81 replies to this topic

[naturalgirl81]

Hi everyone, im greatic a new thread here because on Monday I am meeting with a renowned doctor for scar treatment. I have pretty severe rolling and pitted scars. I've done the research and come to the conclusion that subcision + temporary fillers are my best bet. I'm going to document the journey here and provide photos along the way to help anyone curious about these treatments.

[naturalgirl81]

Also, if anyone has ANY experience with Dr. Rapaport in New Jersey or Gotham Plastic Surgery (Dr Miller) in NYC, please let me know your experiences! (for acne scarring).

[Prettywords]

Oh, good luck! Please keep doing this log!!

[naturalgirl81]

Hi everyone, I met with Rapaport today and I must say, I was impressed with him. He did not push lasers (I refused them) and suggested 2 sessions of subcision. He said that the superficial scars I have (I have a lot of enlarged pores) and he suggested Fraxel repair for that, which I refused. I'm doing the subcision next Thursday. Will keep everyone posted!

[waitingforacure]

gl!

[Pord]

naturalgirl81, on 28 November 2011 - 07:19 PM, said:

Hi everyone, I met with Rapaport today and I must say, I was impressed with him. He did not push lasers (I refused them) and suggested 2 sessions of subcision. He said that the superficial scars I have (I have a lot of enlarged pores) and he suggested Fraxel repair for that, which I refused. I'm doing the subcision next Thursday. Will keep everyone posted!

Would you be willing to post some before pictures for us? I would like to see them. You can cover your eyes and stuff like that. Thanks.

[dx4567]

I wouldn't be so sure about subcision. I had it done for a scar on my face, and it didn't work. It also made the surrounding area more sunken, which just made the scar stand out even more.

Plus the mechanism by which it works was a little too rough/unpleasant for my liking, and the bruising took a very long time to heal.

[Greg098]

I am about to have my 4th subcision next week. Its been a long 6 months journey for me. All I can say is don't expect it to work straight away. It takes time and only now, I am starting to see results. He said most people need more then one treatment to start seeing results (which is true).
My doctor wanted to try subcision first before fillers.
The first subscision is the worst due to the bruising. My bruises lasted over a month (YES A MONTH!!!). The most painful part is the local anaesthetic injections. The first time isn't that bad but the 2nd and 3rd were very painful due to my skin still being bruised under the surface. It hurt a lot.

If you would like photos or anymore information, feel free to comment below and have a look at my post: http://www.acne.org/...y/#entry3180109 (i have photos in this post)

Edited by Greg098, 30 November 2011 - 09:08 PM.

[naturalgirl81]

Hi guys, Ive taken a few "before" photos. I ended up postponing the subcision for a week because it turns out you have to take Aspirin for 7 days to get the maximum bleeding during the treatment (more blood = more collagen per Dr Rapapport). It was not fun to take these photos but in all fairness to this forum I believe a picture says a thousand words.
To anyone who has had subcision, please let me know if your scarring was "similar" to mine.

Edited by naturalgirl81, 08 December 2011 - 12:51 PM.

[Prettywords]

GOOD LUCK GOOD LUCK AND KEEP UPDATING!

[Prettywords]

Oops. Didn't realize my caps lock was on...eww...sorry.

[Jmac33]

I had subcision and fraxel done last month by Dr. Rapaport. I'm very pleased with the results and I have scheduled to have a second session next month. The one thing to keep in mind is that the results immediately following the procedure (and for about the first week) will look incredible, but are often the result of swelling. I was aware of this going in, but it was still upsetting to see scars that were almost completely filled in after the procedure, begin to re-appear (in a reduced version) as the swelling went down. The other piece of advise that I would give you is to take plenty of before/after pictures as a way to chart your progress. Good luck!

[kidrock29520]

Subcision by far is the best treatment for *ROLLING* (I can't emphasize this enough) scars. From my experience I had 5 pretty deep rolling scars and after two rounds of subcision, my scars are virtually unnoticeable. It definitely works but what I'd recommend to anybody that is thinking about subcision is to first figure out what type of scarring that you have because you're probably not gonna see great results if you don't have rolling scars.

[naturalgirl81]

Jmac33, on 11 December 2011 - 09:11 AM, said:

I had subcision and fraxel done last month by Dr. Rapaport. I'm very pleased with the results and I have scheduled to have a second session next month. The one thing to keep in mind is that the results immediately following the procedure (and for about the first week) will look incredible, but are often the result of swelling. I was aware of this going in, but it was still upsetting to see scars that were almost completely filled in after the procedure, begin to re-appear (in a reduced version) as the swelling went down. The other piece of advise that I would give you is to take plenty of before/after pictures as a way to chart your progress. Good luck!

Jmac, can you give an approximate percentage of improvement from the first subcision? Thanks. And yes i'm aware about the honeymoon period with the swelling Although I am only having subcision, no Fraxel.

[naturalgirl81]

Has anyone had any additional scarring or hardness/lumps under the skin after subcision? Thanks

[Jmac33]

I'm not really sure about how to even quantify what the percentage increase was and I don't want to just throw a number out there. At the end of the day, I feel as though there was a great improvement and I'm very happy that I had it done. Some scars look better than others, but I can look at each one and see improvement, which is all that I was looking for. I'm optimistic that the next round will bring even more improvement, but at the same time, I realize that the area will never be completely smooth.

[naturalgirl81]

Jmac33, on 12 December 2011 - 06:08 PM, said:

I'm not really sure about how to even quantify what the percentage increase was and I don't want to just throw a number out there. At the end of the day, I feel as though there was a great improvement and I'm very happy that I had it done. Some scars look better than others, but I can look at each one and see improvement, which is all that I was looking for. I'm optimistic that the next round will bring even more improvement, but at the same time, I realize that the area will never be completely smooth.

Thanks, thats what I am hoping for as well. Please continue to update us on your improvements!

[naturalgirl81]

hi everyone, I'm going in on Thursday for the treatment, took 3 days off and hope that that suffices. I'm also not going to do fillers or lasers at this time. I've read a good deal about Dr. Sire in California who performs saline injections. After the subcision, I'm going to go see him as I think saline is a safer alternative to silicone and other fillers. If anyone has two cents on saline let me know! Of course I hope I don't NEED any more treatment after the subcision, so fingers crossed.

[Pord]

Is saline permanent?

[naturalgirl81]

Pord, on 14 December 2011 - 01:24 PM, said:

Is saline permanent?

It is supposed to be.