45 replies to this topic

[psych0sis]

Nostradamus

Hi
I'm not really using any washing-stuff at the minute. I did some tea tree oil body wash but not long enough to se if it worked.
I'm taking fish oil and probiotics, and using the hot/cold shower tecnique. (:

What do you use?

Hey there again! Using probiotics are great! They help with the acne for the cheeks and with your digestive system.

What I use has worked for me for 2 years:

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Panoxyl 10% BP for Body 2x daily
30 minutes of sun daily (if you can)
50mg Zinc
No dairy(milk, cheese etc.)


That's what I used, and found it beneficial for myself. You may need more or less than that.

P.S Hot Cold water technique is great ; )

[gms228]

Anyone have success with this?

[submerge]

I also have this same condition. From what I've read, it is indeed follicular macular atrophy. Unfortunately, I looked just about everywhere on the internet but no one seems to have any solutions. The thing is though, none of the people who had this tried getting laser treatment done on this, so I believe there is still hope. Not to mention that many of the posts I read were old and during the time where dermabrasion was used to treat all types of scars. It's amazing how many new laser treatments have been introduced in the past 5 years.

gms228, I saw one of your other posts where you mentioned trying to flatten it out with needling and acid and that it didn't work. I think that a heavy scar removal procedure on the back could get rid of this. The derm that I went to said he couldn't do much about it, but that a laser surgeon might be able to do something to it. I've looked into some lasers that might work and I've found that a Fraxel Laser may help. Basically what it does is smooth out the skin and produce collagen. Now what these scars are is just a buildup of excess collagen from when we had bacne, so I don't know how much collagen production would help us. Honestly, if the laser could just at least flatten out the skin I would be happy and wouldn't really mind the skin discolouration. If keloid scars can be cured then I'm hoping that this can as well.

One question though, I notice that a lot of people who have this condition have previously taken accutane, which is the case for me. Do you guys think accutane has any correlation to this condition or is it irrelevant and just connected to people with bad bacne.

[greginctw]

Wow, I think a lawsuit may be in the works. Every single person suffering from follicular macular atrophy is an ex-Accutane user. I mean, read the boards, it's 100%.

I'm going to try to get Fraxel (or whatever laser the doctor recommends) done on them when I go to the United States and save up some money. I still do not live or work in America, but when I do, I will post the results of any treatment I have. There is a serious lack of information regarding treatment options.

BTW, I was misdiagnosed twice. It wasn´t until I came to this messageboard that I finally figured out what these stupid scars are. The doctors kept telling me that it was active acne! I was seriously prescribed topical benzoyl peroxide and doxycycline to get rid of them.

Edited by greginctw, 11 March 2012 - 07:19 PM.

[crackenskullex]

greginctw, on 11 March 2012 - 07:19 PM, said:

Wow, I think a lawsuit may be in the works. Every single person suffering from follicular macular atrophy is an ex-Accutane user. I mean, read the boards, it's 100%.

correlation =/= causation

It just so happens that most of the people with these scars had acne bad enough to qualify for accutane. I had terrible acne on my chest, back and face and was offered accutane yet turned it down due to fear of side effects. I now have ~200-300 of these follicular macular atrophies on my chest, back and shoulders. You probably would have had it worse had you not gone on the accutane, so you should be thankful not regretful. I have just now started my course of accutane but that's besides the point.

As far as actual solutions go:

1. A member by the name of rss completely removed the hypertrophic tissue using vinegar and a q-tip, and then followed with the application of a hydrocolloid bandage + polysporin to reduce scarring on the second time the body would be healing the tissue. His results were that some of the atrophies completely disappeared, and some of them had merely a faint white scar "only noticeable on close inspection". Here's the link: http://www.acne.org/...nt/page__st__40

2. An expert dermatologist in my area mentions the following procedure for these type of scars: cortisone injections (sometimes along with liquid nitrogen), can be quite effective. Chemical peels and laser can also provide some benefit. His name is Dr. Barankin

3. Finally, gms228's post on the second page of this post provides a similar method to rss's method, which involves removing the tissue (although over a long period of time rather than all at once), and then letting the wound heal properly by keeping it moisturized. I Wonder if the methods can be combined to make it more beneficial.
www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php/topic/246480-white-spots-on-body/page__st__20

4. I don't have the link handy, but a member on this forum mentioned that going over the atrophies with a tattoo gun filled with water can break up the tissue effectively reducing the atrophy. His friend had a tattoo gun handy and performed this on his back acne atrophies.

I hope this provides helpful to those others suffering with this skin condition out there. Lets keep working on this together and maybe we can find a cure if at least a treatment.

Personally I'm probably going to be trying the vinegar experiment, and healing with hydrocolloid bandages.At present I've been experimenting with hydrocolloid bandages on the existing follicular macular atrophies, as well as active acne on my chest that would normally produce a scar. The active acne did NOT produce an atrophy after keeping it covered with a hydrocolloid bandage, and thus I now put hydrocolloid bandages on all my active large body acne. As far as whether it helps existing follicular macular atrophy I have yet to find out.

Edited by crackenskullex, 13 March 2012 - 06:55 PM.

[submerge]

crackenskullex, I'm very interested in hearing how this procedure worked out for you. I have been looking for treatments for 2 years and this is the first one ive seen. I appreciate you posting this. Please keep us updated. I am also considering trying the vinegar process you mentioned. If i decide to go through with it, i can post pics up if people are interested.