I had a lot of pitted acne scars on my temple and cheeks. The doctor I went to suggested sublative RF (ematrix) in the consultation and said I would see around 50% improvements over 3-4 treatments. I was hoping he would suggest a more invasive treatment like tca cross or subcision. He kept pushing and I gave in. I paid 1200 for 4 treatments. Over the past 6 months, and 3 treatments in, I saw no visible improvements and did not bother making the 4th appointment even though I paid for it.
Last week I consulted with a physician assistant (doctor was out of town) without teller her I went thru sublative rf. She suggested the same thing sublative RF for double the price (2400 for 4 treatments) . She said tca cross and subcision may help a few area, but sublative rf will cover a whole range of different type of acne scars. I asked for photos of past patients that have went thru sublative rf and she said its patient confidential, but she promised me that those patients liked what they see. She clearly had no idea what she was talking about. The primary doctor in the same office had a lot of good answers on realself.com (similar to davin lim's). He was out of office unfortunately. The receptionist said I would have to pay another consultant fee of 75 if I want to consult with him.
Should I just pay for the subcision/filler and request the the primary doctor do the operation (not the assistant) or look at another place?
Maybe look for another place or do all 4 say it did not work and see if the Doctor hooks you up with filler and subcision, depends what you think of them, many doctors have their nurses do the injections. Be aware after RF it takes 2 to 3 months to see any results. Also sublative is weak depending on your skin type unless they turn it to max setting 100mj/pin it denatures and closes up the pore surface causing new collagen.I'd get my last sublative first though haha..
It does nothing/ small percentage for icepic (sublative), TCA Cross is the treatment. Rollng and boxcar do well with filler and subcision, infini rf or microneedle and tca spot treatments.
The treatment you got is mostly used or large pores, your scaring is more deep, so you would do better with a rf microneedle then a topical sublative.
You'd see more results with a filler and subcision instantly. To recap you do not have textural issues as much as deep fibrotic scaring. You need a deeper treatment to even out the atophy. If they had done sublative directly followed by filler and subcision I see it working together.