PLEASE READ…read more
At this point it has been more than 2 years since I first met with staff at Zel Skin. It took me a long time to write this because my experience receiving treatments with them was very negative, and it has taken me a long time to recover, both physically and emotionally. For anyone considering treatments with Zel Skin, and in particular, Dr. Adam Schmitt, I would strongly advise you to seek alternate consultations and treatments. Below is the outline of my experience with them. It is difficult for me to write this, but it is important for me to share in case I can prevent this experience for anyone else.
In 2020 I came to Zel Skin for tattoo removal. I had a tattoo on the inside of my left forearm, unfortunately my body had a bad reaction to the red ink in the tattoo, and it was a source of ongoing discomfort that I wanted to remove. The clinic told me that they couldn't proceed with conventional laser tattoo removal, because of the risks associated with the red ink being dissolved into my bloodstream, potentially causing a worse reaction. Instead, in consultation with Dr. Brian Zelickson, I was advised to have the tattoo removed surgically in a series of procedures.
The plan was to slice out a strip of skin from the middle of the tattoo (which was about 3.5 inches at its longest and 2 inches at its widest), stitch the skin back together, let the wound fully heal, and then repeat that procedure twice more until there was no more tattoo remaining. The first one of these surgeries went smoothly, and the recovery from that initial procedure gave me confidence in the clinic and Dr. Adam Schmitt. Unfortunately, that confidence was misplaced.
After the initial surgery, Dr. Adam Schmitt recommended that we proceed with only one additional surgery, rather than following the initial plan. He thought he could remove the rest of the skin with tattoo ink on it with only one more procedure. This was appealing to me because it meant less surgery and faster healing. Unfortunately, this was overly ambitious and even dangerous, and Dr. Adam Schmitt struggled to stitch the skin back together after the tattoo was removed. I was sent home with a large open wound, and inadequate self-care instructions. A nurse that I know in my personal life was appalled that I was sent home in that condition and recommended home visiting wound care.
When I asked what was going wrong and why the surgery hadn't proceeded as expected, Dr. Adam Schmitt told me that forearm skin is not as stretchy as other parts of the body. This seems like a fact that he should have taken into account before recommending we proceed with a second surgery removing more skin than originally planned.
A couple weeks later, on the recommended timeline, I returned to Zel Skin in order for them to try to fully close the surgical wound they had left me with in the prior visit. Dr. Adam Schmitt continued to struggle to close the gap, and even resorted to removing fatty tissue in order to get the skin to close. This has left my left forearm with a noticeably different shape and size than my right forearm. Although the stitches were able to connect after this follow-up procedure, the skin was so tightly stretched that it began to cut off circulation to my hand. This necessitated reopening the wound in the same visit and restitching. The procedure took over four hours. It was clear Dr. Adam Schmitt and the secretary at ZelSkin were clearing his schedule as the procedure went on and on. When I got home, the wound continued to burst through the stitches and wouldn't stay closed. Please see the attached picture of the final healing, it shows where the stitches continued to burst, tear, and where new scar tissue was formed.
It was at this point that my confidence in Zel Skin and Dr. Adam Schmitt was fully exhausted and I began to consult with a different dermatologist and medical team to help me physically recover from this experience and try to get my forearm into a presentable state for my wedding scheduled later that year. The skin was traumatized and flaring up accordingly. This timeline would not have been a concern if not for the disastrous results from Dr. Adam Schmitt's irresponsible approach to my tattoo removal.
Later, in reviewing my patient records, I noticed that Zel Skin never submitted costs of the second surgery to my insurance carrier. To me this indicates that they knew that they made a serious mistake in implementing these procedures (which they would not admit to me directly), and didn't want any details leaving their clinic. The records are vague all over actually.
Going into this process, I was fully aware that there would be some level of scarring after the tattoo removal was completed. However, the botched surgery, poor judgment by Dr. Adam Schmitt, and Zel Skin's efforts to minimize my concerns led to multiple painful surgeries, unnecessary levels of trauma, and excessive scarring (including the changed shape of my forearm,
