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Hi everyone, this is my first time on this forum.
I am hoping to receive some advice about the textural irregularities on my right cheek (left side of the photo).
The backstory is that I went to see a dermatologist a little over 6 months ago (early summer) to see what could be done about a small linear hyperpigmented scar that I™ve had since I was a child. The scar was barely visible, and now I regret ever going. The derm applied a Revlite laser (one treatment), and about two weeks later I noticed new small circular just beneath the original scar. The patch was not present before the treatment and it isn™t an acne scar. To make matters worse, the original scar became even wider and more indented than it was before. Also, the original scar was just a dark line before, and now it also looks patchy/circular. I'm especially dismayed because the derm told me that Revlite was incredibly low risk and tailored for my pigment. I'm not 100% sure it was the laser, but this has only affected the area that the laser was applied to, and like I said, the patch showed up only a couple weeks after the treatment. I have little/no improvement for the past 6 months. The area is circled in one of the pics below (the original scar and the new patch just beneath it).
I have seen another dermatologist since. But she have told me that she can barely see anything (it is only visible in certain light) and that there it isn™t a œscar. To me, the skin looks indented, but a derm has told me that I™m wrong about this.
Does anyone have any idea about what this might be, the depth of the textural irregularity, whether it is correctable, and what treatments might help correct it? I know that the damage probably looks very minor, but it is something that bothers me a lot, and I am really hoping to correct the issue (at least the circular patch). Talking to people in my personal life about this also doesn't much help because they tell me that nothing is there and my skin is fine.
Right now, I am microneedling once a month with a dermapen which does seem to help in the few days post treatment. But after the swelling subsides, the textural damage looks the same. But I have only microneedled twice so far, so I™ll see. I also just started using a very low dose of Retin a tretinoin (.005%)
Thank you!
First of all too much to cover in a response, ... laser such as Revlite (not my favorite) can liquefy infection or if your sensitive even collagen (you could have had a side effect or you could have had exacerbation of a existing issue). As far as indented, filler is the best remedy for this. I cannot tell from the circle what is wrong, are you referring to the upper half in the picture, I do not see anything in the lower half. You can get textural irregularity from many things. You could try TCA peels on the spot to soften it out the border and blend in better with the skin. Microneedling would not be the treatment for this, consider filler if it's fat deficient ( I see nothing) and potentially spot peel the texture once leveled with TCA.
You can try the retin A nightly for a bit and see if this works for you first, great with cell turnover. Otherwise keep this going on nightly besides when your treating.
Hi beautifulambition,
Thanks for your advice. I'm referring to the hyperpigmented linear scar and the oval-shaped patch just below and to the left of that line. Do you not see it? I think it's most visible in the photo that shows both cheeks. I suspect that the laser exacerbated an existing issue that I didn't notice before. One of my worries with TCA is that I've heard it's high risk for brown pigment. And why do you think microneedling won't be helpful here? Also, from the photos, can you tell how "deep" the scar looks or even whether the patch is a "scar"? To me, there does appear to be an indentation, but I think it's very, very shallow. Thanks again.
@LotosopSorry about that, PM me if you ever need. I missed this because you did not tag me with the @ symbol.
I don't see what your saying in your picture. If it's simply a issue of hyperpigmentation then laser helps with that v-beam, excel v, ipl, or 1064nm are all options. You will need a few treatments.
If it is depressed you need subcision. You can get saline injections (cheap) with Chinese cupping (amazon) for 3 weeks after.
Yes laser probably depressed the area as a side effect.
TCA works on dark indian skin, it must be done with a professional for that skin type, hydroquinone must be used several weeks before and retin a or tretinorin to prepare the skin for treatment. They have to use lower percentages and it probably will take more peels.
No idea if it is a scar, I cannot see it in the pic.