I had a £3K facial to look younger – it left me in tears & my skin peeled off & leaked so I wore a towel around my neck
A WOMAN who paid £3,000 for facial treatment to look years younger says she was left in excruciating pain as her skin “peeled off”.
For years, Jodie Watson struggled with her self-confidence having suffered severe scars due to acne problems.
As a result, the 36-year-old recently made the decision to undergo Co2 laser resurfacing, but was horrified as the procedure left her with “leaking” and “cracked” skin during the healing process.
It eventually became so bad that the mum had to use bags of frozen peas just to calm her inflamed face, and was unable to sleep.
She recently shared her real-life story on TikTok, where it has since gone viral with over four million views.
“Before the procedure, I was extremely aware and self-conscious about my skin,” Jodie, a professional dog walker who lives in Fife, Scotland, told NeedToKnow.online.
“I felt like it was the first thing everybody would notice about me if I met new people and hated the way make-up would enhance the scarring.
“When going out for a meal, I would always strategically sit in dark places so the light wasn’t directly on my skin and taking pictures without a filter was a huge no.
“But I hadn’t expected the hell that would follow after getting the laser treatment.”
In the days after the laser treatment, Jodie was left with an extremely bloodied and swollen face.
She said: “The worst part for me was trying to sleep as my face leaked a lot of fluid which would trickle down my face and neck and constantly wake me.
“Eventually, I started sleeping with a towel wrapped around my neck to catch the fluid.
“To help the swelling, I put frozen peas in a bag and every couple of hours spent 20 minutes lying on my bed with the bag of peas on my face.
“That was until I found a whole gel face mask that could be put in the freezer and worn, which was amazing and felt so nice on my hot face.
“After a couple of days, my face started to get very itchy with the swelling and the old skin becoming cracked ready to peel off, but the Vaseline I was advised to use helped massively.
“I found when the Vaseline was drying on my face that’s when I was most itchy, so I constantly re-applied all day and night.”
Co2 treatment works by targeting damaged skin to break it down while leaving the remaining skin intact.
This is claimed to encourage a healing process and collagen stimulation, which replaces damaged skin.
The symptoms Jodie experienced were all common side effects of the procedure and she knew what was to come.
Despite the tough recovery process, Jodie has no regrets about her decision and was left in tears seeing her new skin for the first time.
She said: “After around five days, my skin started to crack and peel, so I had a really warm bath and gave my face a good soak, which helped the excess skin come away, which meant I could see my new skin.
“I was so overwhelmed, I couldn’t stop crying.
I started sleeping with a towel wrapped around my neck to catch the fluid
Jodie Watson
“The new skin was so fresh and shiny, and just everything I had ever wanted my face to look like.
“I was and still am extremely happy with my results and I am so glad I went ahead with the procedure.
“I most certainly look younger now but my reason for the treatment was to improve the scarring.
“I am not complaining about the other fabulous results it gave me.”
Jodie shared the laser surgery on her TikTok account, where her videos have since blown up with views and comments.
People have been left amazed by the healing process, with some branding the treatment as looking “incredibly painful”.
I was so overwhelmed, I couldn’t stop crying
Jodie Watson
One person said: “One splash of salt water and you’re done.”
“Wow, that looks incredibly painful!” said someone else.
Someone else simply wrote: “Immediately no…”
“I had this today and my god the pain and the oooozzzzingggg,” someone else wrote.
Another person wrote: “Oh my god what happened to you?”
“OMG! It must hurt like hell!” said another user.