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One thing that I thought I would mention briefly is that I am truly saddened that members feel the need to utilize a thread I created in order to bemoan the condition of their acne to the extent that they feel it necessary to mention self-harm or suicide. I began this thread in order to discuss methods for alleviating and reducing the appearance of acne scars. Yes, my initial post on this thread does talk about how acne affected my self-esteem and did cause depression for me. I think that scarring, acne and a negative self-image often go hand-in-hand, but I do feel that it is unproductive to write about wanting to kill oneself on an acne scar forum.
I think Like Moonlight did a great job of addressing this issue already. As a moderator on Acne.org, it's her job to do so, and I see she dispensed some great advice to reid smith that I would in no way be able to improve upon.
It is impossible for me to edit or moderate what others write on this thread, but I thought that I would take the opportunity to implore those who read it, and those who contribute to it to please seek the counsel of a professional or loved one if you are having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harm. My intent in creating this thread was purely to obtain advice about my own acne scarring and learn about different methods to reduce the appearance of it and connect with others who have dealt with similar issues to mine.
Nobody understands feeling down about acne like I do, and I strongly sympathize with those who do experience depression and sadness as a result of it. Nonetheless, threads like these (in which almost no one participating in them is licensed in therapy or counseling) are not the proper place to discuss hurting oneself or ending one's life.
Year and a Half Scarring Update:
As I've mentioned previously in this thread, I decided to take the very medicine that I have spent the last 5 years trying to avoid taking; Accutane. As of today, I have been on it for 3 weeks. (Thus the very dry, chapped lips in the photos. I know it's ugly. I'm sorry. No amount of medicated chap stick is helping. And yes, that is medication on the brand new cysts I've gotten as a result of being on Accutane. There is no denying that I never look my loveliest on any of the photos I post on Acne.org)
I plan on documenting my experiences with Accutane in another thread, so I don't find it necessary to mention them in detail on my scarring thread. Nonetheless, I wanted to post a few new photos of myself that I have taken today in order to show some of the new scarring that I sustained on my left cheek. Hopefully, someone will see these photos and give me some recommendations as to what might be helpful in reducing the appearance of my scarring in about a year from now when my skin has readjusted itself from the Accutane course.
One thing that I have noticed is that now that my skin has dried out from being on Accutane, the edges of my scars seem a little more defined. Also, in May I got another rolling scar on my left cheek (which is pretty noticeable), and I have no idea what to do about it. If anyone has any recommendations, suggestions, comments about the photos I've posted, I would greatly appreciate it.
i had a lot of rough sun damaged skin on top ...so thats where i got alot of my improvement ...your skin is in pretty good shape i think ...have you done a subcision?
Yes. I have had subcision performed only once. The rest of my cosmetic procedures have included punch grafts, punch floats and 2 chemical peels.
In your opinion, do you think that my scars seem as if they would be benefited by a subcision?
i had a lot of rough sun damaged skin on top ...so thats where i got alot of my improvement ...your skin is in pretty good shape i think ...have you done a subcision?
Yes. I have had subcision performed only once. The rest of my cosmetic procedures have included punch grafts, punch floats and 2 chemical peels.
In your opinion, do you think that my scars seem as if they would be benefited by a subcision?
look into dermaroller
i had a lot of rough sun damaged skin on top ...so thats where i got alot of my improvement ...your skin is in pretty good shape i think ...have you done a subcision?
Yes. I have had subcision performed only once. The rest of my cosmetic procedures have included punch grafts, punch floats and 2 chemical peels.
In your opinion, do you think that my scars seem as if they would be benefited by a subcision?
look into dermaroller
Do you have experience with Dermaroller, zavvi?
i had a lot of rough sun damaged skin on top ...so thats where i got alot of my improvement ...your skin is in pretty good shape i think ...have you done a subcision?
Yes. I have had subcision performed only once. The rest of my cosmetic procedures have included punch grafts, punch floats and 2 chemical peels.
In your opinion, do you think that my scars seem as if they would be benefited by a subcision?
look into dermaroller
Do you have experience with Dermaroller, zavvi?
i personally dont well not yet i am booked in for my first genuine dermaroller treatment this week but i have done alot of research into looking into how it all works and yep long term use depending on your scars and diet i do believe it can eridcate them
i had a lot of rough sun damaged skin on top ...so thats where i got alot of my improvement ...your skin is in pretty good shape i think ...have you done a subcision?
Yes. I have had subcision performed only once. The rest of my cosmetic procedures have included punch grafts, punch floats and 2 chemical peels.
In your opinion, do you think that my scars seem as if they would be benefited by a subcision?
look into dermaroller
Do you have experience with Dermaroller, zavvi?
i personally dont well not yet i am booked in for my first genuine dermaroller treatment this week but i have done alot of research into looking into how it all works and yep long term use depending on your scars and diet i do believe it can eridcate them
Based on the type of scarring I have, why do you believe that dermarolling will work the best on them?
I'm intrigued by dermarolling, but a little apprehensive.
cherry you know alot more about this stuff then i do ...i could care less about hurting my skin i just felt like i had nothing to lose ...the chemical peels have done alot for me ...i'm still unsure about the dermarolling maybe its part of it ...we need some kind of permanent fillers then we can fix them
cherry you know alot more about this stuff then i do ...i could care less about hurting my skin i just felt like i had nothing to lose ...the chemical peels have done alot for me ...i'm still unsure about the dermarolling maybe its part of it ...we need some kind of permanent fillers then we can fix them
I definitely think the dermarolling has helped you. Chemical peels alone do not do much for significant acne scarring, even though they are awesome for helping reduce pore size and evening out skin tone. I used to have pretty uneven skin tone before I got my peels done, as you can see in some of the before and after pictures I posted in October, 2012.
Personally, I think that the dermarolling has helped your texture so much. The reason that I'm apprehensive about it is because could not imagine doing something like that on myself. I have no idea how much pressure to apply when rolling, or anything like that.
This girl discovered dermarolling about a year ago, and before that she used to review products that were marketed to reduce the appearance of acne scarring. She became such a dermarolling enthusiast that she created a startup company in order to sell them. Her YouTube channel is pretty much the reason why I have began to think about dermarolling;
cherry you know alot more about this stuff then i do ...i could care less about hurting my skin i just felt like i had nothing to lose ...the chemical peels have done alot for me ...i'm still unsure about the dermarolling maybe its part of it ...we need some kind of permanent fillers then we can fix them
I definitely think the dermarolling has helped you. Chemical peels alone do not do much for significant acne scarring, even though they are awesome for helping reduce pore size and evening out skin tone. I used to have pretty uneven skin tone before I got my peels done, as you can see in some of the before and after pictures I posted in October, 2012.
Personally, I think that the dermarolling has helped your texture so much. The reason that I'm apprehensive about it is because could not imagine doing something like that on myself. I have no idea how much pressure to apply when rolling, or anything like that.
This girl discovered dermarolling about a year ago, and before that she used to review products that were marketed to reduce the appearance of acne scarring. She became such a dermarolling enthusiast that she created a startup company in order to sell them. Her YouTube channel is pretty much the reason why I have began to think about dermarolling;
'The girl' She is such a noob at doing this she doesn't know anything compared to what Mrs.Vaughter from owndoc.com, let alone her outrageous 'kit' prices. She may have recieved good results by dermarolling, but guess what. I have too. I'm not going to start a dermarolling buisness yet scam people into buying overpriced dermarollers.
cherry you know alot more about this stuff then i do ...i could care less about hurting my skin i just felt like i had nothing to lose ...the chemical peels have done alot for me ...i'm still unsure about the dermarolling maybe its part of it ...we need some kind of permanent fillers then we can fix them
I definitely think the dermarolling has helped you. Chemical peels alone do not do much for significant acne scarring, even though they are awesome for helping reduce pore size and evening out skin tone. I used to have pretty uneven skin tone before I got my peels done, as you can see in some of the before and after pictures I posted in October, 2012.
Personally, I think that the dermarolling has helped your texture so much. The reason that I'm apprehensive about it is because could not imagine doing something like that on myself. I have no idea how much pressure to apply when rolling, or anything like that.
This girl discovered dermarolling about a year ago, and before that she used to review products that were marketed to reduce the appearance of acne scarring. She became such a dermarolling enthusiast that she created a startup company in order to sell them. Her YouTube channel is pretty much the reason why I have began to think about dermarolling;
'The girl' She is such a noob at doing this she doesn't know anything compared to what Mrs.Vaughter from owndoc.com, let alone her outrageous 'kit' prices. She may have recieved good results by dermarolling, but guess what. I have too. I'm not going to start a dermarolling buisness yet scam people into buying overpriced dermarollers.
Sorry, why is it a scam? She had a YouTube channel for about three years before she even discovered dermarolling. How can she be scamming people by trying to sell a product that she happens to be passionate about?
She began a start up because she has the education to be able to do so. Her prices may be high, in your opinion, but you don't create a profit by selling your products below what they're actually worth, or even at what it costs to manufacture them. Also, the prices aren't outrageous. Do you have any idea what it costs to have dermarolling performed professionally?
No one's asking you to create your own company. It takes quite a bit of skill, know how and hard work in order to be able to do that.
I'm pretty much done replying to you. Your attitude is incredibly negative, and that's not at all the direction I want a thread I created heading toward. Don't be so butt hurt over the fact that I am paying attention to someone who is relatively new to dermarolling and finding success by creating a company devoted to it.
i uploaded a new pic today 1 month out of a peel ...skin is getting better everyday with the growth of new colagen
if you click on the pics they get bigger
old
pics today
Dude, your pics are awesome. How did you even get started, though? I mean, how do you even know what needle size to use?
i think i started with 1.5 used it once and used a 2mm ...my face was a bloody mess ...i wouldn't recommend anyone doing what i did i still don't know for sure if it helped long term ...you would think all those tiny holes healing up would tighten the skin ...my skin was horrible before i started so i didn't really care ...i don't know if u should do the dermarolling i think it works better on rolling scars ...but who knows ...mr matt has helped me tremendously call on him 
)
Hi Cherry, How have you been with accutane? Hope everything is going well
I think your second session of punch graft is almost a year, does the graft look good and even with the rest of your skin now?
I have postponed my punch graft session, unfortunely I have breakout again past few months.
Cherry, my derm suggest me to do 30-40 punch graft in one session for my ice picks & boxcars scars. May I know how does the graft looks like after 1month? How long it take for the redness to faded? How much of graft in your last session? What do you think 30-40punch graft in one session?
I afraid that the graft look horrible, I wish it will not affect my work.
Sorry so many question here, hope to hear from you soon. Thanks.
Hi there. It's been awhile.
Don't worry about asking me a lot of questions. I love questions, and will try to answer them to the best of my ability.
I have been taking Accutane for 21 days now, and it has certainly been an experience. I have planned on creating a thread on this website in order to document the process of a 6 month course, and have been a little too busy to do so until now. If you are interested in reading about my experiences with Accutane, you are more than welcome to check out my log.
One thing that I thought I would mention, however, is that I do not get on the 'Org every day, as I used to do about a year and a half ago. I wish I had that sort of free time. However this semester at school has been especially busy for me. I have either been working at my rotations, going to class, or studying for my certification exam. So, if it takes me a little while to respond to posts on this thread, I do apologize.
Most of the punch grafts that I got nearly a year ago have settled in at the same level as my skin, except for one. Honestly, I am not very happy with the manner in which my cosmetic dermatologist created that particular punch graft. I realize that she grafted that graft over the largest, hole-like scar that I had on my left cheek, and that it was not an easy job to do. Nonetheless, I think that after I am finished with my course of Accutane, I am going to try my best to seek out a method in which a dermatologist can "shave" down the top of the graft in order to make it level with the rest of the skin on my cheek. My cosmetic derm has used a tool in the past to "shave" off the rounded tops of the punch grafts. I'm hoping a different dermatologist can do the same.
After about a month, the punch grafts are usually still fairly puffy and have a reddish color. The redness fades after about 3 months. Please remember, though, that skin types vary and that everyone heals a little bit differently. I can only speak from my own personal experience.
I received about 3 punch grafts during my last session. Like I said before, 2 of them healed really nicely, my largest punch graft has not healed so nicely.
30 or 40 punch grafts seems like a lot. I think the most I have had is 10 or 12. It's really hard for me to tell if that's an appropriate amount of grafts for your scarring, because I have no idea how your scarring looks now. Also, I'm not a medical professional, so I would not even begin to assume that I'd be able to give you a better recommendation for reducing the appearance of your scarring than your doctor.
Hope that helps.
Cherry
Hi Cherry, thanks for sharing your experience. 
Based on your recent photos, your acne is just minor, i think accutance will definately solve your problem very quickly.
Hope to hear your accutance experience in soonest.
i uploaded a new pic today 1 month out of a peel ...skin is getting better everyday with the growth of new colagen
if you click on the pics they get bigger
old
pics today
Congrats on your success!! It has improved a lot... Try "scupltra" i think it may enhance the improvement.
DSCN2338.JPG
Year and a Half Scarring Update:
As I've mentioned previously in this thread, I decided to take the very medicine that I have spent the last 5 years trying to avoid taking; Accutane. As of today, I have been on it for 3 weeks. (Thus the very dry, chapped lips in the photos. I know it's ugly. I'm sorry. No amount of medicated chap stick is helping. And yes, that is medication on the brand new cysts I've gotten as a result of being on Accutane. There is no denying that I never look my loveliest on any of the photos I post on Acne.org)
I plan on documenting my experiences with Accutane in another thread, so I don't find it necessary to mention them in detail on my scarring thread. Nonetheless, I wanted to post a few new photos of myself that I have taken today in order to show some of the new scarring that I sustained on my left cheek. Hopefully, someone will see these photos and give me some recommendations as to what might be helpful in reducing the appearance of my scarring in about a year from now when my skin has readjusted itself from the Accutane course.
One thing that I have noticed is that now that my skin has dried out from being on Accutane, the edges of my scars seem a little more defined. Also, in May I got another rolling scar on my left cheek (which is pretty noticeable), and I have no idea what to do about it. If anyone has any recommendations, suggestions, comments about the photos I've posted, I would greatly appreciate it.
I think rolling scars is more easier to treat than boxcar / ice picks scars, it can be easily been vanished by dermal graft and several of erbium laser is required to smooth out the surface, i think erbium laser can "sanded" down the largest graft that you mentioned earlier.
dermal graft:
sculptra will stimulate new collagen, once collagen volume increased our skin will become firm. i have had it done in July'13 to treat "malar groove" on my cheek bone, it works very well on me. but it only last for 24-36mths, effect is not immediately it takes 3-6mths for best result, the result may vary from person to person. Must get a dr who experienced in sculptra, or else the effect will be limited.
erbium has a huge downtime - it was a massive shock for me to wake up in hospital and look in the mirror. I knew it would be bad as obviously i did my research but I looked a lot worse than any pics I had seen. i did initially take a pic but couldn't keep it as I was scared anyone would see it.
I'm not kidding, it looked like i had been in a car crash. Erbium can cause scarring but my surgeon was adamant that it was the best laser to use without question.
i had a microlaser peel with the erbium laser and i didnt look pretty but in about 5 days i was good to go. the healing was very fast and i think it was super easy. i had co2 laser on some raised acne scars and the healing for that was about 10 days but nothing major on that end either. i think it all depends on how deep they go for sure but i dont think the downtime is that bad at all.
i had a microlaser peel with the erbium laser and i didnt look pretty but in about 5 days i was good to go. the healing was very fast and i think it was super easy. i had co2 laser on some raised acne scars and the healing for that was about 10 days but nothing major on that end either. i think it all depends on how deep they go for sure but i dont think the downtime is that bad at all.
What type of raised acne scars are you talking about, tracy521? Do you mean keloid scars?
How happy were you with the results?
i think i started with 1.5 used it once and used a 2mm ...my face was a bloody mess ...i wouldn't recommend anyone doing what i did i still don't know for sure if it helped long term ...you would think all those tiny holes healing up would tighten the skin ...my skin was horrible before i started so i didn't really care ...i don't know if u should do the dermarolling i think it works better on rolling scars ...but who knows ...mr matt has helped me tremendously call on him
)
I actually do have a couple rolling scars, but they are quite shallow. This is one reason why I have begun thinking about dermarolling.