Hello Ladies,

New 30 year old t-woman from Queensland, Australia, 11 months HRT. I have a serious concern that has been troubling me for months now, I had 12 sessions of laser hair removal on my face and was happy with the results. 95 percent of my facial hair had vanished and my skin was silky smooth, however, I had a handful of brown-blonde coloured hair on the corner of my lips which bothered me enough to go and try laser electrolysis instead (having heard it was more effective and targeted lighter hairs).

After just one session I was left with what looked like a very burnt and swollen upper lip. The lady who did the treatment assured me that was totally normal and it would heal, I was given a moisturizer called Laser Aid and kept applying it as directed. I had a one week break between sessions and even though the swelling had gone down red blotchy patches remained. Again the lady kept telling me its perfectly normal and to just use concealer if its embarrassing.

Its now been 6 weeks since my last session (I had ten in total) and I am left with what looks like a mustache (in my eyes) or a 5 o'clock shadow. It is definitely not facial hair causing the discoloration and looks like either a scar caused by burning, or more likely hyperpigmentation.

I havent been able to see a dermatologist or go into the laser clinic as I am recovering from FFS but I am constantly depressed seeing it whenever I pass a mirror and even with thick drag makeup it is noticeable (or is to me). It doesnt help I live in an extremely hot humid part of the world where wearing lots of concealer/foundation is virtually impossible when you are dripping with sweat most days.

Has any one else had this problem? Will it just heal and go away like the technician said? I found similar but not identical threads and google was of no help at all.
Any help would be greatly appreciated (hoping the picture upload worked, the discoloration looks worse in direct sunlight)

Fk me, is this a problem or are you being just too critical as we all are.  Your lips and surrounding tissues look very female, stop worrying , it wont do you any good...
Luv n Hugz
Katie

   

Its so hard to guage how bad the problem is because I am naturally very critical of myself. I have shown the problem to all of my family and they think im making a big deal over nothing but I recently had some trans women see it in real life and they all see I definitely need to see a dermatologist so now Im freaking out (the three women had extensive laser electrolysis and had never seen anything like it)

There does seem to be scarring on upper lip (between lip and nose), left from the laser and/or electrolysis. Unfortunately that is one of the risk involved. Usually happens, if the operator uses too strong settings. Especially important aspect, when you have taken estrogen and the skin has already turned into much more sensitive.

Unfortunately there isn´t much that can be done, or at least that´s what I´ve been told by the persons who have done laser and electrolysis to me.

The good news is, that I don´t think it is that obvious. I mean, I first looked at your picture and didn´t notice anything strange. Not until after I read your text, did I notice the scar.

I think seeing a dermatologist will help determine the exact cause of the appearance of darkness in that area and some possible solutions.  I wouldn't stress at this point because there are remedies to hyper-pigmentation, skin scarring causing darkening etc.  Go and see a good skin clinic that specializes in remedies for this.

I wish you well,  Take care,

Sonja.

thanks for the responses so far guys, as long as the solution is "there is no cure learn to live with it" I am much happier We live in an age where people are literally planning on going to Mars surely a little hyper pigmentation can be dealt with. If I didnt have anxiety issues I could probably live with this

Estrogen can make the skin light-sensitive, and it will react to the laser light.  I started out doing laser, but my laser tech noticed that my skin was starting to react to it, and recommended that I discontinue laser.

I now have some melasma spots on my cheeks, basically freckles that didn't use to be there.  They fade a bit over the winter with the lack of sunlight, but come back in summer, even with a heavy-duty sunscreen.  Like freckles, they are permanent.

Hi, I go to three places for electrolysis. One place I go to there is some discoloration for 2 days. The other there is discoloration for a day or at most two. The third place I go to used numbing needles and I do 4 hours at a time. I have swelling, bruising and scabs and discoloration for 10 days.

The place I go to for electrolysis that uses the numbing needles has the machine turned up high and I want it that way. The area being worked on are the most sensitive parts of the face.  I have had the same place treated 4 times and the regrowth is getting to be very little.

A dermatologist can lighten hyperpigmentation with bleaching. She could also treat scarring with steroid injections. Keep out of the sun and use sun screen on the location until evaluated by the doctor.

thanks so much for the help guys, it would have been nice if the laser clinic I went to was this informative If the mark's are just a form of freckles I am sure bleaching would do the trick. There is dozens of youtube video's of people using turmeric and coconut oil or a sugar scrub to permanently remove hyper pigmentation but I am leaving those as a last resort if more heavy duty stuff doesn't work.

I will stay positive then until I can make it to my doctor, fingers crossed