The Note #44
Laser Panic
My skin has been acting out recently, and I’ve finally figured out that it’s all related—I have combination skin (oily in some parts, dry in others) which creates the perfect bacterial environment for rosacea, and also causes sebaceous hyperplasia. Addressing these types of skin challenges is a mix of skincare adjustments and dermatological interventions.
This is a big subject, so I am going to tackle it bite-size, and today I want to start with what bothers me the most. I am naming you, ugly sebaceous hyperplasia.
Oily skin has very active pores which can become enlarged and overtime, when exhausted with sebum overproduction, can swell into a small spot in the shape of a microscopic (yikes!) donut—it looks like a pimple, but it’s not a pimple. It took me years to figure out what it was.
As we age, they multiply, and it can give the skin a grainy texture.
Thankfully, there are a few things we can do.
One of them is treating the skin’s sebum production, which I’ll tell you about in a future Note, and the second one is burning the offenders away. I’ve tried it twice with different methods—
1/ An affordable (about £100), easy intervention called Diathermy or electrocauterisation which is the use of a microscopic needle charged with electricity to zap each spot one by one. Most dermatologists have it and can do it. I did it a year ago and it was quick and easy. The practitioner burns them one by one. A few hours later, light scabs form, and within a few days it’s all gone.
The results? Good, but not perfect. The small spots were gone, and the biggest ones got smaller. About six months to a year later, new ones had appeared, which is to be expected as this treats the symptom, not the cause.
2/ An expensive (NZ$ 1,800, so about $1,000), invasive laser, called Erbium Laser. I did it in the New Zealand winter and that’s the first photo you see above and the one below. Here again, each spot is zapped one by one, after putting on a numbing cream. It was a very upsetting experience as you can’t let it scab and have to keep using some sort of occlusive salve—I used Doré Le Baume—to avoid the lesions drying. The reason is that it’s such a deep laser it can leave really bad scars. It looks very frightening for days on end, and even when they slowly started receding about two weeks later (!!!) some of the spots were still very red. I am only now feeling like recovery is over—more than three months later. I had many panic attacks on my recovery journey, thinking I might have made a giant mistake.
The results? Good, but not perfect. I am seeing slightly better results than with the Diathermy, but I don’t know if they justify the price and anxiety-inducing intervention. My skin is definitely more even than it used to be, but I am thinking that with regular Diathermy, I could get to the same results in a less traumatic way.
Overall, I am very careful with lasers and I am always afraid that clinics have a tendency to push towards the (very expensive) machines that they have, instead of the ones that would be the most recommended. It’s really, really important to do a lot of research, and to make sure that the person performing the intervention is very experienced before saying yes to any lasers.
Even with the right treatment to address the cause, treating the spots is something I’ll have to do regularly to keep my skin from collecting sebaceous hyperplasia, so I’ll keep updating you about it.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, or experiences to share, I am all ears!
In my last Letter, I talked about my disappointment with the country life and my Paris pied-à-terre :)
I my last Note, I talked about my slightly shameful antisocial quirks.
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Doré launched a new tool (and is about to launch something I am very proud of next week too!)… It’s amazing and you can check it here!
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Big kisses from Paris, and have a wonderful day!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience because you have helped me A LOT. Here is a 52 year old lady with oily skin and sebaceous hyperplasia thinking about treatments. But darling, let me tell you that it has all been worth it when you reach my age WITHOUT WRINKLES.
Hi Garance! I had that when I was younger; the good news is that it will calm down as you age (I'm 58). Retinol and lactic acid have been my saviors -- no lasers or dermatologists necessary. I exfoliate every day (!!) and retinol every night. Beauty Pie keeps my budget in check since I go through a lot of product. Good luck; you are an epic beauty inside and out! Love you, darling; thank you for sharing with your beloved sisters. ❤️ Lisa