I finally ordered a couple Osmosis products. My husband is getting a lot of over time and my birthday is coming up so I asked him to buy them or me They are on the way, should be here in a few days. I talked to the founder of the company on Linkedin, told him my story, and he recommended I try Catalyst AC-11 and Clear. He said I should see 30-50% improvment and maybe even more after 3 months. I talked to a woman who had laser damage who said it helped her pitted scarring almost right away so there's got to be something to it. My scars are so shallow that it seems almost any improvement would just about level them out. I also have some discoloration and the Catalyst is supposed to help with that as well. I will let you guys know if it helps me. After having just about no progress these past 8 months I'll take any kind of improvement. Here's hoping.

I finally ordered a couple Osmosis products. My husband is getting a lot of over time and my birthday is coming up so I asked him to buy them or me They are on the way, should be here in a few days. I talked to the founder of the company on Linkedin, told him my story, and he recommended I try Catalyst AC-11 and Clear. He said I should see 30-50% improvment and maybe even more after 3 months. I talked to a woman who had laser damage who said it helped her pitted scarring almost right away so there's got to be something to it. My scars are so shallow that it seems almost any improvement would just about level them out. I also have some discoloration and the Catalyst is supposed to help with that as well. I will let you guys know if it helps me. After having just about no progress these past 8 months I'll take any kind of improvement. Here's hoping.

Let us know how that goes. I had looked into their products, but I feel a lot of the reviews on their website and Amazon are sketchy...many of them are exact duplicates, usernames sound very unreal, and there are hardly any bad reviews. Just doesn't seem balanced. Not to mention I heard some of their products stain orange.

 

I finally ordered a couple Osmosis products. My husband is getting a lot of over time and my birthday is coming up so I asked him to buy them or me They are on the way, should be here in a few days. I talked to the founder of the company on Linkedin, told him my story, and he recommended I try Catalyst AC-11 and Clear. He said I should see 30-50% improvment and maybe even more after 3 months. I talked to a woman who had laser damage who said it helped her pitted scarring almost right away so there's got to be something to it. My scars are so shallow that it seems almost any improvement would just about level them out. I also have some discoloration and the Catalyst is supposed to help with that as well. I will let you guys know if it helps me. After having just about no progress these past 8 months I'll take any kind of improvement. Here's hoping.

Let us know how that goes. I had looked into their products, but I feel a lot of the reviews on their website and Amazon are sketchy...many of them are exact duplicates, usernames sound very unreal, and there are hardly any bad reviews. Just doesn't seem balanced. Not to mention I heard some of their products stain orange.

yeah, turns out I hate it. The vit c I guess irritated my skin and made my face burn (still a slight burn, though getting better, even after not using it for a day) and it for sure makes your skin orange/brown when it's on. My skin looked irritaed and pores looked bigger while using it. Wouldn't recommend it, sending it back for a refund. Will just try needling eventually. Fml.

Hi.

I am very sorry for everyone going through this. It is very stressing and heartbreaking. I am 31 and like a month ago, I started noticing small dent scars forming on my face! I first ignored it, but when it happened more, I started searching on internet, and visiting numerous doctors where I live. The first doctor said it has got to be AMVC. I already searched on internet and never thought that this might be the diagnosis as AMVC seemed harsh. Then another one made me have a biopsy of one of the scars which came out to be "Anetoderma", which is actually the same as AMVC. PERFECT!

I had (have) absolutely flawless skin. It is my best feature, and I started taking very good care of it once I turned 18, so this happening to me wasn't fair. I always moisture, used sun block and did facial exercise every single day. My skin looks firm and great. So when the scarring happened, I felt like my whole life fell apart. I can't describe the stress I was going through, so I really do understand every one posting about their feeling here. My heart goes out to all of you.

But my scarring has stopped a month ago, and I have like 5 very small dent scars, luckily close to where the hair grows, so it's really not obvious. Actually every person I tried to explain never took me seriously. But this forum was the one I found a month ago, and I read it twice. Followed every step, did my research and it has now stopped. I become stressed once in a while that it might come back, but stress do more harm than good. so I wanna share my experience with you guys, and hopefully you get something out of it, although everything I'm going to say has already been discussed.. in a much better way.

I have had three of these small scars for about years. Two around my chin, and one on my chest. I remember that there was a big acne on my chest which I popped, and kept popping for the next few days, and when it was gone, it left a scar. The two on my chin, I have no idea how it happened, and they didn't seem to bother me.

Before I see the new scars coming, I changed my regime and workout dramatically, so I really have no idea what exactly triggered it, but this is the changes before the scarring:

1. I took swimming classes and started using public pool like twice a week. Although I've worked out regularly, the swimming seemed to be very intense and shaped my muscles in no time. I could feel the heat in my face, head and around my ears after every round of swimming (acute inflammation). Swimming is intense, and the big public pool (perfect for longer swimming) wasn't very clean either.

2. I found kombucha mushroom, and started fermenting it myself and drinking a small amount every morning.

3. I started having painful acne on my head where the hair grows, and started using ketokonazol shampoo religiously (although some of the scars happened before I started using the shampoo).

4. I started weight training for bigger booty before my swimming sessions which left my whole thighs and legs acing for the next week (never did this before in my whole life).

5. I used steamed sauna after every swimming session followed by harsh exfoliating (although some of the scars happened before I started exfoliating, but the harsh exfoliation seemed to accelerate the scarring).

6. I ate a whole egg and lots of protein every day for bigger thighs after every workout session.

7. I got back to milk and cereal after like 4 years (I used to be a cereal monster but tried to quit), and were consuming huge amount of low fat milk right before scarring (allergy and inflammation).

the swimming and public pool, weight training, eating an egg every single day, kombucha and harsh exfoliating were all new in my life, but I stopped them all and instantly. I started taking a calcium supplement, borage oil in the morning, anti histamine at noon, and one capsule of EPO at night. I stopped working out for now, and never take hot shower. I have cooled down my home temperature and avoid heat as much as possible. Also, I am soaking 10-12 almonds in the water for like 12 hours, peel the skin and grind it in water and drink every morning before breakfast and at night before I go to bed. Moreover, I started using Wheat germ oil for my skin. I also adds a capsule of vitamin E to the oil before applying to my face skin once in a while. The overall texture of my skin has improved a lot, and scarring has stopped.

The result of my scar biopsy has mentioned something about chronic inflammation. I've read that egg, milk, exfoliation and heavy workout can initiate inflammation (although workout can improve the chronic inflammation in a long run, it does cause acute inflammation). And that calcium +Vit D, almond and anti-histamine reduce inflammation. I've read that kombucha has anti-inflammatory features, but can't risk taking it at the moment. I really think that it has all being due to internal inflammation which causes autoimmune problems in the body, and an anti-inflammatory regime must be followed.

I am planning on going back to my regular workout (will never use public pool for swimming again!), and see what will happen.

Good luck to all of you. Hugs!!

Feeling depressed and hopeless today over this whole thing. I look like shit. My skin just keeps going downhill, when does it end?

Sigh, exfoliating (10% AHA) is what caused my scarring. Recently used vitamin c serum and it made it worse I think personally my best bet is to not put anything on my face for a long time.

I noticed today that I had some sunken scars and indentations in places where I've never had acne. I think for me, the likely culprit is a glycolic acid facia scrub, which I bought a few weeks ago. It's only 2% glycolic acid so I thought it would be be safe. I've not even used it that often, but I have left it on quite a while before washing it off, which may have been a foolish thing to do. Interestingly, it's only on one side of my face (for now, touch wood), but it's in my shaving area, which leads me to wonder whether the glycolic acid was able to seep down into my pores more easily, as I used the scrub a few times after shaving.

I've read the whole thread and there are a few other things that chime with me:

1) I have been eating a lot of leafy green vegetables this summer - more so than normal - so there's potentially that vitamin A overload issue that was mentioned above

2) i also took cod liver oil capsules for the first time in many years. I didn't take them religously - not everyday, and for less than a month, but it is something that I've done differently, that another person mentioned could be the culprit.

3) I've also noticed that the area affected was very dry and dead skin was flaking off after I'd dried my face. I used my moisturiser but it still looked a bit scaly - more so than usual.

I won't be using the facial scrub again, and I stopped taking the cod liver oil capsules a while ago anyway. I'm inclined to go along with the idea of inflammation, be that through topicals, medication and/or systemic, whereby the regular processes that take place below the suface of the skin have been disrupted/damaged and not able able to renew themselves in the usual way.

I'm really crossing my fingers they don't get any worse. I'm trying to be positive and notice that some (not all) of the people who have posted here no longer seem to be around, so I'm hopeful that that means the condition resolved itself.

Sorry I ended up not getting back with my test results, but the crazy expensive Lyme literate doctor I went to ruled out all tick-born illnesses but from the massive bunch of blood work she had done on me, I basically have a ton of antibodies in my system, have higher than average levels of candida, and have an unknown infection going on detected by ELISA (EBV-VCA and EBV-EBNA). I was prescribe a random medicine to try killing the candida but other than that, I have no idea where to go from here. The doctor says all my twitching and tremors are being caused by these viruses and that these also may have been the cause for my random scarring.

I can't go back to this naturopath though because she charges ridiculous amounts for anything and everything. Anyone have any idea where I should turn to next? I really want to find the root cause of these antibodies and get on a well guided path to healing.

See an actual physician.

Still have my lovely scars, no improvement that I can tell, plus I am breaking out now. My skin is just awesome. Really. Don't know what to do about breakouts as I can't use shit on my face (allergic to bp, allergic to things with sulfur, acids even at low concentrations apparently destroy my skin and give me random scars.) What's a girl with zits and highly reactive, sensitive skin to do??? FML.

At least I am not getting new scars, but I am not using any products except CeraVe hydrating wash now and then, so can't really cause more damage that way I suppose.

Still want to try a dermastamp, but not while I'm a pizza face. So fucking sick and tired of dealing with shitty skin, and being afraid of making it worse. I need a face transplant. Sorry, just ranting. Feeling extremely frustrated lately.

See an actual physician.

I've been to just about any doctor you can tie in to my symptoms (neuros, derms, general doctor, internal doctor, hematologists, endocrinologists, psychiatrists, herbal doctors, naturopaths). I've spent so much money and time to no real results.

Does anyone suggest going to an immunologist? Will they be able to make judgements based off the ELISA test I had done by the lyme literate doctor?

Still have my lovely scars, no improvement that I can tell, plus I am breaking out now. My skin is just awesome. Really. Don't know what to do about breakouts as I can't use shit on my face (allergic to bp, allergic to things with sulfur, acids even at low concentrations apparently destroy my skin and give me random scars.) What's a girl with zits and highly reactive, sensitive skin to do??? FML.

 

At least I am not getting new scars, but I am not using any products except CeraVe hydrating wash now and then, so can't really cause more damage that way I suppose.

 

Still want to try a dermastamp, but not while I'm a pizza face. So fucking sick and tired of dealing with shitty skin, and being afraid of making it worse. I need a face transplant. Sorry, just ranting. Feeling extremely frustrated lately.

I feel for you, because I have this condition myself (the spontaneous scarring). I haven't posted here before, because I I haven't found anything that helps, but if I do, i will post here straight away. I do believe that avoiding flushing, exposure to heat or stress, etc. slows down the progression though. I strongly recommend a low dose accutane course for your acne.

 

Still have my lovely scars, no improvement that I can tell, plus I am breaking out now. My skin is just awesome. Really. Don't know what to do about breakouts as I can't use shit on my face (allergic to bp, allergic to things with sulfur, acids even at low concentrations apparently destroy my skin and give me random scars.) What's a girl with zits and highly reactive, sensitive skin to do??? FML.

 

At least I am not getting new scars, but I am not using any products except CeraVe hydrating wash now and then, so can't really cause more damage that way I suppose.

 

Still want to try a dermastamp, but not while I'm a pizza face. So fucking sick and tired of dealing with shitty skin, and being afraid of making it worse. I need a face transplant. Sorry, just ranting. Feeling extremely frustrated lately.

 

I feel for you, because I have this condition myself (the spontaneous scarring). I haven't posted here before, because I I haven't found anything that helps, but if I do, i will post here straight away. I do believe that avoiding flushing, exposure to heat or stress, etc. slows down the progression though. I strongly recommend a low dose accutane course for your acne.

thanks for replying...I was actually just considering this last night, thinking about asking for maybe 10mg/day accutane but I am so scared as I have even heard that accutane can cause spontaneous scars (as well as other permanent side effects). Also not sure if my derm would give me this since my acne isn't severe at all. If it gets to where it is out of control I might just ask, though. Acne would be so much easier to deal with without the scars and crap on top of it all. I always hated when I broke out, but nothing brought me down into this awful depression like getting random scars on my face. So sorry you are dealing with this as well, it really is horrible. Have you had it for a while? For me it has been just over 9 months since I got my first scars. As long as I use no harsh products it doesn't seem to get much worse, but it isn't getting better either, I still look like crap. For me it all started when I used 10% glycolic acid. I guess that, with all the harsh products I used over the years previous to that, maybe my skin had enough. I wasn't always allergic to sulfur or bp, and used them daily, on and off since I was 14 (27 now) then I stopped bp for a while, and when I started using it again it made my face swell up, turn red and itchy. Same with sulfur. I regret using all that crap on my face over the years. I hope my skin can recover.

We have many things in common. Whatever I put on my face irritates it right now, when some months ago (before the spontaneous scarring) did not. In fact, the oilier the product, the harsher is for me. I have examined many theories about what this is and how could be treated, but I have no conclusion yet. Right now I myself take accutane 40mg/d (I started it for my latest acne breakout which happened during this condition). It doesn't help with the scarring, but doesn't harm either. I suggest it to you, acne gives nasty scars too, at least for me...

I really wanted this to be an autoimmune disorder, but the 2 oral prednisolone courses I had had no effect.

often face washes with cold or cool water, with or without soap help me

Anything new guys? It seems to me that existing medical knowledge is poor. Any new personal experience? Anything, really! Even slight information could be helpful...

Hi,

this is my story about random scarring experiences I have had in the past.

i am 24 now and have been battling acne issues since 14.

at 16, with my acne being rather clear, I used a disposable razor for the first time. There was no cut on my face or irritation, no pain on the skin...but as soon as I shaved a long dent appeared on my cheek out of no where...at the time I didn't really think about it and I suppose as time went on I ignored it...I have never used a razor since then

at 20, again my skin rather clear, I used a dermaroller and a resurfacing cream, I used this as instructed, as soon as I used it numerous non acne shaped dents appeared all over my cheeks in placed where I had perfectly normal skin!!

At this point I realised that my skin was not normal...still I justwent to the doctors and just assumed it was normal acne scarring, even though I know it was obsurd it happened in the way it did. I was given isotrxin gel, and over the space of 6 months the dents filled in and my skin looked normal, although I was always left with a few for life...I'm not sure if it was the isotrxin or just time that made my skin better...

I thought my nightmare was over then, as that experience was Alful to me and I contemplated suicide...

Fast forward to 2015...my skin this year has been the clearest it has been ever, the main thing I've always struggled with is the red marks, my skin is always susceptible to them and they take ages to go...

my skin was starting to get oily again, so I decided to go to dermalogica to get my face mapped to get the normal skin I've always wanted...they gave me mild cleaner, toner and moisturiser, all worked lovely...but they also gave me a scrub Exfoliator which was specifically for men and shaving...I didn't think much in the case of worrying about the Exfoliator because I have shaved for years using st Ives

after using the new Exfoliator over a space of a month, it had again put pitted dents in my face out of no where, my skin was healthy and normal...the thing I noticed about this efoliator was that the beads were a lot smaller than the st Ives one...somehow it has caused again dents in my skin where there were no signs of acne...I then went to a clinic and they gave me retinol, which made more appear!! Then I went back to the doctor and got Isotrex again, more appeared!!! It has driven me nuts!!

i am now only washing and moisturising gently and it appears to have stopped, but the damage is done, and the difference from not using the Exfoliator compared to using it and all the retinol and Isotrex is astonishing...

I have scars all over my face, in places that were perfectly healthy, scars that don't even resemble acne, linear scars, crescent shaped scars, all sorts!!

it was this point I had to realise that my skin had a serious defect, I maybe tried to pretend previously that it was normal...

over the past month I have only just discovered amvc, and after reading everyone's experiences about this, I do believe I have some sort of this...it is so terrifying, as things I have used that are supposed to help and smooth your skin have made it all worse.

im terrified that if I go for acne scar procedures that it could just get worse!!

Just thought I'd tell my story, because I do not know where to turn for help.

if anyone has had experience of this and maybe used anything that made the scars improve/go away, I'd love to know, appreciate it.

I feel your pain. Mysituation is perhaps not as bad as yours but I too have numerous random scars on my face, some look like acne scars and some don't. I know for a fact that at least some of them appeared in the absence of any acne lesions or skin damage, literally overnight. I know this because eversince I developed acne scarring I monitormy skin closely everyday.

I won't lie, it is devastating when I see a new scar but what can I do? I have seen a dermatologist and he said he couldn't help. I am trying to accept my skin as it is. The one consolation is that the random scars tend to be shallower and less obvious than the acne scars.

Also, I had a large acne pit excised recently as a sort of experiment to see how well my skin coped with an excision, the idea being that if it healed well I would have more scars excised . The wound has healed well but the texture of theskin on one side of the excision scar has changed and a couple of small ice pick scars developed around the stitches during healing. I think some people just have problem skin that is prone to this sort of thing.

Most of my problems occur in and around areas where Ihave acne scars, i.e. my cheeks, so I wonder if maybe there is underlyingdamage from prior breakouts that is worsening and only becomingapparent now as I age (I am in my 40's).My cheeks are a mess, but you know, things could be a lot worse.

Hi,

appreciate your story...as far as I am aware I have never just had a scar appear from nowhere, it's always been when I've used specific things on my skin,shaving, Exfoliator, dermaroller...is it possible that I don't have this disorder and I have a underlying defect within my skin?

i have heard that people have had tests done to see if they are deficient in certain things or have a immune condition. I hope on getting tests done to try and get some answers, even though I know I might never get them...

do you find your marks improve with time? As they are shallow, do you think chemical peels/microdermabrasion would improve them? Although I know it's possible that it could make things worse.

one thing that confuses me is that when I was 20, before my scars appeared again, I successfully underwent peels and microdermabrasion, and my skin looked great, yet something like an Exfoliator which you would think would be gentler causes damage...

haveyou tried any natural treatments??

I have the same problem as you guys. I went to a dermatologist and he didn't recognise my amvc scars, he thought they are just acne scars (I had severe ones before this new condition), along with rosacea, which is new for me too. After my being persistent, he did mention sarcoidosis, in which you need a skin biopsy to confirm. At that time I didn't want a new scar so I didn't have it. But I searched on the internet about cutaneous sarcoidosis and I found there is a type called scar sarcoidosis. This is possibly my condition. Google it! I also have to say that not all of my scars appear spontaneously. Some of my new scars appear after some sort of a very little red bump with a prickling sensation, which is of courseclearly not acne...

Hi georgas,

i googled that condition, I don't think I have it, I don't have any redness or irritation...my skin before this happened was so good and healthy, in the space of a month it is awful and I honestly contemplate suicide because every second of every day is consumed by my obsession with this. If I had something in place that I could just be comfortable with that it would get better then I could be at ease...I just need to find answers....

are natural remedies really a waste of money??

ive also started counselling and will be joining a body dysmorphia support group, as I have always had an obsession with my skin

The thing that is so awful about this, is the fact that I have no hope. A person who received their scars from actual acne causes can be hopeful about using acne scar procedures, but when you get the scars the way we do, it's terrifying trying them same procedures because it's like our skin is so weak and will get worse.

is there no hope

I am a medical student and I don't belive in ANY natural remedy. Don't loose hope, I deal with this disease with confidenceand I bet my skin is way worse than yours. Where are you from? Do you have access to medication by yourself?

btw I am not the person on the profile photo...

I'm still coming to terms with how my face looks...2 months ago in my eyes it was nearing perfect, and now it's the worse it's ever been, my life has changed completely, I was so happy now everything has gone, my girl, my job...I know people may think that extreme but I can't help it, it destroys me...I wish I was stronger, I wish I didn't care, but I do...

im 24 from London...I have an appointment with a dermatologist hopefully in the next couple of months, where I will bring up these issues...

are there medications that could help??

where are you from pal?

Some people may say it looks mild in comparison to others and that I'm bitching, but to me it's huge and kills me when I see it...bare in mind I had basically nothing there a month ago and got it from just using a face wash, not acne, it's a complete mind f**k

From greece mate. You need some serious self-improvement my friend. Don't join that group you mentioned.Your appearance is perfectly fine. Listen to me. You DO have something that affects your skin, but the overall damage is not worth the suffering you describe. Most people have some health issue that bothers us, yours is a MILD one. This condition can't be the excuse for a poor living.

I wouldadviseyou for a course of corticosteroids in order to minimize possible existing inflammation, but now I don't think you need it. Final advise: Touch your face as little as you can (I mean no scrubbing, minimal moisturizing, not excessive washing) and please don't consider any further "scar" treatment.

Good luck