Acne.org Products
Hey Acne.Org,
I wonder what is the best tips to work on my skin and if/what products I should use?
I had a really bad acne when i was a teenager (like five-six years ago, I'm now 21) and there are several scars to prove it. I've heard of everything from Laser treatments to AHA+, but I really need help from you guys to clarify what I should start with.
Also I get some few pimples every now and then but that is not really the problem, the problem is that they stay as red marks for a very long time (several weeks to a few months), they do not itch or anything, they are just red marks that stays there. They are like old acne that just goes away in the summer, I really think there is some way to fix it.
Here is some pics of my scars with my camera which is really pretty bad but I found nothing better for now.
I think your skin looks good overall, and the scarring is mild. You seem to have a few rolling scars. I don't think treatment is necessary, you still look nice and it doesn't affect your appearance. If you want improvement, I'd look into subcision and try to get a few rounds of that done by some experienced doctor, possibly combined with the suction method at home. Fractional ablative lasers are a possibility (Fraxel Re:pair, Deep FX), but since your skin seems so good overall, I personally wouldn't risk having a harsh treatment on the whole face and would rather choose a spot treatment just for the scars. Short-term fillers (Restylane, Perlane etc) or permanent fillers (silicone micro droplet) could be an option too, but you'd need to get a doctor who's very experienced in treating scars with fillers which could be hard. And short-term fillers are really costly in the long-term, whereas with silicone you have the risk of overcorrecting or the filler moving etc and since it's permanent, the complications would be long-lasting too. I don't know how likely that would be, but basically you'd need to find a doctor specialized in silicone for scarring to consider it, and there are just a couple in the US.
Dermarolling could also work for mild rolling scars, but I can't say how effective a treatment it is. You could do this at home for a year or two and it may help, but you'd have to do quite a lot of research on your own before delving into it. There may be some clinics around you who offer this as well, which probably isn't that different from doing it yourself but is of course easier and somewhat safer.
I don't have any personal experience of any of these treatments, this is just based on my own research now that I'm trying to decide how to treat my own scarring. I would either let it be and not bother with treatments or go for subcision if I were you.
I can't comment on hyperpigmentation since I don't really have personal experience. It should fade on its own, I would just wait it out. If it has stuck around for a good few years without improvement, you may want to look into dermal hyperpigmentation and hydroquinone or mandelic acid peels.