Does 1.0 mm work to promote collagen? Owndoc says it is safe to do a 1.5 mm. The only thing is that you must wait 6 weeks after the injections.

What do you think BA?

@Noa27If you have no filler sure do 1.5mm or above. Filler underneath, to be careful 1mm (boney areas may be less). 6 weeks is conservative, a month is fair, they want to avoid infection around the filler areas.
People who goto the gym excessively, or move their muscles a lot - its placed above muscle (get botox) , the filler will wear out quick.

5 hours ago, dazzed said:

@QuanHenryCongrats, hopefully after the swelling resolves, you'll still retain a lot of improvement. I'm glad to hear that you are cautiously optimistic. Swelling always makes things appear perfect after a treatment, and it takes weeks for it to resolve to see the true results. I 100% agree with your approach, which is to maintain the filler. This is really the paradigm shift we need in acne scar management. It really is a lifelong commitment, but hopefully one that lessens over time as the results after each procedure becomes more permanent.

This is why I say I am "cautiously optimistic". I had swelling before an I know it doesnt last, but Novick thinks the filler should still hide the scarring after the dust settles. With touch ups and more subcision I could have a large improvement for years, hopefully.

@QuanHenry Congrats on your improvement; i gotta agree Dr Novick got a keen aesthetic eye. I had couple treatments done from him last year. He is good with fillers. He also offered me to go to his Israel office to get more treatments done for fraction of the cost.

1 hour ago, keving100 said:

@QuanHenry Congrats on your improvement; i gotta agree Dr Novick got a keen aesthetic eye. I had couple treatments done from him last year. He is good with fillers. He also offered me to go to his Israel office to get more treatments done for fraction of the cost.

what scars you have??

Congratz on deciding to do subcision; it looks like you picked a great doctor as well. Hopefully, the results stay the same once the swelling goes down, and I look forward to the next update. Do you still plan on using the derminator in the future for upkeep?

I plan on up-keeping with filler as well (definitely Volbella next time) along with maybe one more session of subcision early next year; unless I'm content with the results, and simply move on.

i think your skin looks fantastic! i love dr. novick he is the only doctor that ever truly listened to me. he injected a few hypertrophic scars on my face. they do look better but i need to see him again for another round of injections to completely flatten them.

28 minutes ago, tracy521 said:

i think your skin looks fantastic! i love dr. novick he is the only doctor that ever truly listened to me. he injected a few hypertrophic scars on my face. they do look better but i need to see him again for another round of injections to completely flatten them.

tracy keep posting because I have problem with hypertrophic scars and I want to know how treat dr novick hypertrophic scars.

sorry for my eng

On 5/1/2017 at 6:49 AM, QuanHenry said:

Thank you, I'm happy with it. Can't wait to see how it looks when the dust settles and the pigment evens up.

I think I'm going light for a while. Meaning just Epiduo to prevent acne, moisturizer with serums, and of course sunscreen. Hopefully I can just enjoy the summer without having to worry about my skin, then re-evaluate come winter.

Thank you for sharing. You and @beautifulambitionare fantastic members of the forum. I've been following your posts and they give hope. I also use epiduo. Out of interest, would you mind sharing how often or what routine you have for epiduo? How many times a week you use it ect.

QuanHenry, did dr Novick first the filler and after that subcision?

18 hours ago, Albaneso said:

tracy keep posting because I have problem with hypertrophic scars and I want to know how treat dr novick hypertrophic scars.

sorry for my eng

i will for sure i plan on seeing him again this summer. in the meantime i'm doing dermapen to try and flatten them out a bit more and i'm also having it done on my indented scars too. i go for 2nd treatment of that on saturday. dr. novick uses kenalog to inject the hypertrophic scars. good luck to you!

Thank you so much, QuanHenry, for posting this thread and beautifulambition for your informative posts. I'm looking for a scar doctor in NY. This guy seems much better than Rapaport.QuanHenry, your results are beautiful; I know you said some of it is swellng, but still!

QuanHenry, you mentioned that he used Voluma to add volume to your cheeks, but did he inject filler into the scars themselves? I already have fillers in my chin and cheeks so really don't need anymore. Does he fill the scars when he does subcision? If so, what filler does he use for the actual scars? I'm hoping it's not Voluma, as that would be way too thick to use just under the dermis!

Thanks in advance!

How's the healing process going?

Just wanted to post an update..

Its been 2 and a half weeks since my treatment and the results are still looking promising. I didnt want to post those pictures before because they looked "perfect", but the swelling has all gone down and my scars are better than before.

The most promising results look to be from subcision. There is noticeably more improvement at those sites than the crossed ones, or cheek scars plumped up with filler.

I think the voluma has some impact on hiding the scars, but not a lot. Still, my cheeks look much more symetrical than before.

The TCA cross scared the hell out of me after the scabs fell off. One spot in particular looked violently red and deeper than before. I have been wearing a band aid over it and it has filled up rapidly. Its like each morning I wake up it gets better.

Im not exactly sure what my next step is. I dont want to make acne scars the focus of my life but I will see novick at some point. Im thinking of doing a subcision only this summer, then another subcision with filler next winter/early spring.

I will post pictures within the next couple weeks.

@MSFSnake Epiduo is pretty strong. If you are new to the product, you will need to work your way up. Doctors say once a day, but it really depends on how much you can tolerate. When I started regular epiduo I could only tolerate it a few nights a week. Eventually I built up to using it every night, and my derm prescribed me the forte version (.3 adapalene) which is the best acne topical I have tried. I had to work my way up again, and now I tolerate it every night. I also use a thicker coat than I used to and the results are great. I tend to wash my face and use epiduo after I get home from work or the gym, apply epiduo, and let it sit for a few hours. Before I go to sleep I gob a bunch of natural oil or serum on my face. I usually keep a stock of rosehip oil, jojoba, and copper peptides/ha serum. I want to get a vitamin c serum too. Thich moisturizers like cerave are hard to tolerate after epiduo, so I dont use it very often.

Hope this helps.

So the filler do not work that great like you hoped?

Subcision of course will be the best result, the filler is the spacer. it goes in the superficial surface pocket. When he uses Voluma I would think he used that deep in the cheek, it's a volumize, Volume can help in a general sense make the scars look better, but it does not address the individual subcisions . The pics I have seen Quan of you above are more surface acne, not deep rolling fat deficient scars. Thus maybe Vobella or Beleterro would be good as a surface filler in those subcisions.

Keep up those subcisions, good plan

This sounds normal for TCA cross, it takes weeks to lift the spot, specifically the scar bed, it looks red and worse, scabs, and then improvement happens, it takes several of them for icepicks.

So they don't inject voluma in every scar?

Lets ask Quan what he had done...,

@Noa27

But typically Voluma is too thick to be injected in surface scars. Vollbella and Belotero can be injected superficially. One must understand subcision is done right under the epidermis. It's not very deep. If you have deep large fat deficient rolling scars then yes use a filler like Perlane / Lyft /Voluma. Very few on this site have deep acne scarring, it's mainly superficial stuff.

You need a spacer, not lots of volume for age related loss, does that make since.

I believe Quan had volume in the cheek added so it hides the scars a bit, you can test this by pulling back on your temples / face skin towards ear and seeing how your scars look.

He chose voluma to address volume loss. My left cheek has/had pretty significant scarring and became more gaunt than the right. The voluma balanced it out. Its difficult to say whether or not it is hiding any scars at this point. Im not sure how noticeable the volume loss was to the casual observer though. I notice the improvement, but Im not sure whether or not it is worth the money to keep refilling. I have a lot of time to decide and Ill constantly be re evaluating, so dont quote this.

Not he didnt inject filler with the subcisions. Still, those scars are quite obviously better than they were before. Im pretty sure the swelling is down, but again, its hard to say for sure. I will know what the results are after 6-8 weeks or so.

I'm starting to worry about this TCA cross spot. It's stilly pretty red, but I'm concerned with how wide and deep it is. It's definitely worse than before and doesn't look promising to me. I tried putting dermablend on it but the walls of the scar just eat it up. Makes it look even worse.

Any device? The rest of my face looks better but this spot is making me worry. It doesn't look right to me.

@QuanHenryPlease go see Dr. Novick. This has not been mine or others experience with TCA Cross. You will need a few of them, they do widen and pop up the scar bed, ... they are red as they heal. Icepics are deep. The scar bed should be raising, is this happening? Try some hydrocortisone (for 2 weeks) and possibly some hydroqunione aka skin bleach.

If you want PM me a close up pic of the icepick.

Discuss possible subcision with him as well.

Can you send Novick pictures through email. Tell us what he says.

Had a busy work day and couldn't get a minute to call him. I'm sure he'll just tell me to wait a little longer.

Yes it it does seem to be filling in. It's better than it was when the scab fell off a little more than 2 weeks ago, but worse than before the treatment. The other 4 TCA spots look fine to me, this spot just doesn't seem right to me. Looks like it's going to take 1-2 years to heal at this rate.

Ill probablystick to subcision and filler next time. I'm still very excited about the subcisions and enjoying the voluma. Might do another subin July.

9 hours ago, QuanHenry said:

Had a busy work day and couldn't get a minute to call him. I'm sure he'll just tell me to wait a little longer.

Yes it it does seem to be filling in. It's better than it was when the scab fell off a little more than 2 weeks ago, but worse than before the treatment. The other 4 TCA spots look fine to me, this spot just doesn't seem right to me. Looks like it's going to take 1-2 years to heal at this rate.

Ill probablystick to subcision and filler next time. I'm still very excited about the subcisions and enjoying the voluma. Might do another subin July.

That is exciting that the subcision and voluma wored for you! Were the scars he used TCA on all icepicks?

@QuanHenry
When i went to Dr Novick, he warned me ahead of time that some scars might widen up but eventually will fill up...i think that could happen if the scar is not exactly an icepick.

did he use 90% TCA?

I just saw him Novic for filler (Belotero). I have a bunch of events over the next wee so I just don't have the downtime for subcision.  He seemed very careful and knowledgeable, and he's clearly a nice guy.

A few hours later, the filler on almost all the scars worked out well except a linear scar near the corner of my lip. He filled both the scar and the general indented area. Unfortuately, there appears to be too much filler below the scar, which made that scar more prominent i.e. a "donut" effect.

Obviously, it's still swollen but I have a feeling the "donut" effect around the filler will remain after the swelling is gone.  That's not Dr. Novick's fault though, and it was worth trying since he had etra filler anyway. That scar will probably require subcision and/or TCA. It may also require hyaluronidase to dissolve the filler, which I hate because it will spread to the surrounding area. I'm kind of upset about that right now even  though the rest of the scars look a lot better.

Also, when showing him where to inject, I missed one rolling scar. That is totally my fault though; I should have brought a flashlight.

Edit: One thing I want to make clear. Novick is an outstanding doctor who really "gets" scar treatments. I haven't done subcision with him, but his filler technique was excellent.As far as scar treatment, there are few doctors out there who are at his level.