1413 replies to this topic

[Maya]

Which A&D ointment did you use? Can you tell me the name and brand please. Thanks.

[mc]

You can do skin needling on yourself but you must do only you have the guts. I tried it on myself. I use to have white head acne and there are these few spots on my forehead that bothered me. So, after hearing all this about tattooing scared areas without the needle i decided to try useing a needle of my own on these scars. They were shallow pits. Some bigger than others. It has been about a week now since i did this procedure on myself. It was not at all painfull. All you do is punch a needle around your scared area. Don't go too far. An indicator to know when to stop is that when you pierce the needle into the scared area it will go through your skin then once it hits the scars region inside you will feel a slight snap as if you went through something solid. It feels like you punched through paper. You can even hear it. Once you're there you can twist the needle so it moves around inside as if you were trying to make a circular hole. Then you pull it out and proceed to do it inside the whole scared region. You will notice that the area will level immediately. This is because of the blood that also comes in. Its best to put a warm soaked cloth over the region after you pierce it to help blood rush in and raise the skin. You're basically stimulating the skin to repair itself from the bottom up. The area wil remain red for about 1-2 weeks after the procedure. The results i have were mixed. Its too early to tell but i did notice that the region is more leveled. The scar was a particular one because it was also on a wrikle but now the wrinkle seems to dissappear. I promised myself im not going to do this again until after thanksgiving. The results can excite you once you see that your scars level off. But keep in mind, moderation is the key. Although your skin might look healed on the outside, your body is still repairing from within the inside. You basically create a honeycomb under your scar. New collagen should form between the holes. I'm not sure if the scar tissue is eaten away in the process, im no scientist. Please be careful. If you do it once have have mixed results, just try once more and pierce that scar throughly. I had my best results the second time. I can't wait to do it again. I also had Elicina at hand which i applied on my scars when i was done just to further stimulate the healing process. Good luck, and be safe!

ps. this really isn't at all hard to do but mind you that you are penetrating your epidermis with a metal object, something that doctors are paid to do (so expensively too!) Just make double sure your needle is sanitized. Rinse it in hot/boiled water.

[Maya]

Thanks for that - trouble is, I have so much scarring! Did you use any numbing cream on your skin before using the needle?

[mc]

No numbing cream whatsoever. Just Applied a paper towel soaked in hot water over the pierced regions.

It is slightly painful when you pierce your normal skin. As far as piercing your scars, it doens't hurt at all. I guese it is because there is no nerve tissue where your scars are. I did this procedure on this region on my forehead that had a wierd shaped redish scar. It did hurt in certain parts of the scar. Now that i look at the area its 3 scars now. The reason it hurt is because i pierced the good skin between the scars which seemed to be apart of the scar. I guesed the scars pulled the skin around it down unleveling it also. A few days after doin this to myself i regreted doin it because the scared areas seem to be more noticeable. They were inflamed with redness. But after a couple of days the redness started to go away. Now i look at the area. Its more leveled and the scars are more defined. Like i want to do this again but patience is key. So wait a week to 2 weeks between each procedure. Let the skin heal is important. I can't wait to see the results next time but im definetly am not looking forward to the week after doin it. I think using Elicina and/or Complex-C or any other skin promoting topical solution will give you the best results. I put Complex-C after i take a shower, since that's the recommended time to do it. You feel a gentle burn on the regions you rub it on. Then Before i go to bed and when i wake up i apply Elicina. Next time i do this im goin to get a thiner needle so i can poke more holes. I hope this helps, be safe, i recommend you try doin this on a scar that is not so noticeable just for practice.

Good Luck!

[BarBQLover]

I'm happy that this is possibly working for you, but your all very detailed description of "sticking the needle through the scar", a "crack that sounds like paper".....it kind of makes my stomach turn....I have to commend you just for going through with this!

Good luck!

[mc]

I must admit that the procedure awkward. You can feel and hear the piercing but thats a good sign because you know that you're hitting the scar. I am so tempted to do it again right now but i don't want to go home for the holidays with redmarks so i figure i'll do it after. "Patience is a virtue, temptation i curse you."

[Maya]

I did it last night!!!!! On about 20 diffeerent scars on my forehead - took around 1 hour in all. That popping/crackling noise - now I get it! This is 10 hours later, ans some of them definately look better (the smaller ones) the larger pits, I had to needle around 10-20 times, and they are forming scabs, so can't give update for another day or 2. All in all, I am very pleased with what I've done. If it has gone well after a week, I will have a go on some big ones on my cheeks!

[OursFan]

Wow Maya! I can't believe you went ahead and did it! Brave girl.
I hope that it turns out well for you. Yes, please keep us posted about what you do to heal them and how long it takes.

I am supposed to have ONE of my more hidden (near the hairline) scars done next Saturday by my friend. It's just going to be a little test to see how my skin responds to it and to see how/if it works for me. I'll keep you posted too.

[mc]

I'm happy with your success so far. This isn't a 1 time miracle procedure, its more therapuetic and needs to be done several times. As soon as i get my copper peptide cream i will do this again. The next time i do it im going to try it with thinner needles. I think if i use thinner needles it will make piercing through the scars easier. Some of my scars are hard to pierce. I can't even pierce some and im affraid to apply too much pressure. Its important to be gentle and not too aggressive while doing this. Use sterile needles and apply H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) or warm water over the holes to help them heal. After looking closely to my scared region, i've noticed holes that i think are the areas i pierced. This caught my attention because it seems that they're not healing because they're probably turning into pores. Thats another reason why i want to get a smaller needle; something that matches the diameter of my pores.

Good luck, keep us posted..

[Maya]

So it's been nearly 24 hours (it's 5.30PM in the UK) and my forehead feels a bit sore (no more than that) - I made a mistake - this morning, I decided to go to my areobics class and the sweat running onto my forehead made it sting!!! Silly me! - but I have noticed an improvement in some of the scars so far - some of the smaller ones are like almost not there (apart from some red puffiness) and the bigger ones, seem about 30% smaller - RESULT!!!! And it's meant to improve with time, so I am excited! My skin looks smooth as well.

I did look a bit of a sight this morning in the aerobics class, but told people it was a bit of sunburn from som holiday..

Yes, MC - I do appreciate that I will need to do this several times - once a month is the most it should be done I have heard.

I have this amazing Vitamin C serum - It's made by Jason Cosmetics - ingredients:Complete Vitamin C complex 10% (Ester C liquid, calcium, sodim and zinc ascorbate, magnesium, Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate), Green tea extract, Grape seed Extract, Vitamin A (Retynl Palmitate) ...and some other stuff - now, this is excellent for healing as all the ingredients boost collagen and protects the skin so well. I bought it in England and it cost me around £25. But it says it is made in California - no website details I'm afraid.

Will keep you all updated.

[mc]

Hey Maya, where did you hear that you should only perform this procedure once a month? I've looked through the websites from the first post and the only indication that i heard when you should do it is when the wound heals up. Then i read it takes a couple of days to heal up so my guese after a week its ok. I however would wait 2 weeks. I want to do it again on wednesday which is the day i get my copper peptide cream. And thats about a week before i go home for thanks giving and i don't want my scars to be inflamed..

[Maya]

I have had a couple of emails from Des Fernades (he is the commercial inventor of needling - and he is a cosmetic surgeon in S.Africa) - I asked him to give me information (I asked a lot of questions)

He told me that it needs at least 1 month in between needling sessions and that you need to apply Vit C and A cream before and after for better healing. He suggested using Retina A for 3 weeks before and after treatment (but I don't want to use that) so I bought my own stuff which is really good.

Even though the scabs on the skin surfae have healed, I suspect the underlying skin tissues will take longer - also, the collagen takes some time for it to come to the surface.

I suggest you wait a while - don't overdo it, or you may make things worse.

[Tifanie's Secret]

Wow mc and Maya!

This sounds very promising! Thanks mc for sharing the at home way to do this!

You guys keep posting with an update, I'm starting to get very very interested!

Good Luck!!!

[mc]

I hope everything is goin alright with you Maya. The redness should go away after a week and your scars should be more leveled with the surrounding skin.

When i woke up this morning, i checked my face to look at how my scars were doing. My biggest scar formed some type of clear hard surface. You can't notice it by looking at it but only if you feel it. It felt like a scab but it certainly didn't look like one. It looked like normal skin. I guese this is just a sign that my skin is working to rebuild itself. I also applied %30 glycolic acid 2 days ago. I don't know if its because of that, or that it helped but i checked my other scars and they didn't form such a scab. I must honestly say that so far i am really pleased with the results. I changed my mind about doin it again this week. Instead i will do it the 2nd weekend of december. That'll be about 1 month from my last procedure.

[Maya]

Hi MC - it's nearly 2 days since I needled and no more to add really - some of them look improved, some are swollen in the surrounding areas - still pink/puffy - only a couple have formed scabs - and they look better than the others. Some seem not to have improved at all

I'm glad you are waiting the month to perform needling again. Better be safe.

Sounds like yours have improved quite well - I think I need to wait a week before I can say what percentage of improvement there has been.

By the way - have you checked the healthboard recently? I asked Yumi for an update - AND his scars have come back - he puts it down to him using too many facial scrubs - he said that the scabbing process is very important and not to try to heal them too quickly. I am a bit confused now.

[mc]

How many times has he done it?

[Maya]

Well, it was only once - here's the link

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum1/HTM...TML/010767.html

[BarBQLover]

As a recap, Yumi at healthboards.com who was a sort of pioneer with doing this with a tatoo artist, has discovered his/her(?) scars are completely back at Square 1. She (I'll just assume) believes that if you puncture yourself like this, that you cannot scrub the treated area, since this will lead to destroying the tender collagen which is rebuilding in the scar area. Therefore, all the hassle she has gone through has led to absolutely no tangible results.......

I just want to say good luck to everybody and anybody treating this since my honest to Jesus dream is that acne and especially acne scars can eventually become a disease of the past, but this seems like another one of those passing fads, much like saline injections (haven't heard about those in awhile).

Please, I know it sucks, but what's just remember: you're sticking a needle into your skin to the point where you bleed and scab.

[mc]

True, only time will tell though. Gotta be some what consistent... Piercing your skin really isn't that big of a deal. I mean if people are willing to put pharma grade acid on their skin, piercing isn't anything special.

Anyways, just to let ppl know. The redness is receeding and the skin over my scar is rough, like a scab but it doesn't look like a scab. It's just clear. I am sure to apply my Complex-C and Elicina to further help my skin's regeneration process. I will replace the use of both with this new product called Scar Fx and Neova's Night Therapy with Copper Peptides once i get them wednesday. Scar Fx also contains Copper Peptides plus a bunch of other stuff.

Copper peptides are have week bonds. Copper peptides have been known to loose their regeneration abilities when combined with certain lotions and creams.

[Maya]

Well, my skin has settled down now - barley any pinkness - and now what I notice is that the biggger scars are around 40% better (small holes in ice pick like scars) and the smaller ones look less pronounced.

Hope you are going well MC!

Where are you based? and how old are you? Are you female?

Me - female, 39, asian origin but been in the UK all my life.