you are welcome! i just want you to have hope that things will workout because last year i didnt have that hope and just wanted to die it was an awful feeling.

omg you and i are have way too much in common nobody in my family has or ever had acne either its totally nuts. like everybody in my family only uses soap on their skin and they never exfoliate and they have the most beautiful poreless skin whereas me i have huge pores. its so odd its like somehow i got all the acne, bad allergies and vision that nobody else in my immediate or extended family has. it really does make it hard but just remember they love you and care about you.

i unfortunately got indented scarring and raised scarring and have melasma as well. i have done many treatments such as chemical peels, ipl's, microlaser peel, co2 laser etc. if all i had was indented scarring i would probably do a series of 5-6 microlaser peels over the course of a year or two and see where that gets me. i like that you heal from those pretty quick like around 5-6 days even though you look like a burn vicitim for that time and cant leave your house. a good series of TCA peels could help too i like the TCA peels the best so once you are clear if you are scared of laser try those first and see where it gets you.

i did co2 laser for my raised scars but it didnt do that much so i am thinking of having dermabrasion just for those scars on the chin area in a few months. the laser only goes so deep but with the dermabrasion it is a much more tailored procedure and its good for raised scars so that is the last thing i am going to do.

i do love the IPLs for red and brown spots and broken caps because it just works so fast and its so easy. i started doing them years ago like probably 8 or so because that is when i started getting red marks but i also have brown spots from the sun too and found it worked so well for that as well. for the red marks you would need at least 3 treatments to get rid of them but if you have somebody that does many passes on each spot you can get excellent results quicker. i would only do these treatments though once you are totally clear though.

with spiro it usually takes between 3-6 months to fully kick in and even up to 9 in some people but its hard to say for me because i was breaking out really bad beforehand but if i had taken it with keflex when i started i dont think i would have had any sort of initial breakout. once i started the keflex i cleared up immediately in like 5 days it was a miracle for me. i started spiro dec of 2012 and took keflex (started that in february) for a long time for like 10 months because i was doing laser work and stuff so i just stayed on it (most times they give you antibiotics to take for say 5-7 days with laser to avoid any sort of infection) and then weaned myself off in february of 2014 and everything has great since. if you were going on spiro i would say take the antibiotics for 6 months just to be safe and then slowly wean off from them.

i am still taking spiro and will probably continue taking it forever but i might eventually in a few years see about dropping the dose down to 50mg. i am on 100mg a day now. if you have any other questions let me know. i am always here for you.

you are welcome! i just want you to have hope that things will workout because last year i didnt have that hope and just wanted to die it was an awful feeling.

omg you and i are have way too much in common nobody in my family has or ever had acne either its totally nuts. like everybody in my family only uses soap on their skin and they never exfoliate and they have the most beautiful poreless skin whereas me i have huge pores. its so odd its like somehow i got all the acne, bad allergies and vision that nobody else in my immediate or extended family has. it really does make it hard but just remember they love you and care about you.

i unfortunately got indented scarring and raised scarring and have melasma as well. i have done many treatments such as chemical peels, ipl's, microlaser peel, co2 laser etc. if all i had was indented scarring i would probably do a series of 5-6 microlaser peels over the course of a year or two and see where that gets me. i like that you heal from those pretty quick like around 5-6 days even though you look like a burn vicitim for that time and cant leave your house. a good series of TCA peels could help too i like the TCA peels the best so once you are clear if you are scared of laser try those first and see where it gets you.

i did co2 laser for my raised scars but it didnt do that much so i am thinking of having dermabrasion just for those scars on the chin area in a few months. the laser only goes so deep but with the dermabrasion it is a much more tailored procedure and its good for raised scars so that is the last thing i am going to do.

i do love the IPLs for red and brown spots and broken caps because it just works so fast and its so easy. i started doing them years ago like probably 8 or so because that is when i started getting red marks but i also have brown spots from the sun too and found it worked so well for that as well. for the red marks you would need at least 3 treatments to get rid of them but if you have somebody that does many passes on each spot you can get excellent results quicker. i would only do these treatments though once you are totally clear though.

with spiro it usually takes between 3-6 months to fully kick in and even up to 9 in some people but its hard to say for me because i was breaking out really bad beforehand but if i had taken it with keflex when i started i dont think i would have had any sort of initial breakout. once i started the keflex i cleared up immediately in like 5 days it was a miracle for me. i started spiro dec of 2012 and took keflex (started that in february) for a long time for like 10 months because i was doing laser work and stuff so i just stayed on it (most times they give you antibiotics to take for say 5-7 days with laser to avoid any sort of infection) and then weaned myself off in february of 2014 and everything has great since. if you were going on spiro i would say take the antibiotics for 6 months just to be safe and then slowly wean off from them.

i am still taking spiro and will probably continue taking it forever but i might eventually in a few years see about dropping the dose down to 50mg. i am on 100mg a day now. if you have any other questions let me know. i am always here for you.

Thank you for sticking around and answering my questions. It feels good to know that someone understands how I feel and what I am going through.

It has been so tough the past couple of months. The scarring makes me feel worse than the acne! Because I know acne goes away!! But scarring is much more difficult.

But I do believe that it is possible to heal scars to the point that they're not noticeable to most people. I just have to find treatments that work for me.

I don't think my scarring is deep but it is quite extensive, as you can see from my pictures, it covers most of my cheeks.

I have a feeling that my skin will look a lot better once I am no longer getting acne because that just makes the skin texture look worse. And I think once the redness and PIH is gone (I'll certainly look into IPL lasers thanks ) it'll look better again.

Also, I'm not sure what scarring type I actually have! Sometimes I think its just really shitty texture (with a few deeper spots) and I just need to scrape the top layer of skin off!

I have a doctors appointment in less than 2 weeks. I have waited a month. She is meant to be very good. So I am hoping she will be able to help. I will ask about a possible spiro/antibiotics combo. I will also get a referral from her to see a good derm. I'll get a professional analysis of my skin and go from there. Hopefully my skin situation isn't as bad as I feel it is.

Do you know what else is shit?! Some days I feel quite good, never 100% (I haven't been there in a while), but quite positive, quite sure that I can fix this. But then other days I just get so full of negative. I just constantly remember that I could have prevented this and blah blah blah!

Also, some days I wonder if my scarring is that noticeable to others. I have never spoken about it to anyone, no family or friends, just my psychologist. I don't want to mention it because I think it'll draw their eye to it.

Anyway, I try to stay positive because I'm going to need to be a positive little fighter over the next few years to get through this.

Thanks for your support. Its really nice of you and I do truly appreciate it.

Hi guys. I have this indented scar on my nose. I attached a pic but my phone cam is not that good to focus on the scar, but in person it is big and deep. Any suggestions? I am more on natural methods please. Oh and anyways would it help if i massage rosehip oil on my deep scar? Thank you. i attached some pics here. hoping for your help guys.

keep me updated on how it goes with the derm and just know that things will get better in time and that you are not alone. i have my good days and bad days too i just try to not let it get me down too much. i find the best way for that is just to keep myself so busy that i dont have much time to think but summer is a tough one with all the outdoor activities. there is no hiding the scars it doesnt matter how much makeup i cake on but we all just need to remember its not nearly as bad to others as it is to us. most people pay like no attention at all so just try to hang in there and once the acne is gone and you start treating the red marks you will feel a lot better about things. it's good to talk about how you feel with others though because holding it in is not good either ya know? it gets to be too much and you will realize that a lot of people really do care about you.

i am always here if you need to chat too because i know for myself its nice to talk to others that have been through the same thing. i have met a lot of amazing people on this site i just hope that one day i can meet them in person or they decide to move to Pittsburgh -ha!

take care of yourself and go do something fun!