So I have some acne scars. The worst one is what I think would be categorized as an ice pick scar on my nose. I also have some ice pick/box car scarring on my right cheek. Obviously these scars make me self conscious and lower my self esteem. I usually don't leave the house without putting on some kind of matte moisturizer to make sure they're as hard to notice as possible.
I've complained to my friends, my family, and my girlfriend about these scars, but they all usually tell me that I look fine or that they didn't even notice the scars before I pointed them out. I don't know if they're simply saying this trying to be nice or if my metrosexual style of covering all of the scars up during the day works as well as I intend lol.
I've been using Retin-A micro for about as long as I can remember, like since middle school (I'm 18 now), for acne. My acne is gone now, I just have these left over marks to deal with. I figured the Retin-A could have helped the scarring by now even though I'm still prescribed to keep my acne away. I heard Retin-A is supposed to help with scarring... But these scars haven't disappeared.
I've never done this before, but I'm posting pictures of my face raw without editing to get your opinion. Are these scars as bad as I feel like they are, or am I just being way too superficial? Is there anything I can do to reduce the appearance of these scars? If so what? Also how much would it cost? Do scars start to fade after a few years or so? Any help would be great! Thanks!
(Also I'd like to point out that I have sunburn. That's why my face is abnormally red in these pictures lol)
Scars? I can hardly see any, leave them be and spare yourself some money/time. On the other hand getting burned like that can be very damaging. You can even get hyper pigmentation (sun spots) and basically it speed the aging process up. Sunscreen or, even better, stay in the shadow while the sun beams are aggressive at 11 - 16 o'clock!
Your skin looks good and your family and girlfriend are probably telling the truth when they say they don't notice it. I know even the tiniest facial scar can feel like a big deal at your age, but it's really not and I'm sure you won't give a damn about this very minor scarring issue in a few years. Scars do get softer and nicer looking over the years in my experience. I'd continue using Retin-A maybe for a year or two, but wouldn't consider anything else. Even retin-a isn't really necessary, but you're right in saying that it may help with superficial scarring if used for a long time.
Your scarring is minimal, don't bother over it. The risk reward for any procedure that would result in any meaningful procedure wouldn't be worth it.
It looks as though something is irritating your face though - I think if you were to get rid of the redness, it would look better as well.
