Laser hair removal burns: Woman left with burns following laser gone wrong

A young woman was left with dark spots all over her legs following a laser hair removal appointment gone wrong. 

Tess Crosley, from Sydney, visited a laser clinic on November 3, 2022 but walked out with small painful burns covering from her shins up to her thighs. 

What followed was a six month ‘saga’ attempting to reverse the damage that had been done. 

The 27-year-old tried ‘everything’ from taking cold showers, speaking to dermatologists and spending money on LED treatments. But at first nothing seemed to work. 

As time went on the spots naturally started to fade. The mum-to-be shared her experience in a TikTok video.

Tess Crosley, from Sydney, visited her local laser hair removal clinic on November 3, 2022 but walked out with small painful burns all over her legs

After arriving home from the appointment, Tess was in dreadful pain and the spots started to welt, so she applied ice over the skin and took cold showers for ‘hours’. 

‘I used laser aid [cream] for days because my skin was so hot,’ Tess wrote in the video. She contacted the clinic and had to wait a couple days before returning. 

She then started yellow LED treatment every two days for weeks to help with wound healing, skin rejuvenation, rosacea and redness. 

After one week she noticed the welting start to go down and continued the treatment. 

Four weeks later she began applying hydroquinone cream twice daily as prescribed from the clinic. 

‘I came home sobbing because people asked what was wrong with my legs in public,’ she wrote in the video. 

‘I spent so much money on different opinions and advice. No one could do anything, even dermatologists.’

At this point the spots had turned from red to white and looked like ‘reindeer spots’. 

However, a couple weeks later Tess said her legs got ‘really burnt’ one day from being in the sun. 

To her surprise, the spots began to fade, so she decided to purposefully go out in the sun again to see if it would help. 

She noticed as her legs got more tanned the spots kept fading and ‘evened out’ her skin tone. 

Today Tess’ legs are free from the circular white spots. 

‘My six month leg saga. I [definitely] am not posting this TikTok recommending to go out in the sun if this happens to you.. please be very careful and do your own research,’ she caption the video. 

‘Every skin type is different and it may have very negative side effects for somebody else.’

According to Calveo, to avoid laser hair removal burns in the first place, it’s advised to avoid sun exposure. 

Having laser treatment after tanning can cause hyperpigmentation, burns, and scarring. 

Over six months she tried ‘everything’ and had yellow LED treatment for weeks. However, she noticed the spots started to fade from being in the sun. Today Tess’ legs are free from the circular ‘reindeer spots’ she loathed (pictured: what her legs look like today) 

Tess’ video has since been viewed more than 1.3million times, and many had an abundance of questions to ask. Others felt sorry for her. 

‘So happy for you that your skin got better,’ one person commented, another added: ‘I’m so sorry this happened to hun, it’s [an] awful experience.’

A third was shocked she deliberately went in the sun and wrote: ‘You purposely burnt your skin? Girl!’

But Tess replied: ‘I know it’s not good for you, but in the end it made me happier & more confident. People also do a lot worst to their bodies on a daily basis.

‘I’m usually very sun safe and get my skin checked yearly. I also know my body and skin well.’