MUSINGS: The Diamond Peel Effect

I am usually not adventurous when it comes to cosmetic procedures. In my lifetime, I can count my visit to the dermatologist using just 1 hand. I never knew that my most recent visit would be the most painful one ever (which I am praying would never need to be repeated). All because I tried out the ever popular procedure nowadays – The diamond peel.

Yearly we have to undergo a physical exam as part of our employment requirement. For the past 3 years, part of the “package” was an optional free diamond peel. I skipped that portion the past 2 years as I was in a hurry to get the exam over with and enjoy the remainder of my weekend. This year, however, I decided to try it since I’ve been hearing rave reviews from people on what a diamond peel can do to your skin.

From ehow.com, a Diamond Peel treatment is described as:
“A non-surgical procedure in which the skin is exfoliated to remove dead skin cells using actual diamond chips to vacuum the skin away. In order to do this, the top layer of skin is removed in order to rejuvenate the skin. The epidermal cell structure is actually restored, increasing the skin’s elasticity and collagen levels.”

In my experience, it felt similar to having your face scrubbed gently by a sand paper. In the whole procedure, it did not feel painful or anything. I actually felt relaxed the whole time. The technician even explained to me how pretty my skin would be after the procedure and how I should protect it with sunblock as my face would be a bit sensitive over the next few days. I actually followed her instructions on how to care for my skin on the days that followed. However, instead of my skin looking better, my skin nightmare started.

3 days later, i noticed a huge zit growing on my face. I did not mind it at first as I thought it was just a hormonal thing. I do get one or two zits from time to time but generally, my skin is zit free. So as zits started to pop out my skin in groups, I naturally got alarmed. It went to the point that I declined going out with friends because I was that conscious of how the zits look like.

After 3 weeks, this is how my cheeks looked like: 😦

I initially tried a spot corrector… to no avail. I tried using tea-tree concealers… it did not work as the zit shape was still very noticeable. I also noticed that as one zit would vanish, about 2 would replace it… it was very painful and made my skin look like I was walloped by a porcupine. (I took a picture of how it looked like but decided not to post as people might find the photo disturbing).

I finally went to the dermatologist to seek help and help she did. She injected every single zit (about 15-20 on my whole face 😦 I was literally chanting to myself with every painful injection prick – “The vain do not complain”)with a medicine which somehow deflated the zit immediately and made them less noticeable. I also got a prescription for antibiotics (expensive medicine… I swear!!! but I’m honestly willing to try anything and everything at that point)… and I got a facial wash, toner, and cream from the dermatologist (which were also quite pricey) to help relieve and completely stop the zits from reproducing on my face.

Thank God for my nice doctor, it stopped reproducing. I now had to deal with the pimple scar. My skin is smooth again but the scars were noticeable. I had an appendectomy before and I was treating the surgical scar with Contractubex (a scar remover ointment) which actually made my scar look less scary. I gambled and tried it on my pimple scars…

I think it’s working since now, here is what my cheeks look like:

Now, with just a little concealer the scars are all gone… I can’t wait for them to be really gone for good. Yay!!!

Well back to Diamond peel. After that horrendous ordeal, I was able to speak to several people and all seem to have the same comment to me: they never met a person who had a diamond peel that had a good effect on them. Well one mentioned that out of the 5 people she knew who had a diamond peel, only 1 said it made her skin look better.

Facial treatments – specially faddish facial treatments are really dependent on how one’s skin would react to the treatment. I learned that the hard, painful and very expensive way. What was supposed to be a free treatment costed me several thousands of pesos to get my skin the way it was before.

My point really is that if there is nothing wrong with your skin, skip the treatments and
1) Think twice, even three times before you actually get a treatment done.

2) When you do decide to get a treatment, try to search the net or ask around from friends and family if they tried that treatment and what were the effects.

3) Ask for a reliable clinic to get a treatment. Do not gamble on a “clinic” or “spa” that offers the said treatment at a cheap price. We are talking about our face so me, personally, I’d rather spend a lot and be assured of positive results than gamble on something cheap and cost me more in the long run.

We actually look great the way we are, with the slight imperfections. Let’s not risk our skins to these treatments if we are generally happy with the way we look like. I actually swore off diamond peels… forever!!! I hope I won’t visit the dermatologist soon for another skin mishap. 😦