The Value of Post-Procedural Skincare and Why I Trust MDPen
The Value of Post-Procedural Skincare and Why I Trust MDPen
If you’ve been considering a laser treatment to address scars, wrinkles, precancerous cells, or sun damage, it’s important to do your homework.
And by homework, I mean stocking up on at-home skincare essentials to enhance your recovery. I’ve had three skin cancer surgeries in the past five years, so when my Mohs surgeon recommended an ablative erbium laser treatment to minimize my recent surgical scar and eliminate precancerous lesions, I stocked up on MDPen essentials for my aftercare routine.
MDPen Has Never Let Me Down
As a professional skincare writer, I know the importance of having safe, gentle products to care for the skin after a procedure, and since I’d been using MDPen’s Hydrating Cleanser and Copper + HA Mist for over a year, I restocked and also added their Pure Hyaluronic Acid Serum and Human Derived Growth Factor Gel to my recovery routine.
Six weeks have passed since my treatment, and while some of the skin on my chest and right cheek is still slightly pink, my skin has bounced back beautifully, and I owe much of that to MDPen.
Post-Procedure Cleansing
Freshly lasered skin feels tight, dry, and sunburnt, which makes the mere thought of cleansing agonizing, but it is essential to the recovery process.
For the first week, my face, neck, and chest were coated in Aquaphor to both hydrate the skin and form a barrier to keep impurities out. I was instructed to cleanse twice daily to remove the barrier gel, and since some areas of my face were weeping. For this, the MDPen Hydrating Cleanser was my go-to cleanser.
The hyaluronic acid prevents the cleanser from feeling drying, and the tremella fuciformis sporocarp (snow mushroom) extract further boosts moisture levels while green tea, aloe, marigold, and chamomile calm underlying inflammation. Bonus: It smells delightful, like a sunny spring morning.
Layers and Layers of Hyaluronic Acid
When skin is this compromised, every single thing you put on it must be extremely gentle. I’ve used a lot of hyaluronic acid (HA) serums during my tenure as a writer, and they do a great job of binding with the water in your skin to help it look plump. Post-laser, my skin had zero moisture, so I needed more than just HA to help it regain its balance.
Caprylyl glycol features prominently in the MDPen Pure Hyaluronic Acid Serum along with moisturizing glycerin. Caprylyl glycol is a non-drying alcohol that comes from palm or coconut oil. Instead of stripping your skin, it helps it retain moisture. While this ingredient on its own wouldn’t have provided the moisture my skin needed, research shows that formulas containing caprylyl glycol can safely be applied multiple times a day. And during the first week, I applied the MDPen Pure Hyaluronic Acid Serum up to four times a day, and my skin drank it up.
Midday Refreshment with Added Benefits
As a self-declared mist-a-holic, I knew my extra-thirsty skin would need a midday boost, so I replenished my MDPen Copper + HA Mist a month before my procedure. I initially reviewed this product for Beautytap in September 2021, and this is my third or fourth bottle. The reason? The combination of three ferments (copper, manganese, and zinc) and, you guessed it, more hyaluronic acid. Because my skin continued to feel warm and dry even in week two, I toted my mist with me everywhere I went. It was also a lovely addition in between layers of hyaluronic acid.
Amping up Collagen and Speeding up Wound Healing
Did you know that skin continues to improve for up to six months after a laser procedure? With that in mind, I purchased the MDPen Human Derived Growth Factor Gel and began using it nightly in my second week. Epidermal Growth Factors (EGFs) boost collagen production while also helping wounds heal, and I’ve had an EGF serum in my routine for over five years.
Like MDPen’s Hydrating Cleanser, the Human Derived Growth Factor Gel also includes snow mushroom for hydration along with hyaluronic acid (there’s a theme here) and certified organic calendula flower extract. The bioactives in calendula calm inflammation, encourage wound healing, and fight free radical damage. When applied immediately after cleansing, the smooth gel bathes the skin in stem cell-rich-hydration.
Now that I’m six weeks post-procedure, I use this every other evening, and my skin is fully healed, plump, and luminous.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
As you now know, hyaluronic acid was omnipresent during my recovery, and I’m incredibly thankful to have discovered MDPen’s skincare products well in advance of my procedure.
Good outcomes are as much about recovery care as they are about the initial treatment, and I trust MDPen to offer quality ingredients in formulations that work even on the most compromised skin.
