austra

So, I know many of you posting here have probably come to know me as I've been fairly active for quite a few months now. I've been working towards accepting my relatively mild if extensive scarring and finding a treatment that would give me some improvement so I could move on with the whole issue. Over this time I've become more obsessed over my scarring, even too obsessed, but at the same time I've realized that my scarring is fairly mild, and things could be much worse. I could've even lived with no improvement at all, and been fairly okay with my scarring.

However, despite only getting occasional spots these days and taking care not to repeat my previous mistakes of skin picking that has caused most of scars, and being very very careful about the spots' healing to eliminate scarring, I've recently been upset by the fact that I still have been getting new acne scars, which I thought was already behind me. However, they seemed fairly small and nothing that would largely affect the severity of my scarring as a whole. I was merely very upset that I still felt like I wasn't in control, but the new scarring itself didn't largely upset me as it was very mild. Two weeks ago, I decided it was causing me too much stress though and I got on antibiotics to stop the cycle.

Today something of a more serious nature occurred with my skin though. In a large scheme of things, it probably shouldn't affect me that much, but right now I feel absolutely floored. Today I got another acne scar - quite likely the worst one of all my scars. It is very raw, VERY deep, and as the skin still hasn't healed, there is still a chance it could get even worse. The size is more or less the same as with my other bigger scars, but the depth of it frightens me and I can see myself having a very hard time coming to terms with the fact that I have this thing now on my face. I don't know how I can handle this emotionally, I feel like hiding in my home for the rest of my life right now. It's going to take a long while before the skin has healed and the redness has subsided, and before I can even see what it will eventually look like. Let alone think of what treatments to have to fix it. For me to have the patience to go through this time with this scar on my face, is going to be mentally hard. I'm not really sure if there is anything that anyone could say that would make me feel better and stronger, but I would appreciate if someone tried. I don't think I've ever been this upset about my skin before, right now I just don't see how I could ever be fine with my skin anymore. I need to believe this scar is going to eventually turn out okay, even if it requires several treatments.

Have you had experience dealing with deep, sharp-edged boxcars? Have you had experience of a very new, raw scar healing somewhat nicely despite looking absolutely horrific to begin with? Do you think things will get better for me, this scar will heal and I can get it treated in a year or so, and end up looking relatively okay? Are there effective treatments for deep, narrow boxcars? I'm sorry if I sound desperate, it's because right now I do feel very low, upset and shocked. Any kind words of support from people who have gone through similar experiences would help more than anything. Thank you.

Hey everyone.

I hope this is the right subforum for this. So like it says in the title - I've had a scab on my cheek from a pimple for almost 7 weeks now, and I'm getting very very scared that it's infected since it's been there for so long. If anyone has had any similar experiences or advice, that would be greatly appreciated.


Here is my long scab story (skip if you want to):
-------------------
It started out as my failed attempt to extract a blackhead on my cheek a bit too harshly, which on the next day had become inflamed. It seemed like an ordinary - although fairly bad - pimple at this point. After a few days a scab developed over it. Swelling subsided in about 5-7 days, but the scab was still there. I've had scarring from scabs falling prematurely, so I took great care in preventing the scab from falling off early. Basically I've been very careful not to wash or wet the scab often, and kept a (thin, breathing) bandaid over it every night. At some point I tried keeping it moisturized, but I was worried it would make the scab fall off, so I stopped. The scab stayed on and on, for about three and a half weeks, until it finally fell (or was torn off by accident). The skin underneath looked very red, but not indented and not broken. Over the next few days the area rescabbed however, which has never really happened to me before. The new scab was thinner and looked quite unnoticeable, and at this point I wasn't really worried. It stayed for about a week and a half, after which my boyfriend accidentally tore it off. Once again, the new skin underneath looked very red, but not raw or indented. It rescabbed again during the next couple of days. This time the scab seemed a bit worse than the second scab, but not as bad or big as the first scab. Any redness I had around the scab to begin with had long since vanished. I've had the latest scab for about a week and a half now, and I think it's going to fall off fairly soon.

So, the scab I have now is small and does not look bad - if it had been there for three days, I wouldn't be worried in the least. It's not that noticeable that it would be embarrassing to go out in public or anything. However, it just recently occurred to me that taking 7 weeks to heal may not be normal anymore, and perhaps it simply isn't healing. The edges of the scab are slightly coming off now, and I can see a bit of the skin underneath it - and the skin is still bright red, and might rescab once the current one falls of. I'm getting very worried. I haven't at any point disturbed the healing process in any way, so I don't understand this. I did some researching online, and one possible explanation I could find was a staph infection. I don't really have experience in this though, and I'm not sure if it could be an infection, or if the normal healing process could just be taking so long for some reason. It has become better looking as opposed to getting worse and worse, but the rescabbing and the red skin underneath the scab make me very worried.
-----------------------


What do you think? What should I do?
I'm really frightened this would result in permanent scarring, and I would like this scab to heal as soon as possible. Do you think I should still just wait if it would heal on its own, or should I try to get a doctor's appointment asap and get on appropriate antibiotics for a staph infection? Does it sound like one? Has anyone else experienced something similar, and how did it go?

I'm sorry I don't have a picture to show, but there isn't really much to see anyway. This looks quite similar (the day 21 scab), but mine is even thinner and more harmless-looking. Based on just how the scab looks, you wouldn't think it was infected. It's just the fact that I've had it for so long and the fact that the skin underneath the edges is STILL bright red that implies the healing isn't going as it should, and I'm starting to get scared.

Any advice or comments would be appreciated. Thank you for reading.




Oh, I forgot to say in case it's relevant - a couple of weeks ago I got a prescription for tetracycline for my mild inflamed acne, and have been on it since. I haven't noticed any effects on the scab, but it's hard to say (I haven't noticed effects on my acne yet either). Initially, I was on the fence about going on antibiotics for my acne, but I thought it might be safest to stay on them at least until the scab has healed. Now that I've researched it and I'm starting to suspect staph, I'm not sure if my tetracycline would be of help though, as they're not the first choice of antibiotics used for a staph infection (however, I guess they might still help).

Hey there. I've been using Dianne Yvonne's 5% salicylic acid for about a week now to treat some closed comedones on my cheeks. I've been applying it every evening with a q-tip as a spot treatment, however on fairly wide areas. Before I've used Paula's Choice 2% BHA intermittently for a couple of weeks. My skin hasn't seemed too irritated by the acid, so I haven't washed it off, but let it stay on my skin over night.

The reason I started this topic is the effect the salicylic acid has had on my skin. It has become very dry, wrinkly, scaly and thick with a kind of orange-peel texture on those areas where I've applied SA. It looks quite horrendous, to be honest. If the skin would peel off soon, this wouldn't really be an issue, but right now the skin doesn't look like it would peel, and I'm not quite sure how to interpret this textural change. I'd like this orange-peel effect to go away quickly.

If anyone with experience on salicylic acid is reading this, could you please tell me if this has happened to you, too? Should I keep using SA as before and wait for the skin to peel off, or should I have a short break before continuing? Or have I made a mistake leaving the SA overnight, and I should wash it off after some time instead? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

This is quite close to the scarless healing thread that is going on, but  I can't be bothered to go through the whole gigantic thread and I haven't actually seen any practical tips in there. So therefore, I wanted to create this one.

I'd like this thread to be the place for advice on how to treat ongoing active acne, pimples and scabs in order to prevent or minimize scarring. What is your experience, what has worked and what hasn't? Cortisone shots, moisturizing, no topicals, leaving acne heal on its own, vitamin C, allowing/preventing scabbing, etc. Based on your experiences with acne and scarring, what is your plan of action when a pimple or scab has formed and you want to prevent scarring? In the same vein, advice on what not to do is also welcome.


Right now I have three healing spots/scabs that I'm scared may scar. In addition, I'm not sure what is the best way to treat them, and I think a thread like this would be helpful for anyone in the same situation as me. Please share your experiences and tips!


Here's my current dilemma:
----------------------
Potential scar number one was a fairly deep pimple that came to a head in a few days. I ever so gently pricked with a needle and tried to empty it, with very little results. I didn't want to damage it further, so I let it be, it scabbed and I've had the scab on for exactly two weeks. I'm hoping this wouldn't scar, but I can't be entirely sure until the scab falls off.

The second one resulted from me trying to extract a clogged pore on my cheek (yet again, me picking ). It didn't come out, so I didn't force it. The result seemed like a very tiny harmless red dot which would heal in a day or two, but on the next day I had a pimple underneath this red dot. Red dot became a dark brown scab and the surrounding skin thickened and hardened to a white surrounding scab, covering the pimple. The whitish scab looked only half-attached and underneath I could see the pimple being red and yellowish. I've left it be and it's been there for six days. It looks fairly bad to me scarring-wise. Then again, I haven't at any point disturbed the pimple, so I have no idea what to expect. I plan to keep the scab on for as long as possible, but I'm not sure whether I should moisturize it or not. I know moisturizing helps, but if there already is a scab, doesn't that just make the scab come off easier?

The third one is something I just created. I had a sort of half-arsed but persistent pimple that had in the last day or two finally come to a small head. The head looked like it was drying up - this is how I've been scarring recently, by letting whiteheads dry up and scab undisturbed and then fall off to leave a little hole in their place, so I panicked. I tried very gently pushing around the pimple if the whitehead would empty - and instead I got blood plurging from around it, which took me by surprise considering that I thought I was being fairly gentle. No skin came off. It kind of looks like there is an open little wound and the dried whitehead is lying on top of it. I'm not sure what is the best course of action now. I fear that if I leave the white-head be, it will prevent the wound from closing off level with the rest of the skin, but at the same time, I really don't want to cause any more trouble by doing anything stupid. So I'm not sure what to do. I've been cleaning it with alcohol now that it's still oozing a little, and I will probably put on some moisturizer and leave it be in a while.
----------------------------


If you have any advice on how I should treat my spots to minimize scarring (or the last two cases in particular), I'd be very very grateful. And please share your experiences and tips on scar prevention in general.

Hey everyone!
I've been reading this forum for a good few years, and I value your experiences and expertise very much. I'd really appreciate your advice on what I should do about my skin.

I have around 10-15 deeper ice picks or box cars on each cheek, and then around 30-40 very small, shallow ice picks that look almost like enlarged pores. The bigger deeper scars are the biggest issue for me, though I wouldn't mind improving my skin's overall texture either. On good days, I'm not too bothered about my scars and imagine that people hardly notice them, whereas on bad days I feel very self-conscious and unattractive because of them. I don't expect to get perfect skin, I only want my current scars to look softer and less noticeable so that I wouldn't have to obsess over them and wonder if people looking at my face in harsh lighting are only seeing my scars.

I've done TCA cross three times with modest results - I'm not sure if this means that I should give up and try something else, or just keep doing more and more tea cross until slowly, my scars would become shallower and better-looking. First couple of times I had a TCA peel on my whole face with cross on pitted scars, but this last time about a year ago I asked my doctor to only do Cross and leave the rest of my skin alone, and I feel it was much more effective that way. Still, the results haven't been impressive at all to my dismay. I hardly see any difference, although there might have been some - it's really hard to tell! Some of my scars do look a bit shallower, but they were so deep to begin with that it doesn't make a big difference over all. Perhaps they just need to be treated countless times before starting to even out and look better. I haven't taken proper pictures until now, so it's very hard to say if Cross has been effective or not.

Either way, I'm not happy with my results so far, and I feel like I should go for more treatments and get some improvement, before I can move on and accept my face as it is.

I've been considering these alternatives:
- more TCA cross (1-3 times)
- Deep FX (1-2 times, for a start)
- punch floats, punch excisions or subcisions
- needling and/or derma rolling on my own to improve general texture

If anyone here has tried these methods for treating my type of scarring, I'd love to hear your experiences and what you would recommend for me. One problem I have is that I live in Finland and I may find it hard get some of these treatments. I have a good doctor for TCA cross and feel very lucky to have found him, but with Deep FX and other methods, I'm not sure if I can find anyone experienced without traveling abroad (which I can't afford for a while). I know of one Finnish clinic that mentions Deep FX on their website, but that's about it. But if something else would seem more effective than Cross, I'd do my very best to find someone who's able to do it.

Here are pictures of my scarring. I tried to get as realistic pictures as possible, but I didn't really succeed with my right cheek and it looks better than it really is in my opinion. I have some make-up on, which may or may not affect how my scars look. I also have some active acne at the moment as you can see, but I expect it to heal soon and if not, I would take care of that before any treatments.

 IMG_1983.JPG   84.29K   117 downloads
 IMG_1998.JPG   88.91K   110 downloads


Please tell me what you think, and thank you in advance.