I burned my face off. On purpose. And it was totally worth it.

May 20

Meet Trish. She turned 60, decided she was done looking older than she felt, and booked a deep CO2 laser resurfacing treatment at my office in Amherst, NH last fall. She called day two "the horrifying day," but she's already scheduled to do it again.

I sat down with Trish to get the full story — the scary parts, the surprising parts, and the specific results that made it all worth it. She agreed to share everything, including her photos. What follows is our conversation, lightly edited for readability.

The Interview

Jen: I'm so honored that you are willing to chat with me! I think people would really like hearing your perspective on what the experience was like, as much or as little as you're willing to share.

Trish: I'm an open book!

Consultation

Jen: Can you tell me a little bit about why you were interested in laser? What opened that door for you?

Trish: I turned 60 and saw the texture of my skin change, and I didn’t feel as old as I looked, and I wanted to match the two up as much as possible. The first time I came in to see you, it was the day after my 60th birthday, and I was planning to get filler, so we started talking about that. I had known about laser treatments, but I thought it would be cost prohibitive. I didn't know enough about it, but we chatted about it then. You gave me a lot of good information. I did some research and decided to go for it. I have zero regrets, as you know. I'm gonna do it again.

Treatment day

Jen: What was the day of the laser treatment experience like for you?

Trish: During the laser itself I really didn't have any discomfort. The numbing medicine you gave me did a beautiful job. And honestly, if it weren't for the sound, I could have taken a little nap.

Jen: I do offer anti anxiety medicine, but you decided to go without it and you did great. Did the numbing wear off that day?

Trish: I imagine it did. I don't remember that. I never had any discomfort.

Jen: Okay, nice. You didn't have a hot burning sensation later? That would be normal if you did.

Trish: If I did, it must not have been that bad because I don't remember it.

Jen: Nice! Then what was day two like? Day two is the big day.

The Next Day

Trish: That's the horrifying day! Haha! That was the day nightmares are made of.

Jen: What was that like for you waking up that morning?

Trish: So when I woke up that morning, it wasn't as bad as it got. My eyes were puffy, but after being up for an hour or so, it was just way puffier. A lot of texture. It was one of those moments like, oh my goodness, what have I done?

Jen: Yep, I hear that a lot!

Trish: I sent you photos that day to make sure everything was normal. You just reminded me to take my antihistamines and to do the dilute vinegar soaks. And the soaks were so luxurious feeling.

Jen: Oh, good. Isn't that so funny? Vinegar feels luxurious.

Trish: Cold vinegar. Yeah, it felt luxurious!

Jen: I would expect it to burn, but it doesn't.

Trish: Not even a little bit. I was expecting it to be a little spicy. And it wasn't.

Jen: So you woke up in the morning and you were a little puffy and then it got worse. When did it get worse?

Trish: I probably got up around 6, 6:30 that morning and I would say by 10am it was really bad. But I was kind of prepared for that and I just had lots of projects to do around the house and I kept myself busy. It was also luxurious to have down time to myself!

Jen: You had no discomfort the day after the treatment?

Trish: I would say the only discomfort I had was maybe around day three or four with a little bit of itching.

The Next Few Days

Jen: How did you sleep at night those first few nights?

Trish: Oh, very well. I took benadryl as you instructed and I did use an extra pillow. And the disposable pillowcases you gave were incredible because I didn't have to do laundry every day.

Jen: When do you feel like it started to turn around for you? Like the swelling increased on day two, probably day three was still really swollen at some point you experienced some itching?

Trish: Yeah. Day three and maybe a little bit on day four. But day four, I went out again. I wore a baseball hat and went to the post office where people know me. I wouldn't go just anywhere. But then after that, it seemed to resolve really quickly, though I still had some areas that were more raw than I wanted them to be to go back to work. So I did take an eighth day off of work. I work in the operating room and I didn’t want to have raw skin in that environment.

Jen: That's still quite within the 7-10 day mark that we are looking at for normal healing. So then on day nine you returned to work, did your skin look or feel totally normal? I imagine not.

Trish: Not totally normal. It was a little pinker than normal. And I was still putting a thin layer of Vaseline in places, not all over, but in places. I was still doing that, but with the scrub cap and a mask, I was good to go.

The Results

Jen: How long until you felt like your skin was totally normal again?

Trish: Definitely by day 10. I would say it looked like new skin, but it looked good.

Jen: Now it's been a while. Several months, maybe even six months. How are you feeling now? What kind of results did you feel like you got when all was said and done?

Trish: Sometimes when I look at my skin, I still feel like I'm seeing some improvements. But I would say maybe three or four months is when I saw optimum results.

Jen: What were the specific changes that you saw?

Trish: A lot less texture. And while I haven't felt the need to wear makeup, which is a good thing, especially foundation, if I have had an occasion where I wanted to wear it, it went on so much smoother and looked so much better. I plan to do it again in September.

Jen: Nice! What would your advice be to anyone thinking or considering laser resurfacing in southern New Hampshire?

Trish: It's completely worth it. It's worth the downtime, it's worth the money. If anybody has any discomfort, I’d hope it would be minimal. The results speak for themselves.

Jen: You had a really interesting specific thing that you noticed got better. When you were doing your eyelashes. You said you noticed that your eyelid skin wasn't getting caught in the tweezers. Do I remember that correctly?

Trish: That is right. I forgot about that! But that is 100% true. You did the laser on my eyelids, and I had never noticed extra skin up there. But when I’d put my lash extensions on I’d pinch my eyelid skin by accident. Then after the treatment that has not happened where I pinch myself anymore.

Jen: That's so funny. It's like such a specific but a noticeable marker of improvement.

Trish: Yes. It's huge because I hated that.

Jen: Thank you so much for sharing your story. I feel like laser resurfacing is something that people are really curious about because they like natural treatments and natural results, but they're also kind of scared of the downtime and what the experience is going to be like. So hearing from somebody is just so helpful for everyone.

Trish: Absolutely! You can use my name, and I would be open for people to ask me questions on your feed.

Jen: Oh, that's so generous of you. Thank you so much, Trish!

Trish: I'm so thrilled with my results. I’ll see you again in the fall!

Trish underwent a deep CO2 resurfacing laser treatment, but this type of laser is very versatile and can be used for lighter treatments as well. Individual experiences and results may vary, but Trish’s experience was pretty typical for a deep treatment. It’s not practical for everyone to have 10 days of recovery, but you can get a really nice improvement in skin surface with 3 or 4 days of “downtime” as well. It’s a discussion that’s different for everyone, so book your free consultation to find out if laser is right for you.