High-Resolution Before / After Photos

The dermatologist's office was good enough to send me these extremely high quality versions of some of the photos in the previous post. Click the links below to have a look at the situation before and after laser resurfacing. If your browser displays a magnifying glass when you mouse over the photo, then you can click to magnify. Note that it might take a few minutes just to get one photo, on account of the huge size. Hopefully, the improved image quality will assist you in the decision process.

Face Before

Face After

Left Face Before

Left Face After

Right Face Before

Right Face After

Laser Resurfacing, Day 44

I'm officially done! I got the dermatologist's office to mail me the before and after photos, the latter of which having been shot today. While the resolution leaves a lot to be desired, they are nonetheless very clear, as they were taken with a far better camera than my own. Have a look at the comparisons below. Bear in mind that on the day of the procedure, I wore a beat up T-shirt and didn't bother to put any mousse or gel in my hair, so as not to leave any residue on my forehead. So don't be deceived by my improvement in grooming, and just concentrate on the skin. (Subconsciously, it's easy to see someone as better looking because their "after" photo has them smiling more. Being aware of this allows you to perform less biased comparisons.)

Here you go. Click to enlarge:

As you can see, the differences are mainly a reduction of actinic keratoses, red blotches of irritation, and a softening of wrinkles and dents. My neck serves as a control area, as it was not subject to the laser -- just the face. My left cheek appears to have a new actinic keratosis spot, but it's actually red more than brown, and appears to be the faint remnant of that one horrible zit I acquired earlier in the healing process. I also have a minor zit in my mustache area, which I expect to disappear. I have removed identifying information from the photos.

My work is done. I hope this blog has helped you in your decision process. Mind you, the more damage you have to begin with, the more difference the procedure stands to make, particularly with multiple sessions; on the other hand, the less damage you have, the younger you'll end up looking for longer. Good luck!

Laser Resurfacing, Day 31

Here's what I look like now. Note that I've gotten slightly redder. This is because I intentionally progressed from about one minute per day of unprotected solar exposure -- once I had mostly healed -- to about 10 minutes. I've been doing this in order to restore my just-barely-tan complexion. After I'm back to my normal skin tone, I'll start using SPF 50+ on my face daily. (I use it now, but only after I finish my unprotected exposure time. By the way, my exposure time measurements are quite rough, based on how long I think I've been walking outside, and what percentage of time I was actually in direct sunlight.)

Don't be confused by the red mark on my nose. When my nose itches, I tend to scratch it. I appear to have an amazing ability to slice it open with my fingernail. Oops!

After I've completely normalized, I may continue to expose other parts of my skin (not my face) to the sun for 10 or 20 minutes per day, in order to keep my vitamin D levels up. Or I may just wear sunscreen on all exposed skin, and instead supplement vitamin D3. Suffice to say that there is a lot of debate on how best to acquire vitamin D, in order to maintain bones and the immune system, and to suppress cancer. Furthermore, some studies suggest that sunscreens may actually promote skin cancer, as some of their chemical components turn carcinogenic as a result of ultraviolet radiation exposure, so I'm not particularly keen on slathering myself with the stuff. (I use Aveeno, which is the safest that I could find in this regard, based on current -- and frankly insufficient -- published research. I should qualify that: zinc oxide appears to be safer, if you don't mind looking like a pasty white ghost, as it doesn't vanish into the skin, although perhaps there is a risk of zinc poisoning.) I would strongly encourage you to Google around for vitamin D, sunscreen, and cancer.

To further complicate matters, ultraviolet light can often improve skin conditions, as with psoriasis. It also draws one's macrophages (white blood cells) into the skin's upper layers, increasing protection from invading pathogens. It combines with cholesterol to produce a source of vitamin D, which appears to suppress cancer (although studies are ongoing). In excess, of course, it causes wrinkles and skin cancer.

Incidentally, excessive solar exposure was the primary cause of my wrinkles and actinic keratoses. Now that they're basically gone, I'm going to be much stingier with my solar exposure time. But you have different genes and different skin issues, so I'm not going to pretend to be able to tell you what balance of solar exposure and sunscreen is best for you. Google for the research and decide for yourself. And don't assume that your dermatologist has all the answers. Read what cancer researchers have to say, as well.

Laser Resurfacing, Day 24

Here's a high-resolution shot of what I look like today. My eyes are less droopy because I took the photo when I was a bit more awake, and had just shaved. (In the past, I had taken shots straight out of bed, hence the exhausted look!)

Really, nothing much is going on, save for a little pinkishness flanking my nose, which is "normal me". My skin tone is also normalizing, but I'd prefer it to get a bit tanner. And yes, I did get a haircut!

Laser Resurfacing, Day 19

I'm basically clear now, except for a trace of acne and a faint redness. I took this photo a couple days ago:

Laser Resurfacing, Day 13

When I looked for my cheek pimple this morning, and had trouble finding it for a few seconds, I figured it was worth another checkpoint photo:

By the way, I increased the resolution on the "before" photo back in my first post so that you can see the fine lines and actinic keratoses in better detail, if you click on it. When my skin tone finally normalizes in a few weeks, i.e. when I'm clinically done with this process, I'll post another high resolution photo.

Laser Resurfacing, Day 12

Almost there! The zit is just about gone.

Frankly, the level of acne on my face has diminished to the point of insignificance relative to the laser resurfacing procedure generally. I'm very happy about my relative lack of wrinkles. The pinkishness is starting to merge into my normal skin tone.

Therefore, I'm going to scale back on posts, but I'll try to get a new photo up every week or so until my skin tone normalizes. Lesson learned: an acne breakout may occur after lasering, but the treatment is a matter of strict diet and supplementation, as explained in this post.