Question:
I'm considering getting my face lasered to remove a number of different annoyances: freckles, spider veins, and moles. I am tired of spending ten minutes with concealer every day trying to cover up all this stuff, when I'd really rather just slap on some light foundation and go. Has anyone had this done so I can know what to expect? I'm setting up a consultation this week.

Answer: I had the facial spiders done with the Versa Laser, no anesthetic. It felt uncomfortable, like a hot needle being traced around the face, but not intolerable by any means. Some areas were more sensitive. Since my procedure was quite extensive I had considerble swelling and pinkness for about one week. Some people have less reaction to this laser. I only had a couple of tiny crusts and was told that these were also actininc keratoses that had been eliminated. Excellent results overall. Then I had a separate procedure with the Erbium laser to remove more keratoses and some discoloration and a general overall smoothing. This included under the eyes and lids and around the mouth area. I opted for a valium and a vicodin and some anesthetic ointment. Procedure felt quite uncomfortable especially when he got to the second half of the face. But again, not intolerable. My personal preference is no general anesthesia. Felt like a rubber band being snapped against the face followed by intense burning. The burning stopped after 20 minutes. Face was extremely red and swollen for three days and on the fourth day I had only patches of pinkness and swelling was gone. Water and vinegar soaks helped tremendously along with a soothing ointment. Again results were excellent. Lines around the mouth were greatly softened but one or two might need touch up. Eyes look very good. Much less down time and pain as compared to the CO2 laser option. I understand that they also combine the CO2 with the Erbium for deeper lines, but I still opted for the conservative method. Also had an excellent doc, David McDaniels, and have seen a lot of his work which is, in my opinion, superlative.