The Conservative Cave
Interests => Health & Fitness => Topic started by: BEG on October 07, 2010, 01:57:01 PM
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No I don't have it but I went to my dermatologist appointment that I made way back in July today (it took that long to get in). I have a spot on my face that I was worried about. I have had it for a few years. The weird thing is, about two months ago it suddenly got much better. You can hardly see it anymore. It is strange because it had bothered me for the past couple of years to the point I had a laser treatment two years ago, used fade cream and picked at it and it hadn't gone away. Now it is suddenly disappearing.
Anyway she said it wasn't cancer or precancer but I do have a tiny spot (like a pin point) that is flesh colored on the tip of my nose that makes a tiny scab (again skin colored) that I notice every once in awhile. When there is no scab it looks like normal skin. I just scrape it off and it leaves no mark or anything. She said that that tiny spot may be pre-cancer.
She prescribed a cream that I have to use all over my face for three weeks. Any pre-cancer spots (even ones you can't see) will turn brown and be destroyed then fade away. It's called Carac and I'm nervous to use it. I don't want to look like crap for three weeks. Has anyone ever used it or something like it before?
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BEG you can never look like crap. Use the cream. My father has to have all kinds of skin cancers removed from years of sun bathing. Not fun.
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BEG you can never look like crap. Use the cream. My father has to have all kinds of skin cancers removed from years of sun bathing. Not fun.
I'm going to use to cream DAD. My skin looks pretty good right now so I'm dreading uglying it up but I'm going to do it.
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I need to get to a dermatologist. I've had a few pre-cancerous lesions removed from my ears and have several questionable moles. I worry about it because my mom died from melanoma. I have the typical skin coloring or the Northern European people, Casper White!!
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I need to get to a dermatologist. I've had a few pre-cancerous lesions removed from my ears and have several questionable moles. I worry about it because my mom died from melanoma. I have the typical skin coloring or the Northern European people, Casper White!!
Well, I had 4 skin cancers taken off about a month ago along with a bunch of precancerous spots and a biopsy on one place to see how deep it was(?). It came back as precancerous but not deep so I went in last Monday and they froze it off.
The spots that I was so worried about turned out to be nothing They had a Latin name 10 feet long for them anyway. The different names they have for those non-serious spots is enough to scare you to death.
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My Grandmother had some melanomas removed. I anticipate at some time I probably will get some too. I grew up before sunscreen, and am very fair skinned. Have had my share of super bad burns, with blisters on top of blisters.
BEG, I would gladly take a little ugliness over a hole in my face, from a cancer removal. Just sayin. :uhsure:
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Well, I had 4 skin cancers taken off about a month ago along with a bunch of precancerous spots and a biopsy on one place to see how deep it was(?). It came back as precancerous but not deep so I went in last Monday and they froze it off.
The spots that I was so worried about turned out to be nothing They had a Latin name 10 feet long for them anyway. The different names they have for those non-serious spots is enough to scare you to death.
Actinic Keratosis?
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My Grandmother had some melanomas removed. I anticipate at some time I probably will get some too. I grew up before sunscreen, and am very fair skinned. Have had my share of super bad burns, with blisters on top of blisters.
BEG, I would gladly take a little ugliness over a hole in my face, from a cancer removal. Just sayin. :uhsure:
Well I read message boards from people who have used the carac cream, the treatment sucks. Your face turns red and scabby. Towards the end of treatment it can be painful (like a burn)and your face peels, sometimes up to three times. Apparently after it is all done your skin is clear and smooth (my face is already smooth), like you had a big time chemical peel. It is a topical chemotherapy cream that attacks cells that aren't normal. So even if you can't see them yet, it will find them. I am on day two, I already have a red spot under my right eye.
My in-laws are coming in a couple weeks, I should have waited to start this. I am going to be a mess by then. Thank God my daughter's parent teacher conference is Monday. After that I am staying home.
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I need to get to a dermatologist. I've had a few pre-cancerous lesions removed from my ears and have several questionable moles. I worry about it because my mom died from melanoma. I have the typical skin coloring or the Northern European people, Casper White!!
Wow you are at an increased risk Thor. Melanoma is scary. Ask your derm about the cerac cream, you can use it on other body parts besides the face.
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Update: nothing has shown up yet. My skin actually looks great right now. I'm waiting for it to go to crap any day now.
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Update: nothing has shown up yet. My skin actually looks great right now. I'm waiting for it to go to crap any day now.
Good to see you have a positive outlook. :tongue:
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I think it's kicking in. Now I look like I spent the day in the sun but forgot to put sunscreen right under my eyes. I'm going to look loverly. ::)
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keep us posted. I know I need to go in and have a scan done.
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keep us posted. I know I need to go in and have a scan done.
I had a bump on my face right in the crease of a laugh line for about 2 years, not too big only I noticed it.
At a routine check up after all was said and done and on my way out I mentioned the spot and Doc looked at the bump and 2 days later I was at the dermatologists office.
The bump was removed and a week later I found I had cancer. The next doctor took out half the left side of my face, the cancer cells were spreading.
18 months later most of the scars are gone and the flesh has finally filled in.
This kind of cancer is a bitch, just a bump but the cells spread out into the flesh, YIKES.
As an aside here, on the news there was mention that the Egyptian Mummies showed no sign of any kind of cancer and I wonder if all the cosmetics they wore, even laborers wore it, blocked out the UV rays of the sun.
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The red under the eyes/upper cheek area is spreading and getting meaner. I have a tiny red spot on the left side of my upper lip. The spot on my nose isn't doing anything yet.
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I need to get in and would definitely use a topical cream like that.
Had my first actinic keratosis removed on my 50th birthday (woopee!). I, too, grew up in the pre-sunscreen days and have worked and played outdoors most of my life.
Good luck, BEG, and I hope the effects of the cream aren't too awful for you.
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Ack, I'm looking worse (which is a good thing). I have two spots that I didn't even know were there before I starting this stuff. My nose still has nothing. I look like a panda, only the black part around the eyes is red.
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Update: I'm looking like crap. I have an area below my left eye about the size of a pencil eraser that is raw. Another spot next to it that is turning brownish, all of this is in addition to the red panda eye look. I also have another spot under the right eye that is turning brown and getting scabby. Nothing on my nose so far or my forehead.
I better look damn good after this is all said and done.
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Update: I'm looking like crap. I have an area below my left eye about the size of a pencil eraser that is raw. Another spot next to it that is turning brownish, all of this is in addition to the red panda eye look. I also have another spot under the right eye that is turning brown and getting scabby. Nothing on my nose so far or my forehead.
I better look damn good after this is all said and done.
Quit worrying about temporary ugly and worry about, "The mortician did a wonderful job....She looks so natural."
Keep us posted especially on the long term results. I'd like to know if the precancerous spots go away and stay gone. I might want to ask the Dr. for some of the same treatment for my face and hands. I've been outside all my life and I got all kinds of spots.
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Thank you for making us aware of it BEG
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Quit worrying about temporary ugly and worry about, "The mortician did a wonderful job....She looks so natural."
Keep us posted especially on the long term results. I'd like to know if the precancerous spots go away and stay gone. I might want to ask the Dr. for some of the same treatment for my face and hands. I've been outside all my life and I got all kinds of spots.
Oh, I know. I'm glad I have done it...so far. Last night was the worst night and I know it is going to get worse. My skin burned and itched. Its kind of cool and scary to see spots pop up that you didn't know were there I'm also starting to look freckly which makes me think those spots are about ready to get attacked. I'm awake at 3:00 am and can't go back asleep. I don't know if it's a side effect of the carac cream or what.
I read that after the initial treatment you can retreat it yearly or longer for a much shorter period and a lost less reaction for new AK's that may pop up. I've read all the message boards and people are very plead with using it on their hands and arms. Now would be a good time to do it so you can wear looking sleeves.
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Update: So far it's just the same areas reacting. It is getting pretty dry and ugly. I look like a football player only instead of black smudges under my eyes I have an extended red sunburned looking "smudge" under my eyes. Last night when I washed my face I had spots that bleed. I can cover it up with makeup but it is increasingly getting harder to cover up. I know that the whole area that is red will peel which is a good thing.
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Oh, I know. I'm glad I have done it...so far. Last night was the worst night and I know it is going to get worse. My skin burned and itched. Its kind of cool and scary to see spots pop up that you didn't know were there I'm also starting to look freckly which makes me think those spots are about ready to get attacked. I'm awake at 3:00 am and can't go back asleep. I don't know if it's a side effect of the carac cream or what.
I read that after the initial treatment you can retreat it yearly or longer for a much shorter period and a lost less reaction for new AK's that may pop up. I've read all the message boards and people are very plead with using it on their hands and arms. Now would be a good time to do it so you can wear looking sleeves.
My God, look at all of those typos. :p
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My God, look at all of those typos. :p
It was early.
It does get better, dear.
And the typing too.
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It was early.
It does get better, dear.
And the typing too.
Bitchslapped for being kind and forgiving.
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I can't believe I am showing you guys this. It is dark because my phone doesn't have a flash. Me this morning without makeup in my grungy sweatshirt I sleep in at night. It looks worse in real life but I wanted to show you all kind of what it looks like. I just washed my face and put on sunscreen so my face is shiney.
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/Foam_Kitty/7e057ebf.png)
Me with makeup. It's getting to the point where it's looking worse with makeup. I may have to stop wearing it for a couple of weeks. I look like my husband punched me in the eyes.
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/Foam_Kitty/232216db.png)
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/Foam_Kitty/ace8729e.png)
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Yikes. You don't look well. :(
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Yikes. You don't look well. :(
Now you made me more self conscious. I was supposed to go to the grocery store today, now i cant because im so vein. Thanks Chris. :p
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Sorry, but the change is scary (not Halloween scary, more like get to a doctor scary).
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Sorry, but the change is scary (not Halloween scary, more like get to a doctor scary).
It is suppose to do that. Everywhere where it's red is sun damaged skin. The carac cream attacks cells that are not normal. My reaction is actually very mild compared to others I've seen online.
Here is a guy who only treated his forehead. It could be a lot worse for me.
(http://www.sannerud.com/people/efudex/efudex%20day%2030%20right%20(7677).JPG)
After he was finished and healed his skin looked great.
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I guess I didn't understand the first part of the thread. What is the Carac for?
I have rosacea and my face scabs up around the mouth and nose on top of the redness, so my skin doesn't look much better than yours. It's embarrassing.
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I guess I didn't understand the first part of the thread. What is the Carac for?
I have rosacea and my face scabs up around the mouth and nose on top of the redness, so my skin doesn't look much better than yours. It's embarrassing.
It's a topical chemotherapy cream that attacks bad cells, it leaves good cells alone. I am suprized that I don't have more damage than I have.
Here is another picture of someone who used it. Her reaction isn't as bad as I've seen but it is a lot worse than mine.
(http://www.sannerud.com/people/efudex/My%20Carac%20Diary_files/slide0022_image031.jpg)
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There are treatments for rosacea Chris, what have you tried for it so far?
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I tried a few OTC ointments. 2% hydrocortizone seems to work most of the time, sometimes not.
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I tried a few OTC ointments. 2% hydrocortizone seems to work most of the time, sometimes not.
Chris, careful with the hydrocortizone ... I found out the hard way, using it a lot will thin the skin. The doc gave me a tinted ointment .. similar consistancy of calamine lotion that worked well. I stay away from anything on my face with any type of fragrance and limit the SPF. For some reason, SPF seems to aggravate my rosacea.
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I tried a few OTC ointments. 2% hydrocortizone seems to work most of the time, sometimes not.
Go to a dermatologist, there are quite a few options out there.
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Chris, careful with the hydrocortizone ... I found out the hard way, using it a lot will thin the skin.
ew. I don't use it every day, maybe once a week. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not which is why I don't use it regularly.
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OMG, the itch. My face woke me up at 2 am and I can't go back to sleep. This is more miserable than I thought, I thought I was going to have a mild reaction and just sail on with out much in the way of discomfort. If any of you decide to try this on your face, make sure you give yourself long enough to heal. I should have waited to start this because my in-laws are visiting and my face is a friggen mess. I don't want to go out in public right now. I should have started it a week later. A week ago my reaction was barely starting to show up.
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Hang in there!
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I tried a few OTC ointments. 2% hydrocortizone seems to work most of the time, sometimes not.
Chris...I second or third the "careful with the hydrocortizone". I was using prescription on on my face because I was told I had mild rosacea too. My skin not only became pretty "fragile", but the so-called rosacea wasn't clearing up.
I went to a different dermatologist and found out it wasn't rosacea but contact dermatitis.
I would itch when I showed houses, I would itch when I read the newspaper, I was a disaster if I walked through a spider web!! Turns out, the lock boxes on houses have mold and other crap from bugs on them....I have mold allergies. Duh! I would open a lock box, not think about it and touch my face. Spots a few hours or less later.
The local paper had switched to using recycled paper for the newsprint. Whatever they treated it with, I was reacting to it. I would read the paper, itch and rub or scratch at my face. Looked like I had the measles after reading it - particularly the Sunday paper. I just wanted to claw my face off! I tend to read the paper online now, rather than physically pick it up to read.
Spider webs - I hate those things!!! I just make sure I wash my face as soon as possible if I go through one.
The new derm I went to gave me a Rx for Elidel. Stuff's expensive, but if I can get it on fairly quickly, I either don't break out, or I clear up over night. It's worth every penny as far as I'm concerned and only a small amount is needed when applied. I carry liquid hand cleanser in the car and also the antiseptic wipes - I usually use the ones for babies for diaper clean-up. I'm very careful to not touch my face after I've been in a house - particularly the nasty ones - until I can get back to the car and use the cleanser and the wipes. My skin just reacts to stuff, and it's gotten more sensitive to stuff as I've gotten older. The derm told me that "rosacea" is more often just an easy diagnosis, rather than taking the time to figure out what triggers the reaction, then treating it accordingly.
The way you work on cars all the time and touch all that stuff, it might have something to do with the breakouts, particularly if they are worse after you work on the car. Try keeping track of when it's the worst and what you were doing prior to breakouts. :heart:
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OMG, the itch. My face woke me up at 2 am and I can't go back to sleep. This is more miserable than I thought, I thought I was going to have a mild reaction and just sail on with out much in the way of discomfort. If any of you decide to try this on your face, make sure you give yourself long enough to heal. I should have waited to start this because my in-laws are visiting and my face is a friggen mess. I don't want to go out in public right now. I should have started it a week later. A week ago my reaction was barely starting to show up.
Halloween is only a week away.
:bolt:
I hope it gets better before it gets much worse.
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I look like crap and my face burns/itches....that it all.
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Gotta be careful. I've spent years in Florida and finally figured out that it's a good idea to wear LOTS of sunblock, as well as shades and a hat to protect the eyes, especially when outside, or driving, or fishing. Glare of the sun off the water is murder!
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Gotta be careful. I've spent years in Florida and finally figured out that it's a good idea to wear LOTS of sunblock, as well as shades and a hat to protect the eyes, especially when outside, or driving, or fishing. Glare of the sun off the water is murder!
I got to talking to my mom about why my great grand mother and both grand mothers has such beautiful skin.
Interesting that in the 1870 time my great grandma was born in 1867, woman and girls wore hats veils, gloves long skirts outside.
By the 1890's the veils were mostly gone but the hats and gloves remained.
To be extremely politically incorrect, this was for the City woman and servants that set them apart from the farming family's that toiled all day in the sun.
I remember my grandmas telling me to never use soap on my face, cold cream wiped off was best. Unsalted butter was a good substitute as was any kind of animal fat unsalted and rinsed off with raw milk. Doesn't lanolin come from sheep fat.??
One of the few ways anyone could tell their age, my grandmothers, was by looking at their hands. They discarded the gloves in the late 1940's and by the 1990's their faces looked about 60 but their hands showed they were over 90 years old.
Nothing new to see here guys, civilisations in the below the equator have all ways as far as we know painted their faces to reduce sunburn. Civilisations above the equator also knew about the sun and found a way to cover themselves from the effects.
What is the saying---Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun.???
An old fable says a person of color does not sunburn. Horse crap, some of the worse burns I have ever seen were to children of color that did not realise they were being burned until they had to go to the burn ward at the hospital.
The new generation believes that climate change and depleted ozone layers cause skin cancer, a new human made problem from industrialized country's.
This is NOT so, mankind has been worshiping the sun and protecting themselves from it since time began.
I knew this old fart of a man with a cynical view point that once asked me why the worse woman for being prejudice against those of color would spend half a year on a beach to try to get a tan darker then those they felt inferior to themselves.
Makes me wonder about the huge sums of money the Kennedy sisters spent on their looks. All the European spas, ointments and elixirs did not do one thing for them as they seldom wore a hat while out side sailing or riding.
By the time the sun had done its damage, their husbands were either gone, dead, divorced them, so why bother to worry, they seemed to think that Big money would save them from a life looking like a Mummy due to their own stupidity.
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Long skirts, hats, and veils? Long gone, those days when virtue (gasp!) and modesty (GASP!) were the rule rather than the exception. This is one reason, as an old school Roman Catholic, I attend Latin Mass. Men AND women dress reverently and respectfully.
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I can remember my mother using Lady Esther face cream on her face. It was this white goopy stuff! I can not imagine putting that gunk on my face! Yet, she was a sun worshiper from the time it was warm enough to be out in the sun in the spring until the end of summer, yet she had beautiful skin when she died a month before turning 46. Though she had dark hair as an adult, she was blonde as a child, had green eyes and was fair skinned.
My dad was the same way about being out in the sun, and he really didn't have many wrinkles when he was in his 70's and had smoked since his young teens. He was blonde, blue eyed, and fair also.
Runnin' Buddy's husband has always been a sun worshiper, is part Cherokee Indian, dark hair, and olive skinned, yet had a melanoma removed from the back of his knee last November.
Though it is a proven fact that sun will damage anyone's skin, sun damage does not necessarily become skin cancer.
I think some people are just prone to skin cancers, or any type of cancer for that matter, and some aren't. Though there are some "predictors", there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of logic, just a lot of randomness.
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I can remember my mother using Lady Esther face cream on her face. It was this white goopy stuff! I can not imagine putting that gunk on my face! Yet, she was a sun worshiper from the time it was warm enough to be out in the sun in the spring until the end of summer, yet she had beautiful skin when she died a month before turning 46. Though she had dark hair as an adult, she was blonde as a child, had green eyes and was fair skinned.
My dad was the same way about being out in the sun, and he really didn't have many wrinkles when he was in his 70's and had smoked since his young teens. He was blonde, blue eyed, and fair also.
Runnin' Buddy's husband has always been a sun worshiper, is part Cherokee Indian, dark hair, and olive skinned, yet had a melanoma removed from the back of his knee last November.
Though it is a proven fact that sun will damage anyone's skin, sun damage does not necessarily become skin cancer.
I think some people are just prone to skin cancers, or any type of cancer for that matter, and some aren't. Though there are some "predictors", there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of logic, just a lot of randomness.
The derm told me that only 20% or less of precancerous spots that this carac cream finds and attacks would have turned into cancer.
By the way, that really small area on my nose I was worried about is finally reacting.
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Fair skinned people ( Northern European heritage) tend to burn more easily and get skin cancer more easily.
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Went to the derm today. I was totally embarrassed because my face looks like I have 2nd degree burns so I wore my sunglasses inside the office. She was surprised how much my skin reacted because it looked really good when I saw her the first time. She gave me several tubes of Biafine (a cream they use on burn victims) and some locoid lipocream (.1% hydrocortisone) to help with the redness and itching. The Biafine feels divine. I googled it and people say it's a miracle cream.
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Very good BEG. I hope the cream works well for you. Good luck. :cheersmate:
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I am sure in a week your face will be more beautiful than before!
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I am sure in a week your face will be more beautiful than before!
I knew I loved you for a reason Deb. :-*
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I am sure in a week your face will be more beautiful than before!
Yup, she's gonna have all new skin.
:D
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I am sure in a week your face will be more beautiful than before!
Had a friend that got burned badly on the face and hands once in a gasoline explosion. The skin was falling off his face and he looked terrible. We all thought he was going to be scared for life. He said he got a look at himself in the truck mirror on the way to the hospital and thought the same thing. They flew him to a burn center and all the way there he was bemoaning how bad he was going to look for the rest of his life.
The doctor was waiting for him when he arrived at the burn center. The doctor was looking him over real good when my friend asked him, "How bad is it Doc?" He said the doctor told him, "Women pay me 3-4,000 dollars to do that to their face with chemicals. Your bill will be a little higher but you'll leave here looking at least 10 to 20 years younger." My friend said he quit worrying so much at that point. :-)
The bill was higher and he did leave there looking a lot younger.
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Fair skinned people ( Northern European heritage) tend to burn more easily and get skin cancer more easily.
Yes.
I don't tend to "burn more easily," but that's probably because I take rigorous precautions.
Of course, I take those precautions because melanoma is no fun.....not to mention expensive.
What I find exasperating is that just as I think I've gotten it beat, ooops, it pops up again.
This skin, genetically, was made to be caressed by the North Sea, softened by the Baltic Sea, not burned by the Sandhills sun.
For me, I always thought the "perfect" climes for this skin are the Highlands of Scotland in January.....the problem there being it's January only once a year in the Highlands of Scotland.
Our colleague John is right, though; surgeons do a good job, a great job.
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My face is peeling, dry and pink. The parts I can peel off look great. For a few days after I stopped the carac it looked worse, then over the past couple of days it has gotten increasingly better. The part that has peeled is totally clear and smooth. Also my pores appear a lot smaller, almost non existent. My face still itches and is very tight. Hopefully in the next week my face will have totally peeled. I don't mind the pink color as after I put my makeup on I just look like I spent a couple hours in the sun.
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Ohhhh the ideas I would have for that cream............ :naughty: (.)(.)