On 8/27/2018 at 7:55 AM, Amp2695 said:is this your 2nd time getting phenol cross?
3rd. I don't think the first one counted as it was much weaker than the 2nd and 3rd. @ the office,Dr. Rullan gave an explanation of why he's convinced TCA cross expands (and lifts) scars while phenol just bruises (thus lifting) the scar but doesn't expand it. I like phenol so far.
On 8/27/2018 at 9:38 AM, CoconutRough said:Hey, thanks for updating! Progress on your left cheek looks pretty good.. although I noticed that your current afters are no close ups like your befores of the first post.
Left side has texture issues and 3 main pits I want to fill. I didn't notice the scars on the bottom towards the mouth until I took that picture, will probably like to clean that up.
Will get a close up next time in a few months. Planning for filler then infini, so I'll be swollen for a while. Some of my before pictures will look better than my after pictures due to length of swelling.
On 8/27/2018 at 6:00 PM, dazzed said:That post procedure microswelling is the best high. Hopefully most of the lifting of the scars remains after things settle. You're looking really good so far.
And thank you for following up.
Having been in this acne scar game for so long, I'm not too hopeful. Best of luck to all of us.
Had Infini 4 weeks ago and volbella filler a bit prior to that. Dr. Rullan in San Diego did the filler and Dr. George in Santa Monica (UCLA medical center) did my Infini treatment. Both doctors and staff are great. It's getting difficult casting shadows on the scars for picture taking.
Next step opinions much appreciated.
Edit 11/2: removed before shot, need confirmation on when it was taken.
Treatment Description and Thoughts
Filler - I had filler placed 3 - 4 weeks after cannular subcision. He used a full vial with many injection points, and it took around 30 minutes. The swelling and pigmentation lasted for 3 weeks, and there were various places that felt overfilled. The overfilled areas went away after infini, but I'm not certain infini caused that. The filler is not perfect but helped significantly.
Infini - Can't think of a treatment more painful than Infini even with numbing. Downtime was 2 weeks with very tight skin till the 3 week mark. It's week 4 and my skin feels normal again. Skin is really dry so it's a bit red. Will wait 2 more months before commenting on Infini, however I can compare my second Infini to my first Infini.
Infini #1 vs Infini #2
I remember after first Infini my skin felt really terrible at the 1 month mark, like it was worse than before, sunken in. I think I had Sculptra after Infini #1, and the Sculptra ballooned my face for several weeks. This second Infini did not feel like the first at the 1 month mark. This could possibly be because of the Sculptra.
On 11/6/2018 at 5:19 PM, Gimozzi said:May I ask your summarized timeline for the treatments?
I am also thinking about going a long journey of treating my severe scars.
Congrats on your dedication and hard work!
10 hours ago, dazzed said:Your improvement is really amazing. The texture has improved drastically.
The left cheek looks 90% improved and the right is 70-80%.
Yeah Ill summarize later and add to the first post.
These procedures were effective in lifting the deep pits however all the pits are still there. I wouldnt rank the improvement that high. Skin looks bad up close and in certain lighting. Also a lot of the improvement came from the temporary filler. I dont plan to keep adding temp filler when the downtime is so long. Im hoping infini will soon do its work as I havent seen the improvement from it yet, but its only been about 5 weeks post.
Im going to get a better camera soon to hopefully get a new baseline photograph to see the shallow scarring, as my left and right side still have a huge amount.
Its good start but still a ways to go.
@f93dJust wanted to let you know I linked your post in the FAQ as you actually have a big improvement. You will never have glass smooth skin but you have a huge improvement from your base pictures. As you know this is a slooooooooow process of healing, many treat over 3 years.
Have Rullan do more Sucbisions and filler. You can do Bellafill if you like the temporary look of the HA filler with subcisions, but permanent is permanent so be sure. If you like the volume of a HA temp fillers which does make permanent collagen, ... you like Volume and thus Bellafill may work for you if you so choose, some like temporary fillers ongoing.
RF needling will make a change, ... again in your case I would do a vial as you have done of over dilute scultra before your rf needling, ... yes you will swell but it stimulates collagen. If after 3 treatment you do not see improvement get profractional erbium done or angled co2 to the box cars at 3-7% density and the highest power only to the walls of the box cars, ... Rullan can do phenol cross and dermabarion of these first if you would like a manual method.
>> Have Rullan do Phenol Cross and dermabrasion of the boxcars, discuss peels for further texture work.
You have a big change, ... but I get a feeling you had different expectations. Keep up the treatments.
BA
I find the texture is hardest to improve because it is on such a micro level. Big, deep pits can be subcised and filled and the result is pretty much immediate. That said, I think you've had incredible results given where you started.
I agree, it would be great to see a timeline. Some of the of the photos are a bit confusing because they might have been taken not too long after procedures and there might be swelling obscuring the true results. If you could add photos from your initial starting point to current (showing skin that is fully recovered) that would really be great.
It can be hard to be objective about oneself. But as an observer, I can say objectively that you have had very noticeable results.
On 11/15/2018 at 8:57 AM, dazzed said:I agree, it would be great to see a timeline. Some of the of the photos are a bit confusing because they might have been taken not too long after procedures and there might be swelling obscuring the true results. If you could add photos from your initial starting point to current (showing skin that is fully recovered) that would really be great.
1
Added timeline to first post. Added more information to the images to avoid confusion over theswelling. Unfortunately,even for me, I cannot always easily determine if my skin is still swollen.
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I would placeimprovement at 50% for 2018. This is great improvement, but it's not where I want to be yet. I think I can get another 50% improvement for 2019, and I'll probably slow the treatments.
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Plan moving forward is a sculptra/subcision/cross (Mid December 2018) followed by Infini(Feb 2019). After that I'll look into texture treatments.
On 11/24/2018 at 4:34 PM, tryinghard123 said:hi how did you find tca cross? did it make your scars bigger or improvement?
TCA cross made my scars wider. Phenol works better for me.
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Had my treatment today; subcision + cross. Before procedure shot - will be taking pictures in this lighting from now on. The goal is to level the scars a bit more and then focus on texture.
No sculptra as the doctor recommended I skip it this round and add it in 3 - 4 weeks. I'm nervous about sculptra as the 1 vial gave such significant volume and it's still building. I'm wondering if another vial is too much.
I heard a lot of cracking today during the subcision, but it was less than the last subcision. Picture below shows the swelling about an hour after the procedure. I didn't fully scab until a few hours later.
Dear f93d,
so happy for ur improvement! Thank you for the pictures!
I do the treatment with Pr.Chu for now andI asked about the cannula for Sub. He said thatthe cannula wont cut the tetheres only Nokor! I did cannula before with zero result. Itseems u got results from cannula. How do youfeel was it cannula or Nokorwhich brought more result?
tca cross.. the same..not happy about, makes the scar wider and after the scab falls off it just does not heal fully. Will ask Chu abphenol.
On 12/13/2018 at 6:16 AM, Sibel said:Dear f93d,
so happy for ur improvement! Thank you for the pictures!
I do the treatment with Pr.Chu for now andI asked about the cannula for Sub. He said thatthe cannula wont cut the tetheres only Nokor! I did cannula before with zero result. Itseems u got results from cannula. How do youfeel was it cannula or Nokorwhich brought more result?
tca cross.. the same..not happy about, makes the scar wider and after the scab falls off it just does not heal fully. Will ask Chu abphenol.
I heard a lot of cracking during the procedure - the doctor uses a lot of force to cut the tethers using cannula. There was adoctor there training on me also and I noticed the difference between the force she applied vs the force Dr. Rullan applied. The trainee didn't use as much force and didn't forcefully carve through the skin - I didn't hear much in crackling noises. So I suppose your doctor is correct - cannula won't cut the tethers [if little force is applied]. I think there is a lot of technique involved for cannula and I'd feel more comfortable going with what the doctor is comfortable with.
In my opinion cannula is not better than Nokor.Nokor is better than cannula in terms of visible improvement, however cannula is better than Nokor for those with widespread scarring. However I won't do Nokor again as I don't have that kind of downtime. Nokor also comes with more scarring risk. There's a trade-off that we need to consider.
If you look at my first post, except the 2nd subcision I didn't get visible improvement from subcision. I don't expect any visible improvement from my 4th subcision either. However I expect improvement once I do my sculptra + filler in a month.
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Phenol is no miracle though; results are dead slow but they're there.
~ 3 weeks post treatment, got more of a texture and coloration issue now than deep pits. Most swelling is gone - I didn't suction nor use any blood thinners. Will hopefully get a florescent lighting shot before sculptra/filler which I'll have done the following week. I doubt I'll need as much as last time. Progress is looking good in the mirror. People who have been critical of my skin have said it improved a lot (both unsolicited). Looks like I'm on the right track. 2019 will hopefully be the last year of aggressive treatments.
Edit: want to make a quick note this sunlight shot is more of a natural shot of what others might see. Scars are visibly softer in this type of sunlight than florescent or led in a dark room shots.
Edit: Compare this to one of my screenshots from an old post, I've come a long way pre-treatment (see the sunlight shot). The below shot was a before/after dermarolling, which to me now more-or-less looks the same.
Wow, such big improvement . Unbelievable!
44 minutes ago, f93d said:~ 3 weeks post treatment, got more of a texture and coloration issue now than deep pits. Most swelling is gone - I didn't suction nor use any blood thinners. Will hopefully get a florescent lighting shot before sculptra/filler which I'll have done the following week. I doubt I'll need as much as last time. Progress is looking good in the mirror. People who have been critical of my skin have said it improved a lot (both unsolicited). Looks like I'm on the right track. 2019 will hopefully be the last year of aggressive treatments.
This last update has strong sunlight and your improvement is unbelievable!