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leontx, im curious to see how your progessing so far after your 1st treatment. did your swelling go down? what kind of improvements do you see?
Enoch,
I'd say my swelling & bruise have gone down about 80%. Earlier this week, it WAS bad! I felt very embarrassed when I went to work. Some quite obvious purplish/bluish/reddish spots all over my cheeks. It's getting much better now. I still have a few dark/red spots as well as some small bumps. They look just like a few fading breakouts. Unless you study my face closely, I don't think you would be able to tell I had something done. Based on the information I got from this forum, it may take a few more days for my face to heal 100%. Please keep in mind, everybody is different. Some people bruise easier than others.
As far as my improvements go, it's still too early to say. My scars definitely look better. But that's probably due to the remaining 20% of swelling. If the treatment works, the depressions will mostly be filled in with my own collagen, not the silicone. Normally, people don't start to see the real result until 3rd week or even later. That's when your collagen start to build up around the silicone droplets. I will definitely keep you guys updated.
I need some help.
Today i had restylane injections done. It has been only 8 hrs now since the injections and i am not that happy with the results. It seems that there are a lot of spots on my face that have been overcorrected with the restylane. There are about 3-4 lumps on each cheek of overcorrection. Is this normal? Are the lumps just there because of the swelling?
I must say the results dont look too good. These overcorrected lumps make me look bad under overhead lighting. I am afraid now to get Artecoll injections because of the fear of overcorrection. Shit, it just wasnt what i hoped for.
i think i figured something out. I'm not happy with the results because of the lumps left over, but i think the lumps are only there because my derm was only using a temporary filler and he was able to go "all out" on injecting the scars. And when the Artecoll is gonna be injected, he will inject it in more gradual increments during the several follow-up treatments, instead of going all out on it like he did with the restylane. I'm hoping that this is the case.
Does anyone have any simlar experiences like this?
I hated my restyaline, but it does start out looking like that and then gets better. I maybe had one day where some of my scars looked better and then the next day it just like disappeared. So don't worry if you are like me it will be completely gone within two weeks. I think the girl who injected me was not the most skilled, but some people just respond better than others. If you really want to get rid of it fast just massage it alot. Massage it to the location you want it and it will actually move it some if it was put a little outside the scar. Massaging will also make it break down faster. You might still like a permanent filler, silicone is put in totally different so you could consider that.
Hmmm very interesting thread. Thanks Drewboy for sharing your experience.
From looking at your before pictures, I myself, like everyone else here don't think your scarring is bad at all. I would kill for your skin 
I think this is why you are responding so well. I myself have scarring more like what is on Dr Lams site.
I've done Fraxel but it's been a while and am thinking of doing another round if I can get my doctor to work a deal with me on price. After that I might consider doing the silicone but I am very very leary of using anything silicone in my body. I know it's not putting large amounts into your system and it's a 'different' kind of silicon but it is still silicon.
I'm thinking of doing Restyln on my smile line area, which are actually scars that have migrated together to make double smile lines...ugggg those bother me so much I hate smiling.
Drewboy, I live in Houston so going to Dallas wouldn't be that big of a deal for me and I'm getting a new car next month so I might just have to take a long drive. I might shoot the doctor an email with a picture to see what he has to say. I've been on this journey for so long (and tried to many things) it can't hurt to get one more opinion.
Hope you had fun at the Astro's game. My mom was all excited, I'm not so much into baseball but I do wish I could have taken my mom to the game had I known about it sooner.
wanted to add Dr Lam has a message board where he answer's questions. Someone might want to ask about having laser treatments after doing silicon.
Naitch, hey bud..I think Ive answered this very question for you about 5 x's now. On a side note, please keep the negative comments on the DL. I will have pics up soon, I re-scheduled my appointment 2 weeks from now.
I apologizing for not updating or replying back to everyone, I just got back from Utah and I didnt have internet access. I promise I will reply back later today. Im also interested in hearing about your progress leon. Please chime in with any updates.
Hey, welcome back! I'm sure you missed the HOT summer here...
Today is the 10th day after my treatment. Swelling is 95% gone. A few fading red spots here and there. Give it a few more days, they will disappear for sure.
Most of my scars have gone back to where they were. A couple of them have noticeable improvement though. One is on my temple. It used to be a deep line kind. Now the line is shallower and narrower. The other is on one side of my cheeks. It was a half penny size depression with no clear border. Now it appears to be filled up quite a bit. Again, considering how silicone micro-droplet works, these 'immediate improvements' could be gone in a few days too. I'm just crossing my fingers hoping the real results will start to show up in a couple of weeks, which happened to a number of members here who had this treatment.
Naitch, hey bud..I think Ive answered this very question for you about 5 x's now. On a side note, please keep the negative comments on the DL. I will have pics up soon, I re-scheduled my appointment 2 weeks from now.
I apologizing for not updating or replying back to everyone, I just got back from Utah and I didnt have internet access. I promise I will reply back later today. Im also interested in hearing about your progress leon. Please chime in with any updates.
I will give a quick update on my progress. It is about 6 weeks from my 3rd treatment with Dr. Alkek. For the first 2-3 weeks things looked great and I was really excited. But...at about the 4 week mark there was little improvement. I hoped I would get better improvement as the collagen started building up, but I do not see any. There *may* be *some* improvement after 3 treatments, but if there is...its not that noticeable.
Don't know what to say. Was going great and then back to square one. I may give it a shot with Dr. Lam, but overall I am disappointed. I think 3 treatments is fair to see if I am going to respond or not.
Hey Rob, the Restylane will settle down and eventually dissipate entirely, don't worry. But are you planning on having Artecoll injected in your scars? I was just on Dr. Lam's site (just found his message board) and he makes a very good case for NOT using Artecoll. I just wanted to give you a head's up.
I've had my first round of Silikon 1000 for that kenalog ditch below my cheekbone. It was done almost a week ago but I swear, I can see some filling in already. I'll probably need a few rounds, since the atrophy was pretty bad. Fat loss was the last thing I needed because I'm already very thin. I hated walking around looking like a concentration camp victim...on one side 
I need some help.
Today i had restylane injections done. It has been only 8 hrs now since the injections and i am not that happy with the results. It seems that there are a lot of spots on my face that have been overcorrected with the restylane. There are about 3-4 lumps on each cheek of overcorrection. Is this normal? Are the lumps just there because of the swelling?
I must say the results dont look too good. These overcorrected lumps make me look bad under overhead lighting. I am afraid now to get Artecoll injections because of the fear of overcorrection. Shit, it just wasnt what i hoped for.
I will give a quick update on my progress. It is about 6 weeks from my 3rd treatment with Dr. Alkek. For the first 2-3 weeks things looked great and I was really excited. But...at about the 4 week mark there was little improvement. I hoped I would get better improvement as the collagen started building up, but I do not see any. There *may* be *some* improvement after 3 treatments, but if there is...its not that noticeable.
Don't know what to say. Was going great and then back to square one. I may give it a shot with Dr. Lam, but overall I am disappointed. I think 3 treatments is fair to see if I am going to respond or not.
Bama2000,
Do you mean you saw good improvement for the first 2-3 weeks, then it's gone on the 4th week? How long did your swelling last? What kind of scarring do you have?
I'm sorry that hear that you are disappointed at the results. Maybe it's not a bad idea to pay a visit to Dr. Lam or just ask him on his forum why you didn't respond well.
I believe it must have been swelling or extra silicone that was possibly absorbed by the body? I don't know really, but what I do know if that for the first few weeks it was great. Then by the 4th week...the good results started to go away.
Personally, I would encourage everyone to wait at least 6 weeks before they comment to strongly on their results. I was very tempted at the 3 week mark to state what great progress I had..but glad that I held off.
I believe it must have been swelling or extra silicone that was possibly absorbed by the body? I don't know really, but what I do know if that for the first few weeks it was great. Then by the 4th week...the good results started to go away.
Personally, I would encourage everyone to wait at least 6 weeks before they comment to strongly on their results. I was very tempted at the 3 week mark to state what great progress I had..but glad that I held off.
Your experience was like mine with Dr. Alkek except I only went in for two treatments. I was excited and hopeful for awhile too and thought surely in time the collagen would kick in but it never did. I even wonder if some of the silicone wasn't reabsorbed by the body too, like you wonder. I know some people have stressed in the past that it takes many many treatments, but I wasn't willing to pay for a third when I couldn't really detect more than a bit of change at most. My scars are practically invisible when I stretch the skin around them too, so I thought it would have worked.
This thread is bullshit, what's the point of creating all this hype without after pictures? So dumb.
Pls be patient,pictures would be great but sharing info here is also very useful.
Has any of you read the Dermal grafting threads.I wonder why not more ppl opt for the procedure.It's using your own skin instead of foreign objects injected into your face which is irreversible .The people who had dermal grafting done reported 90+% improvement!!!!!
Hey Rob, the Restylane will settle down and eventually dissipate entirely, don't worry. But are you planning on having Artecoll injected in your scars? I was just on Dr. Lam's site (just found his message board) and he makes a very good case for NOT using Artecoll. I just wanted to give you a head's up.
I've had my first round of Silikon 1000 for that kenalog ditch below my cheekbone. It was done almost a week ago but I swear, I can see some filling in already. I'll probably need a few rounds, since the atrophy was pretty bad. Fat loss was the last thing I needed because I'm already very thin. I hated walking around looking like a concentration camp victim...on one side
I've seen that video and i really dont see any difference between artecoll and silikon. Dr. Lam pretty much just explains that he doesnt use artecoll because of the possible health risks because of the use of animal products. I say whoopdee doo, there's health risks invovled in silikon too. If he had said he doesnt use artecoll because silikon performs better then i would consider silikon more seriously. But his reasons arent good enough to change my decision.
I think if i had a choice between the two (artecoll or silikon) i would probably chose silikon. But the problem here is that i live in canada (where we use artecoll) and as far as i know there is no one who uses silikon in canada, and i cant spend the money to travel to the U.S to get them done. The only way i would chose silikon is if it performs MUCH better than Artecoll. As far as i know, performance wise, they are pretty close.
From my understanding, microdroplet silicone or 'LIS" allows for more accuracy as compared to Artecoll, Sculptra, Bio-Alcamid, etc.. The latter fillers are utilized for large area tissue loss whereas silicon can be applied to individual "small" scars with greater precision. I'm a fan of neither as I've had 4 "double-dose" silicon injections by Dr. David Orentreich in NYC with no notable results. Nonetheless, I'll give it another go in the near future.
Hey Rob, the Restylane will settle down and eventually dissipate entirely, don't worry. But are you planning on having Artecoll injected in your scars? I was just on Dr. Lam's site (just found his message board) and he makes a very good case for NOT using Artecoll. I just wanted to give you a head's up.
I've had my first round of Silikon 1000 for that kenalog ditch below my cheekbone. It was done almost a week ago but I swear, I can see some filling in already. I'll probably need a few rounds, since the atrophy was pretty bad. Fat loss was the last thing I needed because I'm already very thin. I hated walking around looking like a concentration camp victim...on one side
I've seen that video and i really dont see any difference between artecoll and silikon. Dr. Lam pretty much just explains that he doesnt use artecoll because of the possible health risks because of the use of animal products. I say whoopdee doo, there's health risks invovled in silikon too. If he had said he doesnt use artecoll because silikon performs better then i would consider silikon more seriously. But his reasons arent good enough to change my decision.
I think if i had a choice between the two (artecoll or silikon) i would probably chose silikon. But the problem here is that i live in canada (where we use artecoll) and as far as i know there is no one who uses silikon in canada, and i cant spend the money to travel to the U.S to get them done. The only way i would chose silikon is if it performs MUCH better than Artecoll. As far as i know, performance wise, they are pretty close.
I have had both silicone and artecoll (predecessor to artefill). I noticed decent results with artecoll, but pretty much nothing with silicone.
But this does not mean anything about either treatment, just my personal observation. Due to the difference in doctors, the time I had it, whether or not I have "topped out", etc are all big factors so I really cannot say. Personally, if I was close to a doc that did artefill I would give it a try over flying across the country to do silicone. But hey, thats just me.
Ok, I didn't know that the reason why Dr. Lam was anti Artecoll because of the animal derivative thing- I thought it had to do with the performance of the substance itself vs. silikon. I would be very interested to hear how Artecoll works for you- I hope you get great results!
You know what's weird? So many women on that lip augmentation board I used to visit sang the praises of silikon....but there were a couple I remember who seemed resistant to treatment. I found it so odd, because the vast majority of women were getting results after each round like clockwork. Perhaps some people really don't respond at all. I don't know. All I know is that I've seen the results, when it does work, first hand. I also highly doubt that Dr. Lam would continue to use silikon year after year in his practice without seeing good results. To the dude who's coming in here and knocking it, what works for one person may not work for another. Just like everything else. I will continue to cheer for those who are trying something and seeing results, whether that be silikon, artecoll, saline, whatever.
i called to make a consultation appt but they told me to just send in pix, cuz it's so far away. but i keep breakin out, so i'm waiting to recover before i send in pix. otherwise they'll just look at my pimplez and not the scarz.
in the mean time, i'm confused about that stretch test. i have big ass deep scarz in similar areas that drewboy has them (chin). they're fuggin huge and nasty and it looks like i got hit in the face w/ shrapnel. but if i pucker my lips (like a kiss), they don't look like they're there. does that mean it passes the stretch test? cuz these bastardz are huge and they're deep.
thats what happens when i have free time to spend. i just end up worrying about thingz
i called to make a consultation appt but they told me to just send in pix, cuz it's so far away. but i keep breakin out, so i'm waiting to recover before i send in pix. otherwise they'll just look at my pimplez and not the scarz.in the mean time, i'm confused about that stretch test. i have big ass deep scarz in similar areas that drewboy has them (chin). they're fuggin huge and nasty and it looks like i got hit in the face w/ shrapnel. but if i pucker my lips (like a kiss), they don't look like they're there. does that mean it passes the stretch test? cuz these bastardz are huge and they're deep.
thats what happens when i have free time to spend. i just end up worrying about thingz
I don't think anyone honestly can tell you if it will work, you will just have to try and see. I'm sure the doctor will try it on you. I honestly think this does work for some but it would be interesting to see how high the percentage is on this thread after more and more try it. The only downside would be if one gets a lot of silicone inserted and then something like acell comes out for scarless healing, and the silicone in the skin won't work well with it. You can't ever get rid of the silicone once it's in.
i called to make a consultation appt but they told me to just send in pix, cuz it's so far away. but i keep breakin out, so i'm waiting to recover before i send in pix. otherwise they'll just look at my pimplez and not the scarz.in the mean time, i'm confused about that stretch test. i have big ass deep scarz in similar areas that drewboy has them (chin). they're fuggin huge and nasty and it looks like i got hit in the face w/ shrapnel. but if i pucker my lips (like a kiss), they don't look like they're there. does that mean it passes the stretch test? cuz these bastardz are huge and they're deep.
thats what happens when i have free time to spend. i just end up worrying about thingz
I don't think anyone honestly can tell you if it will work, you will just have to try and see. I'm sure the doctor will try it on you. I honestly think this does work for some but it would be interesting to see how high the percentage is on this thread after more and more try it. The only downside would be if one gets a lot of silicone inserted and then something like acell comes out for scarless healing, and the silicone in the skin won't work well with it. You can't ever get rid of the silicone once it's in.
Do u have any idea when acell will be available?
i called to make a consultation appt but they told me to just send in pix, cuz it's so far away. but i keep breakin out, so i'm waiting to recover before i send in pix. otherwise they'll just look at my pimplez and not the scarz.in the mean time, i'm confused about that stretch test. i have big ass deep scarz in similar areas that drewboy has them (chin). they're fuggin huge and nasty and it looks like i got hit in the face w/ shrapnel. but if i pucker my lips (like a kiss), they don't look like they're there. does that mean it passes the stretch test? cuz these bastardz are huge and they're deep.
thats what happens when i have free time to spend. i just end up worrying about thingz
I don't think anyone honestly can tell you if it will work, you will just have to try and see. I'm sure the doctor will try it on you. I honestly think this does work for some but it would be interesting to see how high the percentage is on this thread after more and more try it. The only downside would be if one gets a lot of silicone inserted and then something like acell comes out for scarless healing, and the silicone in the skin won't work well with it. You can't ever get rid of the silicone once it's in.
Do u have any idea when acell will be available?
If you read the scarless healing thread, changelife found a post in another forum who called acell and they said July you could get some with a prescription from a doctor. I wouldn't want to be the first to try it, but I want to see how others do with it first. It may or may not be the answer for scars.
i called to make a consultation appt but they told me to just send in pix, cuz it's so far away. but i keep breakin out, so i'm waiting to recover before i send in pix. otherwise they'll just look at my pimplez and not the scarz.in the mean time, i'm confused about that stretch test. i have big ass deep scarz in similar areas that drewboy has them (chin). they're fuggin huge and nasty and it looks like i got hit in the face w/ shrapnel. but if i pucker my lips (like a kiss), they don't look like they're there. does that mean it passes the stretch test? cuz these bastardz are huge and they're deep.
thats what happens when i have free time to spend. i just end up worrying about thingz
i never put much emphasis on the stretch test. some scars that i have that responded well to the stretch test are still visible, and other scars that I never thought would go anywhere have faded dramatically since the silicone injections. It seems like silicone will work for you or it wont have much effect. I know for me, dan and a few others silicone has done wonders, for others not so much. Im anxiously awaiting to see LeonTx results and see if an aggressive, competent doctor like Dr. Lam will make a huge difference. Im keeping my fingers crossed betting it will 
🙂