3 replies to this topic

[TokyoGirl]

Hello,

I've been reading the board for several months now, and have done extensive search online on the treatment of acne scars, specifically boxcar & icepick. It's extremely easy to find bad reviews on laser, but I am wondering if anyone has had success with it. If you've had a positive experience, please share it here.

To give a little background about myself, I have done both TCA Cross and Deep FX to treat boxcar & icepick scars. I regret the TCA Cross and feel the Deep FX had a much greater impact on minimizing my scars. It has been 3 months exactly since my Deep FX treatment. I only had it done on my cheeks. My icepick scars are more like indents now. Actually, I would say they are more like shallow boxcar scars with the smaller ones resembling slightly enlarged pores now. I'm curious to know if this is normal, and whether those shallow indents will ever smooth out. Or, more like, whether anyone has experience with this and if so, I'd appreciate it if you could share your experience. I assume the scars go through phases of transformation.

Also, I am 39 years old. I'm half Asian. I have suffered from hyperpigmentation and some discoloration from the laser. I expected this, and was willing to deal with the temporary discoloration to improve my skin. Healing from the laser was far easier to tolerate than TCA Cross. To be frankly honest, I believe there are more positive reviews on TCA Cross because it's more cost-effective and available to home users. There is a serious risk of causing more damage from this method. I had it done by a dermatologist, and wish I had gone with laser from the start instead. I just find it a bit scary how many people are attempting this method at home. It is not worth the risk of long-term damage, and if I could turn back time, I would not have gone with the majority of opinions on this forum regarding Cross
.

Edited by TokyoGirl, 17 May 2012 - 11:40 PM.

[DudleyDoRight]

Tokyo, I am an advocate ot Fraxel Re:pair which is very similiar to DeepFX Re:pair is the only thing that has worked for me. Anybody that can do fractionalized ablative CO2 should bypass the "natural" remedies.

[Nyssa]

I had good results with fully ablative CO2 resurfacing, though it took several attempts to make the worst scars (a pair of ice-picks) virtually unnoticeable. I had three sessions on one cheek and five on the other. I did have temporary hypopigmentation, but no serious hyperpigmentation issues. I am pale and blond, so it worked well for me. I do believe the number of treatments I had made my skin more fragile. A very aggressive microdermabrasion session I had about two years later aggravated some of my scarring, but it is not as deep or jagged as before.

I have also heard of people having bad experiences with laser and I think quite a bit of that is dependent on the person's skin, the character of the scarring, and the quality of the doctor.

[TokyoGirl]

Thanks for sharing your exprience. If I can figure out how to post pictures at this forum (is there a guide?), I would love to show my results so far. Like I said above, I've had one Deep FX treatment. It was done Feb 16th, so just over 3 months ago. I see a *major* improvement and am truly amazed. If you check realself reviews for just Deep FX, you will note that this laser also has raving reviews there. I believe it is safe, while there may be more risk when adding Active FX to the treatment (although, I am hoping to take that additional risk as well in 2.5 more months).

Edited by TokyoGirl, Today, 04:20 PM.