[EvaMarie]

Awesome!!! I know the feeling.... One negative Ive noticed for me anyway is that the more of them nasty follicles I kill the worse and saggier my wrinkles, lines and skin get... They really do take up a lot of room and support the skin... When they are gone it seems to loosen up.... My face seemed to age at an alarming rate as I went through with the process... I have proof in pictures too that Im not just nuts either.... I went all out with my electro and the laser... In like 3 months NASTY wrinkles and lines formed I will definitely need a full face lift now... Also I think since I no longer shave like I used to that has an effect... Shaving is a great way to exfoliate... I wish Id been more aware of that and exfoliated and moisturized more...

Just passing along a few of my experiences for you to consider

[EvaMarie]

..

[GoneGirl]

Yes, I've noticed that my lower face is sagging more since my beard clearing. I assumed it was because the massive swelling for 3 or 4 days stretched out my skin, but you are suggesting another reason, Eva, which makes sense to me. I will say, though, that I don't see the fine wrinkles, and I think I know why.

I have been moisturizing my face and neck every morning and night for months, and I think it's made a huge difference in the moisture content of my skin. When undergoing flash thermolysis, the tech can tell if the skin is moist or dry. For someone my age, Belle was surprised at how much moisture was in my skin. The hairs would pull out easily with a big "juicy" root bulb on them. High skin moisture also prevents the fine wrinkles that occur with age as the skin dries out.

I also drink a lot of water. Spiro is a diuretic and it sucks the water out of tissues very efficiently. I keep bottles of water sitting out around the house and take drinks frequently. Yes, I have to pee frequently, but don't women do that anyway?

Eva, I would suggest looking into laser skin resurfacing using a fractional CO2 laser (e.g., Fraxel, Pixel CO2). It really works to repair sun damaged skin, reduce fine wrinkles, and even minimize scarring from childhood acne. The laser "drills" thousands of tiny holes into the dermis which results in the creation of new collagen as the skin heals. I had it done back in August. Truly amazing results with just one treatment, and recovery takes only 5 to 7 days.

It's not mentioned as a selling point, but Flash thermolysis has a similar effect. I was amazed at how the skin of a friend of mine improved after just two beard clearings with flash. Her skin looks so much fresher and smoother compared to the skin above the bearded areas. No wrinkles.

I, too, will seek a full face & neck lift, but I'll will wait until my FFS has completely healed (4 - 6 months) depending on how much I have done. I prefer to wait until all swelling is gone so that I get the most out of the face lift. Many FF surgeons do the face/neck lift at the same time as all the other work. I'm not thrilled with that practice.

Clara

[EvaMarie]

Well my electro lady says the same and I also drink a lot of water (and pee a lot) on 100-300 mg spiro (currently 200mg)... I cant say I moisturize that much but I do try to deep clean and moisturize every night... Especially If I wearing make up.... Lately Ive been using a tinted moisturizer instead of foundation though and its working better for me....

My laser girl is a dermatologist and Im going to ask her what she can do to help my issues tomorrow when I see her....

SOON Im thinking I will be in Boston for an in person consultation with Dr S.... His pics of before and after are really impressive and I only want to do this ONCE... Yea its gonna cost me Im sure Im not sure if doing anything at all would even be worthwhile before such radical surgery anyway though

I have to wait 3 months minimum between surgeries here so I might as well see Dr S and consider a more invasive FFS procedure...

[GoneGirl]

Dr. S is on my list, too. As I mentioned before, I need some serious work done on my forehead that will require reconstruction, not just recontouring. The surgeons that I've found that will do forehead osteotomy are: Spiegel (Boston), Meltzer (Phoenix), Di Maggio (Buenas Aires), Simon/Capitan (Spain). I assume that Dr Deschamps-Braly (successor to Dr. Ousterhout in San Francisco) also does reconstruction but I haven't checked.

I met Dr. S at SCC in Atlanta recently. He seems like a conscientious doctor and very skilled in FSS. He claimed to have performed over 700 forehead reconstructions. He does his operations at the Boston University Medical Center. Some people have tried to discredit him by pointing out that he was trained as an ENT physician, but I think experience in FSS is most important. I've heard from people that he is conservative with FFS. I like that (I want to recognize myself in the end), but others may want a more aggressive approach. His quote was the highest of all that I've received.

I've been in contact with the Facial Team (Simon/Capitan) in Marbella, Spain. I'm trying to set up a Skype consult with them soon. I also met these doctors at SCC. They've only been doing FSS since 2008, but that's all they do and they have racked up 200+ FFS operations to date. I was impressed with the numerous Before & After photos in their website photo gallery. Beautiful forehead work!

The reasons I'm even considering going to Spain for FFS are as follows:

1. All forehead work is done by cutting and resetting the frontal sinus wall.
2. They preserve the mucous lining of the frontal sinus.
3. They performed 172 FFS operations between 2008-2012 with no complications or rework.
4. I couldn't find any negative reviews on them.
5. Their results gallery is impressive in size and quality of the images.
6. They do a 3D CT scan before and after every FFS.
7. They have a specialist on the team for doing rhinoplasty (nose) surgery.
8. They will not do FFS and rejuventation surgeries at the same time. Six months between.
9. They perform all surgery in a state of the art private hospital.
10. Their prices are competitive even factoring in the higher travel cost.
11. Marbella is located on the coast of the Mediterranean, just 40 minutes from the Magala International Airport.
12. Every request for information that I submitted was responded to quickly and accurately.

You can see why I'm interested....LOL. They almost seem too good to be true.

Clara

[EvaMarie]

WOW you have been busy doing your homework!!!! Im impressed

I didnt know Dr S was an ENT, that is huge for me because Im very nervous about having a trach shave and somehow messing up my voice surgery... The more I hear about him the more Im starting to like him I figure I could probably drive into Chicago around Christmas and a flight from there to Boston is probably pretty cheap...
I like to do my consults in person and I do enjoy traveling anyway

Yes I considered going all over the world to do this myself, It would be cool to go to Spain I think Also Thailand is very intriguing

I hope they understand english in Spain???

But hell for a redneck girl like me just going to NY and now Boston is like going to a different country... Even just going back to the hood in Chicago feels weird now.... Im surprised they even let me in without my passport LOL

I was unaware that rejuvenation "should" be done after feminization.. FUCK that, I want it all done at once

[GoneGirl]

Yes, Dr. Siegel puts a video camera down the throat when doing trachea shave. It ensures that the vocal cords are not damaged.

Marbella, Spain is a tourist mecca for Europeans so English is commonly spoken there. In all my interchanges with the Facial Team, I never once noted a difficulty with English.

BTW, the least expensive FFS quote I got, even considering travel cost, was from Dr. MDM (Macelo Di Maggio) in Buenas Aires. I think it's because of the favorable peso/dollar exchange rate right now. Dr. MDM has a fine reputation, too. What's more, he has a 2 step surgery package to do FFS+Face & Neck Lift in two steps separate for 7 to 10 days all in one trip. That is very tempting. He does a cephalogram x-ray before surgery as well.

On the negative side (from my perspective), MDM is awfully far away (14 hrs vs. 7 for Spain and 2.5 for Boston), they provide an interpreter for you because almost no one speaks English fluently, and, interestingly, Dr. MDM removes the mucous lining of the frontal sinus wall before resetting. He does this because he resets the frontal bone without titanium plates and screws by mixing bone burrings with a bone adhesive and basically glues it in place. No one else does it this way that I'm aware. I'm not sure if that is a good idea or not.

Clara

[GoneGirl]

It's been two weeks since I had all my face and neck hair removed for the first time via flash thermolysis. My skin has healed up nicely, although there is still a very slight sense of numbness to the skin. New hair is starting to grow again. It's softer, thinner hair that grows very slowly. I can easily skip a couple of days shaving and still not notice my beard. Probably because these new hairs are white or colorless.

My electrologist calls these new hairs 'baby hairs'. They are shallow rooted and tender. When I go back next month to have my face and neck cleared again, these immature hairs are more likely to be killed off permanently than the old, tough gray hairs that I used to have. Most people see about a 50% permanent reduction in their beard after two clearings. The second clearing will take less time and produce less swelling. Recovery time will be just a few days.

It's wonderful having a taste of what it's going to be like having a smooth face all the time and not having to shave. Very few men who are comfortable with their assigned gender have facial hair removed for the convenience of not having to shave. I have always hated facial hair, but never considered having it removed until I decided to transition. It must be for the same reason a man will avoid other things that hint of femininity. We are constrained by the binary gender model that's been imprinted on our minds since birth.

Clara

[GoneGirl]

It's been 4 weeks since I had all my face and neck hair removed for the first time via flash thermolysis. It's taking some time to completely heal. I can still feel some numbness in the skin near my chin. This area is where my beard was the densest, and suffered the most skin damage from closely spaced thermal flashes. My skin is rough in this area now as the swelling has gone down. Also, as dead tissue is carried away from around each follicle, the skin has receded leaving many indentations in my skin. I'm hoping that the pitting or scarring, whatever you want to call it, goes away as the healing continues, but that may not happen. It looks like I got a high kill rate -- maybe too high which has caused excessive damage to the dermis. I go in for another clearing in just 3 weeks so there's potential for more skin damage.

The risk of permanent scarring is a good justification for doing laser first. Of course that wasn't possible for me because my facial hair is light in color.

What to do if the scarring is permanent? Ablative fractional CO2 laser skin resurfacing will rebuild the dermis and minimize, if not eliminate, the scarring.

[GoneGirl]

It's now been 6 weeks since I had my face and neck hair removed for the first time via flash thermolysis. My skin feels normal now. No sensitivity or numbness. I'll have my second full clearing in just 4 days. I still have a substantial amount of facial hair. I estimate a 30% kill rate was achieved on the 1st pass which is better than you'd normally expect for someone my age. One's skin dries out with age and gray hair is the hardest to kill. My electrologist calls them "wise hairs". Thermolysis can cause pitting and even scarring where the hair is very dense and the electrologist is too aggressive. Minor pitting will heal given time.