By Christine Wheaton, Sassable staff writer
What is Dermabrasion and what does it do?
I will not lie, Dermabrasion is pretty similar to getting plastic surgery as far as recovery time and procedure. Dermabrasion is an intense invasive skin treatment used to resurface the skin. This treatment would be used to correct acne scarring, fine to deep wrinkles, discoloration, sun damage, any imperfections due to accidents, etc. The surgeon will basically sand or crystal blast the skin with a rotating drum instrument; removing the top layer and smoothing the surface. One Dermabrasion treatment can achieve the results or better results of 12 Microdermabrasion treatments. Microdermabrasion is less intense and will not handle deeper scarring or wrinkles.
What is the procedure?
Dermabrasion should always be done at a plastic surgeon or dermatologist office. The doctor will give you an anesthetic and will also clean the skin with an antiseptic before starting. Immediately after the procedure (which could take 30 minutes to several hours depending on what you are doing) your skin will be swollen, red, and angry with you. It will stay like this (extremely sensitive) for about 2 weeks. This will be the major hurtle of recovery. You will feel like your face just got ran over by a truck; filling your day by taking antibiotics, painkillers, and watching your skin scab up. Honestly, your skin will NOT look good. But then something miraculous happens, the swelling goes down, the redness subsides, and the scabs (along with the top layer of skin!) just fall away. Underneath new baby pink skin is revealed! As the skin grows and gets stronger the pigment will come back to normal. It might take 2-3 months for this to happen fully. Getting Dermabrasion does not prevent new things from happening to your skin, so you will need to return for a followup treatment once a year to either sustain what results you already have or you can go for removing more.
How much does it cost?
It depends on what you are getting done but average cost will range from $1,000-$4,000. The cost of removing acne scars average at $3,000. These prices do not include the price of a hospital stay or anesthesia.
Things to avoid after getting Dermabrasion.
-NO make up, smoking, or drinking for 3 days.
-NO aspirin or ibuprofen products for 7 days.
-NO shaving or waxing for 2 weeks.
-NO Retin-A products for a month.
-NO active sports for 2 months.
-NO sun exposure for 3 months.
Bottom line.
I would say if you have a specific problem with your skin that you want handled, i.e. acne scarring, deep wrinkles, scars from an accident, birth mark, etc, I would definitely look into Dermabrasion as it is the only thing that will fix problems like these, and the results are amazing. If you are just wanting to improve the overall look of your skin, maybe smooth out some fine lines or minor bumps, check out Microdermabrasion as an alternative.
