Hi, we all know that acne scars can ruin lives and ruin any confidence that somebody has. Most of us spend so much of our time looking for treatments and this site is the go to for personal experiences. I always wondered why the hell everyone is so negative on this site. It's like someone will post results and people will be like "it's microswelling" or "that picture is edited". Like just cause you arent getting results doesn't mean someone else isn't. Everyone's different and there's so many people who have been members of this site and then disappear. My guess is they either cure their problem or get tired of all the negativity on this site. Sometimes I feel like this site makes people feel like acne scars are impossible to get rid of which is complete bullshit. Some people may need to get way more treatments then others and take more drastic measures but everyone can achieve at least 80-90%. PSA if you do get results please post them so we can balance out all the people on this site that just hate on everyone else. If you look at it, it's about 4-5 of the same people commenting on results saying that they arnet real. Just cause you can't fix your problem don't make other people feel bad about theirs. Let's all try to help each other.

Everyone on this forum knows how devastating acne scars are. They can quite literally ruin your life. Everyone was that normal person who lived life to the fullest before their acne scars. I really think people don't actually realize how much they can impact a life. I don't blame them because they never had to deal with it and it's hard to understand something you don't expierence first hand. I'd like to start a little forum on how far would you go to get rid of your scars? I know we've all had those thoughts. I can honestly say that if I were to choose between winning the lottery and having perfect skin I would choose the perfect skin in a heartbeat. I can honestly say that if I had to choose between a super nice car, super hot girlfriend, a beach house etc., I would choose smooth skin over that without even thinking. To someone regular reading this it seems insane because they all dream about is those things but I fully believe conquering acne scars is WAYYYY harder than those things. Just a few thoughts ringing off, I would love to hear you're guys thoughts on this.

@Skinscars

Well I think you are right, there are lots of negative comments here. But I think we also need to differentiate between truly unproductive, negative comments with comments that are grounded in reality. When people say there's microswelling after a laser treatment, it's true. Anyone here who has had laser will tell you the same thing - the immediate short-term result looks incredible but diminish as the swelling resolves. That's grounded in fact. Then you have the truly negative comments where people just go on a rant about how hopeless and futile it all is. That is not helpful, and creates an environment where people just tune out. Like you say, people don't want to contribute because of the drama, the tirades from people with minimal scarring acting as though they are disfigured, and general unpleasantness. Nobody has a right to take away another persons sense of hope. It's fatalistic and selfish. Those people tend to come on here, make drive by negative posts and eventually disappear. But the long term impact of those people is that less and less people want to contribute. You'll also notice that the people who tend to be the most negative tend to have the more mild conditions. We've all seen the people who drag down everybody, but when they show their "scars" it ends up being skin most would pay a fortune for. Literally there are times where other commenters can't even see what these people are complaining about.

Then there is the reality is that acne scars are fucking hard to treat. That's just a reality. That doesn't mean you can't get significant improvement. But it takes a HUGE emotional and financial commitment to treat scars. It's easy to get discouraged and lash out.

@Skinscars

I only read positive posts and there are quite a few. Mostly older ones like 5-10 years old. Since i do that i feel a lot better about me and my scars.

I don't think it has to be super expensive to book progress in treating scars. Things like TCA cross, subcision, microneedling they all can work great and don't cost a fortune. But yeah, you have to stick with it, maybe for years.

Hi @Skinscarsyou are taking a complex situation and over simplifying it, using a cognitive distortion to say "everyone" at the site is negative. This clearly is not true. If you go out looking for negativity you will find it. Look at the news, it's all negative. How about reviews like Amazon, people are disgruntled are more likely to post what they dislike about a product, ... while everyone else who likes the product lives in ignorant bliss and never posts. Websites make group think and hive mind thinking, they are echo chambers if you will. It's a fact that acne scars can lead to mental illness such as depression, hopelessness, and BDD. Those who suffer from it can become overly critical with themselves and others. It becomes a obsession. When you go on a site like acne.org, these are not easy cases, or they would be using Proactiv or some cheap drug store BP cream. These are complex cases with someones life debilitating scars. Many have spent countless thousands and tried numerous treatments, and fads out of desperation. This leads to feeling hopeless, and lied to, "some" posters are jaded.

There is also a prevalence of unreal information, Drs lying for profit, and products being peddled to "cure" ones scars and give 100% improvement. No one will get 80-100% improvement (any Dr telling you this is lying or not conveying the years of time / effort treatments can take), you need to go into this thinking you will get progressive improvement, and good enough is when you can move on with your life, that will not be glass smooth skin for a majority of people. This is not a rating site, you want to see negativity, goto http://reaself.com, people bitch left and right about their aesthetic / plastic surgery procedures. The botched cases and those who had unrealistic expectations thrive there. Those who are happy are silent and move on with their lives in happy bliss.

This site is a support & information resource, read the information, study, decide who it applies to yourself, and then as Dr's say "Heal Thyself." It is no ones obligation to prove to you what works, or post success stories, we are not paid like Drs to post photo shopped pictures and flash lasers / treatments. It give many people "hope" when they find out information and have a alternative to work on their scars, they of course could goto a DR and do lasers, but they want to try something that has a history of working first.Its like cancer suffers support group, they are more likely to trust others in their situation as they have been through the battle. We live in a generation where we cannot debate harsh realities or topics and instead re-treat to our safe spaces.Some of the greatest thoughts of mand kind came from challenging and reevaluating what could be possible. Keep up the hope. Scar treatment will improve as much of medical and aesthetics has throughout history. Be the change you want, bring new solutions, white papers, treatments, and discovery's to help the group.

To recap:

• Many people heal poorly who are on this site (they remain) because they have complex situations that take years to get "some" improvement, those with lighter scarring do not stay around long.
• This is like a library for information and support, you get in and you get out, so you can move on with your life, of course if you want to stay and help out your welcome to.
• There is a fraction of the whole who are dealing with serve mental issues on top of their scars and thus they want others to be unhappy and depressed with them, please ignore them and concentrate on what you can do to heal yourself.
• There is even a post with hypotheticals and what ifs about future regeneration, that takes a tremendous amount of hope in the unknown.
• As @Dazzed said above misinformation must be corrected and inconsistent results (when someone is cured off of a light treatment) we all call fraud, because it's just not possible to have fat/ collagen appear for glass like skin, often this is micro swelling or edema and will go away.
• Scar healing is hard and can be lengthy for sever cases sometimes happening over years progressively
• Scars are NEVER One and Done (they take multiple treatments).

@Hopeandfaith33I am moving this to another topic as I feel it relates. It's not psychologically healthy to constantly wonder what if. That doesn't better equip you to move on with your life and find solutions to your issues. Acne scars are not a bargain or some game show. They are a part of our lives and health. As such we must choose ways to move on and live with them or find treatments that work for us. If you won the lotto, you would not be here asking advice as you would have all the money like Hollywood actors for 24 hrs Dermatologist, PS, and aesetic work. 99% of Hollywood has had PS or modification, not to mention heavy makeup. I posted a month ago, a majority on Youtube use a special program to perfect and smooth their skin also, even though they are wearing makeup.