Acne.org Products
Hello everyone,
I've been reading these forums on and off for about 4 months now and thank you all for your honest posts and treatment reviews. You've inspired me to finally join the site and share my own story.
I suffered from horrific cystic acne when I was in my early 20's (I once had over 15ml drained out of one particularly lovely cyst!)- I had every kind of antibiotic and cream, steroids injected into my face, more stuff that I can't even remember as the whole time was so awful and eventually roaccutane which cleared up the acne and made me suicidal. At one point, a year or two after the acne had died down I tried Glycolic peels and something else that was recommended to m neither of which helped but I was so desperate I would have tried anything so more fool me. The whole experience was so traumatising that I suffered, as many of us have done, from serious depression and anxiety, I was scared to look people in the face, would walk with my head down, would go home in tears after seeing people staring and so on.
I'm now approaching 36 and I had pretty much come to terms with my skin and the scarring. However, I've recently changed career and it's becoming increasingly important that my skin looks good so I'm starting to get very self conscious about it again. Also, if Im honest, the signs of ageing are creeping in - loss of skin elasticity etc..which seems to make things look worse. I'm not a make up person (bar eye liner which I cannot live without, hoping that people will look at my eyes and not my skin!)
I live in London and from what i've read, Dr Chu or Dr Tapan Patel are my best options. I have (i think) a combination of ice pick, rolling and boxcar.
I'm really very reluctant to go down the laser route. I'd be satisfied with even a 40-50% improvement. I know the bigger scars are going to be a nightmare treat but they actually bother me less than the scarring and 'sagginess' in my cheeks and the holes in my forehead.
I've attached some pics for you all - thank you to everyone that has ever posted their pics, seeing other peoples photos has made it easier to share my own. Try not to laugh at my rolling eye in the forehead shot, I think I was looking at a fly!
I recently contacted Dr Tapan Patel's clinic and was told that a consultation would be £150 (seems fair enough) and that treatment would cost between £700-£2000.
If anyone could give any advice on suitable treatments, doctors, any over the counter stuff they've used to smooth things over - I would be immensely grateful.
Thanking you all in advance for reading and any help/advice you offer.
I wish you all joy and happiness in your quest for scar free skin 
These treatments would probably help you the most:
TCA Cross
Subcision
Fraxel with Recell (Quite expensive)
I wouldn't waste time with superficial peels, as they probably wont do much. Single needling, and dermarolling/stamping might also help, but the treatments I listed first would give you the most significant improvement. In addition to that you can get fillers, either temporary or permanent. Those bring a more immediate improvement, but not everyone wants to inject foreign substances into their bodies, although fillers are generally safe and aren't anything to worry about.
To be honest, from your pictures you do seem to have an issue, but i think a good foundation is solving it. Since you are not a foundation girl i would suggest you to appoint to a specified derm in plastic surgery. There is a treatment, i dont know its name in english, which passes to the inner epidermis vitamins and hyalouronic acid. I havent tried smth like that, but i hear its good for deep wrincles, so for your scars too, and makes the skin glow. Its totally safe and the results are similar to botox, without the bad effects of it. I note to you that such treatments are basically indicated for wrincles and loss of firmness, but the results would be beneficial for your scarring as well. Anyhow, dont you worry much. It is treatable, just search for a good doctor!
In the meantime you can use a snail secretion cream as a daily moisturizer.
Thanks BioNeedle and 5Beauty,
Subcision and TCA Cross is what I was thinking of, from what I've read on the boards, I see most Dr's will try to upsell for a laser treatment but I'm really too scared to go down that route and if I can get 40-50% improvement from TCA and Subcision then I'd be very happy with that.
Does anyone know anymore about the Hylauronic Acid treatment that 5Beauty mentioned? Any recommendations from fellow Londoners on good docs that can do Subcision/TCA Cross?
Many thanks to all!
Hey SummerFlower,
When I read your description I thought your skin would be pretty bad but as I scrolled down and saw your pictures it actually looks pretty good. The only scar that really seems to stand out is the one above your eyebrow. I think derma stamping and even some TCA cross may be helpful. I am totally with you on not wanting to go down the laser route. All the horror stories I've read have really refrained me from ever trying it. Like I said, your skin looks pretty good. Your cheeks look smooth and it appears as if your scarring is scattered so it doesn't combine and take up a huge portion of your cheeks, there's a lot of smooth healthy skin in between the scars!
All the best girl! 
Hi Summer
I am following this thread - fellow Brit here with the same issues. I hope you keep us informed on your journey, I am searching for a fantastic Derm/Surgeon in the UK, but it sometimes seems like an impossible task as the British seem to be in the minority on these boards. I also will never touch a laser.