Barnacles of life

Apparently I didn't ask enough questions over the phone so I didn't know you need to return for laser hair removal every six to eight weeks. I thought I'd get one appointment done now and continue in October when we come back to New Mexico but they said that's not a good idea. I was disappointed but it turned out not to be a wasted appointment.

In the last few years I've developed a few seb k's, seborrheic keratoses, they look like light brown spots and are very slightly raised on your skin, and too many cherry angiomas (those are tiny pin prick, bright red dots on the skin). These are well known in elder circles as, heh, the barnacles of life. If you're lucky enough to make it to your 40s, 50s, and beyond, 'tis highly like you will get some kind of barnacles of life. Our skin just doesn't stay like it was when we were 10 years old, or 20, or 30. Sooo unfair!

Both s.k.'s and cherry angiomas pose absolutely no danger to your health, but for us vain California girls who say, "That's not me! That does not belong!" they can be removed. The girl who worked on me was very nice and I wasn't uncomfortable with her at all. I really wanted someone who would look at me and take them all off. I didn't want someone who would need me to point out every single minuscule thing to them. She had a sharp eye and did a good job. Now I look like I have 40 cigarette burn blisters all over the trunk of my body. I do not mind! I will gladly trade the healing time for the spot removal (sounds like I'm a piece of wall-to-wall carpet now). It's all maintenance - regular life maintenance. I'm glad I got it done because I've wished them to be gone for a long time but I never want to actually make an appointment, go in, and do it. The cost. I will add that here because I know when I'm researching various cosmetic things I do wonder what the cost was.

For major procedures like cosmetic surgery, I would go to California. I think they do so much there in terms of sheer numbers that you can find best quality. If you get a nose job for instance, you want to pick a doctor that does a whole lot of rhinoplasty on a regular basis. Granted prices are higher. For the minor process of seeing a dermatologist to get skin stuff fixed I figure I'll get the same quality in New Mexico for lower price. The office charge is $250 to get as many seb k's off as you want. I didn't have that many, just had a handful, so they charged me $100.00. The cherry angiomas require a different laser machine and I was surprised that I had a lot more of those than I thought. I lost count after ten. They charged me $100.00 for that too. Total, $200.00. About three years ago I had some age spots removed from my forearms and one on the side of my face by my ear. In Washington State I was charged $10.00 per spot and they used liquid nitrogen to burn them off. I saw a lot of women in the waiting room there who were in for elective procedures, but I did not like that I had to point each and every single spot out to them. Made me feel very self-conscious. After I heal I can compare how the laser removal compares to freezing them off.