my focus is  on my sun damaged and hyper-pigmented  chest, some fine lines and pigmentation on my neck and the vertical lines around my mouth.

Since my facelift, I have noticed the fine lines around my mouth more, the uneven skin tone on my neck and my blotchy chest with vertical limes from all the years of sleeping on my side, scrunching up my  décolleté  area.

My first area of attack.. my  décolleté. I believe that I damaged my chest by having too many microderms on this delicate area, and not being diligent with sunscreen.  After consulting with my dermatologist, Dr. Sonia Badreshia-Bansal,  We decided the best course of action would first be a series of IPL treatments,( Intense Pulse Light)  to get as much red and pigmentation removed before we went to a more aggressive stage. Light pulses target the melanin in the skin’s surface which heats and destroys melanin to remove the discoloration. It also targets the red-pigment (haemoglobin) in the blood which heats and destroys the pigment without affecting the skin or other tissues. There are many IPL machines on the market that basically will do the same thing.  Effectiveness depends on the settings and the expertise of the technician.

After a series of 4 IPL treatments on my chest, my discoloration and vascular lesions looked much better.. but I still had the vertical lines, uneven skin tone and redness.  Next step.. Laser resurfacing on my chest..Since I would have  down time for my chest I opted to have the perioral area (around my mouth) and my neck done at the same time.

Three years ago I had a MiXto SX® laser treatment on my whole face.  A micro fractional CO2 laser.  The physician at the time was training on the laser and was not very aggressive with my treatment.  My first treatment showed great results, my skin looked much smoother, pore size diminished and my sundamaged lesions were less.. However, I did not see much improvement in fine lines. My second treatment 8 weeks later showed little results and I was quite disappointed. Laser should build collagen over the next 6 months,however, I saw little improvement from this laser.

My hyperpigmentation returned less than one year later.  In all fairness, my poor  results my have been due to an inexperienced physician, who perhaps became more aggressive  and comfortable with subsequent treatments. There is a learning curve with these devices.  Lesson here… if you are part of a “study ” with  an inexperienced laser MD/  medical technician,  manage your expectations. DO NOT PAY FULL PRICE!!

This was over three years ago.. Since then after several chemical peels and using medical grade skin care, my skin looks great. Except for smal vertical lines above and around my mouth and redness on my chin.   I did not want a lot of down time – yet wanted results. So we decided on the Pearl Fusion by Cutera.  The world of lasers is very confusing. There are CO2 lasers, Fractional, Erbium, Nd:YAG laser to name a few.  CO2 Lasers are more invasive, go deeper and require more down time.  They are an excellent choice for someone with extreme sun damage, deep wrinkles and more mature skin. Some plastic surgeons will combine a CO2 resurfacing treatments with a facelift.  However, I do not need, nor want  such an invasive treatment.

The Pearl combines a fractional ablative with non-ablative factional laser called the Pearl Fusion. It is one of the new generations of lasers.   Downtime is less and the risk factors are minimum compared to CO2 lasers. My goal is to remove the fine lines around the mouth area, improve texture and pigment on my neck and chest.

Discuss your options with the doctor, including down time and risk factors.  Above all DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK.

Remember there are several key laser companies out there and they  all market  themselves as the best.  Laser are costly and many practices only have one. Larger practices may have several different laser options. Also many physicians are trainers for laser companies  and will only recommend those. You as the consumer, should ask questions and get several quotes.  Cheap is not best!! Laser prices range  can range from under $1000 for a small area to over $5,000 for face, neck, and chest.  Laser treatments are invasive and should be medically supervised.  

 Pre- treatment

I was given an anti-viral medicine ( to prevent herpes- routine)  and an antibiotic  to take 2 day before, plus a Rx for itch. ( the worst part)

The day of the procedure

I showered at home with an anti-bacterial soap. Upon arrival I had my pre-procedure pictures taken and  lots of gloppy Lidocaine to numb the areas  to be treated.  Jeff is the RN, and an expert laser technician. No worries here.. He gave me a dental block around my mouth area so that he could be aggressive there.

The first area was my chest and he used the non-ablative  Pearl setting first and did one pass over my entire chest. It felt like little pin pricks. Not too bad. Tolerable – some spots were more sensitive. Then he  treated my mouth area one pass, however he went a little deeper on this area. Then he switched to the factional ablative Pearl. This was a little more uncomfortable and he needed to add more numbing cream.. The cool air helped the pain. Still not too bad.. He then attacked my mouth area with 2 passes. I was pretty numb here, but still could feel it.  He got real close to  my lip line. Next, my neck. I was more nervous about this area, since my skin is thin. He used a milder ablative  setting and did not go as deep on my neck as elsewhere. Last we zapped my frown lines, 2 passes… perhaps I can save on Botox injections!! 🙂   We are done!!  Jeff slathered me with a copper-peptide cream … told me to stay out of the sun and keep the area moist with cream and rest. The treatment took about one- hour after prepping.

As the day progressed, I looked like a character from a horror movie.  I used cold  gel pack throughout the day and re-applied the cream often to keep it moist.  My husband said I was crazy and refused to look to at me..He does not understand why anyone would put themselves through this… 🙂

I sleep on a slanted foam pillow- I had from my facelift.. knew it would come in handy again…. took a Xanex and had a restful sleep.

Day 2 – Woke up looking bloody, but as I washed gently it all came off.  I started my vinegar soaks to start the healing process. 4- 6 times a day.  Took a couple of showers and kept the area moist with cream.  The bleeding is gone the color is redder. It does not hurt  thought it does feel hot in areas.

Day 3- I can see the areas start to crust especially around my mouth. It feels tight!!  My chest area is still red and not crusting yet. My neck is only mildly  red. I expect this.  Should have gone deeper.. perhaps.. we’ll see.   I also had a red LED light treatment  today to speed up the healing process and will have another on Monday. I am starting to itch.. which will drive me crazy..  Yea for Atarax.

A few tips:  Wear old clothes they will get greasy. Pull you hair back and wash it the day before. Buy 4×4 gauge pads for the  white Vinegar soaks. They are softer than a wash cloth and disposable.  Use straws if you have your mouth area treated. And a soft diet the day of the treatment. Plan on not going out for several days and if you have your chest area treated.. Tops are challenge due to all the cream. I cut up an old cotton tee shirt to wear.

You can see from the last picture the color is darker. The color will continue  darken to a brown then peel off. Underneath will be pink smooth skin.

I will report again in a few days.