Yeah remarkable improvement on day 6. Excited for you.

Day 8

Was given permission to remove the mask yesterday morning. The light yellowing of certain sections of skin in the picture is from the bismuth powder - not an infection or puss or anything.

Used a ton of aquaphor and very gently rubbed it around mask until it all came off. Took around 24 hours to get it off. Imagine random chunks of skin everywhere, on your bed, on your clothes, all over the bathroom, on the floor. That's what day 5 - 8 is like.

Skin looks pretty beat up. When the mask first came off I was able to see the majority of my old scarring. Still lots of creases everywhere. Lots of cuts from the green mask; it got really hard and sharp around day 4.

I had around 5 pimples under the mask, which is not normal, but those pimples seem to be resolving themselves rather than increasing in severity.

I just learned I had a subcision on Day 1. I had no idea. The sedation made me feel conscious the entire time thinking I knew exactly what was going on, but I guess I wasn't conscious. Thinking back I only remember him applying the chemical peel to one section of my right cheek.

How'd you clear your acne 100%? I stalked your earlier post a bit.

I really hope you will be satisfied with the results from this procedure which I believe you won't be able to admire until 2+ months out after swelling from the sub, deep peel and the brasion resolves

Btw, how old are you if you don't mind? Range works.

38 minutes ago, Wobbywob said:

How'd you clear your acne 100%? I stalked your earlier post a bit.

 

I really hope you will be satisfied with the results from this procedure which I believe you won't be able to admire until 2+ months out after swelling from the sub, deep peel and the brasion resolves

 

Btw, how old are you if you don't mind? Range works.

I never cleared100%, I keep it maintained by sticking to a clean diet and using anti inflammatory substances.

I'm 30.

Dont let yourself to get discouraged only cause you can see your old scars. It will only get better as it takes time for new collagen to build. You look fabulous and it's only day 8. Stay positive!

I can definitely see the improvement! Thats wonderful!And hopefully it will just keep getting better in time, thats what Ive heard so far with his phenol. Im curious, did he make you get an accutaneprescription since youhavent100%curbed the acne? Im somewhatin the same boat. Thank you so much again for sharing your journey with us.

On 7/1/2019 at 11:55 PM, Smile7 said:

I can definitely see the improvement! Thats wonderful!And hopefully it will just keep getting better in time, thats what Ive heard so far with his phenol. Im curious, did he make you get an accutaneprescription since youhavent100%curbed the acne? Im somewhatin the same boat. Thank you so much again for sharing your journey with us.

He proposed a mild dose, I said I didn't want it. Henever prescribed it to me. If you think you might break out I'd take it.

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Day 11, no pictures today as I look pretty similar;will have picturesat the 2-week mark. Today I wanted to make a note of what I'm experiencing.

My skin has been shedding many layers, and I have dead skinflakes all over my skin, and more to come. I apply thick moisturizer 3 - 4 times a day, but that doesn't seem to help much. My skin redness is a fraction the intensity it was. The skin was super tense (couldn't make facial expressions) on day 8, however today I can smile without my face forcing itself back to neutral. I canmove my eyes again. My skin is no longer sensitive to touch except on the eyelids and under the brow.

If it weren't for the skin flakes I probably wouldn't mind going out in public, so hopefully, in 2 days I'll be ready to go out with a hat or sunblock.

I see some enlargedpores substantially shrink; fingers crossed they stay that way. Lots of scars are still visible and have always been visible since the mask was taken off. I'm still too swollen to say whether or not these results are promising. The subcized areas are healing substantially slower than a subcision on its own; they're also flaking the most. Still see a visible bruise for subcized areas.

1 hour ago, f93d said:

He proposed a mild dose, I said I didn't want it. Henever prescribed it to me. If you think you might break out I'd take it.

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Day 11, no pictures today as I look pretty similar;will have picturesat the 2-week mark. Today I wanted to make a note of what I'm experiencing.

My skin has been shedding many layers, and I have dead skinflakes all over my skin, and more to come. I apply thick moisturizer 3 - 4 times a day, but that doesn't seem to help much. My skin redness is a fraction the intensity it was. The skin was super tense (couldn't make facial expressions) on day 8, however today I can smile without my face forcing itself back to neutral. I canmove my eyes again. My skin is no longer sensitive to touch except on the eyelids and under the brow.

If it weren't for the skin flakes I probably wouldn't mind going out in public, so hopefully, in 2 days I'll be ready to go out with a hat or sunblock.

I see some enlargedpores substantially shrink; fingers crossed they stay that way. Lots of scars are still visible and have always been visible since the mask was taken off. I'm still too swollen to say whether or not these results are promising. The subcized areas are healing substantially slower than a subcision on its own; they're also flaking the most. Still see a visible bruise for subcized areas.

Thanks for the update! I read your entire thread and going thru a similar journey and you give me hope. I wish you the best results that you can get from this peel sir.

That is very goodto hear that you are doing well. Thank you for keeping us updated!!

Good stuff. Hang in there. What are some foods you've discovered that really help keep your acne at Bay?

You are so brave to dothis! Thank you for all the description, a lot of people read your posts and waiting for the results together with you!

@f93dThanks for putting in all of this effort and allowing us to gain some insight into Rullan's procedure. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

I had two questions about it: 1) What type of device did Rullan use to perform the dermabrasion? Did he use a motorized rotating head or was it a flat scraper? 2) What type of sunscreen did he recommend post-peel, a physical or chemical?

@f93dthanks so much for this its so helpful. im new here and i feel like ive already did a few things wrong so apologies if i make any errors here.but when youve posted each treatment youve had done and then commented on improvements to skin...i wondered how u feel about overall improvement now compared to baseline pics.

also t there sure by side comparison pics in the same light as the baselines ones were taken

thanks

Day 13 pictures are on the opening post.

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My goal again is to report objectively, as there is way too much misinformation on the Internet about how to treat acne scars. There are too many people boldly claiming to know what they don't know, including doctors. I thank those on this forum for helping to clean up and silence bad recommendations with evidence-based research so no one else has to be fooled by marketing hype. 

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Today is Day 15 - I'm not particularly ecstatic about what I'm currently seeing.

I plan to continue documenting the recovery process as I get a number of PMs asking about this procedure. However, it'll be every 2 - 4 weeks from now on, and this is the last treatment I will document. I will still most likely get another vial of Volbella later as phenol isn't going to fix volume depressions. I really just wanted my skin to look less dirty overall; I have nothing against mild scarring as that's socially acceptable.

Day 15: Very pink, obvious demarcation lines, scars are all visible again. Left side indents look abnormal but should self resolve.

Demarcation lines are very noticeable in fluorescent lighting. Most indoor lighting conditions you won't really notice the demarcation lines (ie. LED). Yellowish lighting is best to hide it. It can last 1 - 6 months.

If I had a customer facing job, I probably wouldn't show up to work. I work in tech and do not have have a people-facing role, so this works out for me. I've no clue how long this will last. To those working other job sectors, plan accordingly, or apply makeup. These demarcation lines will probably be not as noticeable as your super red/pink skin. For me, I've gotten a lot of nasty comments about my acne scars from strangers over the years, but I've never gotten one for having a red face. Thus, I'm okay with this for the next few months.

My skin is an absolute wreck right now. I have random lines in a few places. Skin texture is odd, differing from location to location. I have random indents that show up for a day and disappear. No matter how much moisturizer I apply, the skin remains super tight and uncomfortable. Skin feels raw and is super sensitive to the touch.

Honestly, I thought the phenol peel would of "vaporized" the shallow scarring, but it didn't look like that happened. So no instant results from the phenol peel. Hoping it improves over time. I think my expectations were a bit high on this one, but I guess I expected more given the price tag. All that said, it's too soon to declare results.

On 7/4/2019 at 9:40 AM, Wobbywob said:

Good stuff. Hang in there. What are some foods you've discovered that really help keep your acne at Bay? 

Probably better asked in the general forum. I started with no food and slowly introduced foods one by one. The best acne cure for me was to not eat. Strict paleo worked for me when my acne was out of control.

On 7/5/2019 at 9:43 AM, SquawkingStars said:

@f93d Thanks for putting in all of this effort and allowing us to gain some insight into Rullan's procedure. Wishing you a speedy recovery! 

I had two questions about it: 1) What type of device did Rullan use to perform the dermabrasion? Did he use a motorized rotating head or was it a flat scraper? 2) What type of sunscreen did he recommend post-peel, a physical or chemical?

1) Not sure, looks like scraper from the publication.

2) He gives you 2 bottles of sunblock, chemical. The $6000 phenol peel includes a subcision, all the lotions and moisturizers you need as well as sunblock. They're from a top brand and they're quite pricey; I'm glad they didn't go cheap.

On 7/6/2019 at 9:56 AM, khadija_t said:

@f93d thanks so much for this it™s so helpful. im new here and i feel like i™ve already did a few things wrong so apologies if i make any errors here.  but when you™ve posted each treatment you™ve had done and then commented on improvements to skin...i wondered how u feel about overall improvement now compared to baseline pics. 

 

also t there sure by side comparison pics in the same light as the baselines ones were taken 

 

thanks

I do not have side-by-side comparisons in the same light. Dr. Rullan took some but even a 5-degree tilt ruins the comparison. Pictures are best just for a general feel for how the skin reacted to treatment. 

@f93dfor the pinkness, I suggest tryinga tinted moisturizer.This would be an interesting side-by-side photo comparison.

I was treated by Dr Rullan about 6 weeks ago, (subcision/micro/Phenol) and found that a tinted moisturizer helped with evening out the skin tone, redness,and looked natural. Im male and didnt want anything that looked cakey/heavy.

I went to Sephora and got color-marched withLaura Merciers oil-free tinted moisturizer, and Im pretty happy with it so far.

Appreciate the objective and reporting and approach. Wish expensive treatments (3k++) would be partially refundable if a certain improvement isn't reached after an agreed/suggested period. Would only be fair to both parties but...merica.

@superburrito

5 hours ago, superburrito said:

@f93dfor the pinkness, I suggest tryinga tinted moisturizer.This would be an interesting side-by-side photo comparison.

I was treated by Dr Rullan about 6 weeks ago, (subcision/micro/Phenol) and found that a tinted moisturizer helped with evening out the skin tone, redness,and looked natural. Im male and didnt want anything that looked cakey/heavy.

I went to Sephora and got color-marched withLaura Merciers oil-free tinted moisturizer, and Im pretty happy with it so far.

I would hate to see my skin in there.

Thank you for the info. I know my scars are way more apparent to the eye when my face is red. I wonder if that's something you've noticed.

My fear is I get a phenol peel and reveal more damage underneath. I dont know. I've just seen talks that phenol is the gold standard for resurfacing. If it works it seems to really work.

I work in retail, endless customers and in flourescent lighting. Should've got a more fitting job lol

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18 hours ago, Wobbywob said:

Appreciate the objective and reporting and approach. Wish expensive treatments (3k++) would be partially refundable if a certain improvement isn't reached after an agreed/suggested period. Would only be fair to both parties but...merica.

 

@superburrito

 

That would be nice, however, I make the decision which treatment to get and which doctor performs the treatment, so I think it's fair. Doctors charging loan sharkrates, taking advantage of the psychologicaltrauma caused by scarring, definitely.

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23 hours ago, superburrito said:

@f93dfor the pinkness, I suggest tryinga tinted moisturizer.This would be an interesting side-by-side photo comparison.

I was treated by Dr Rullan about 6 weeks ago, (subcision/micro/Phenol) and found that a tinted moisturizer helped with evening out the skin tone, redness,and looked natural. Im male and didnt want anything that looked cakey/heavy.

I went to Sephora and got color-marched withLaura Merciers oil-free tinted moisturizer, and Im pretty happy with it so far.

I may try that if needed. Thanks for the suggestion. I just need something to blend the demarcation lines; the redness is dying nicely.

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16 hours ago, Kay24 said:

Thank you for the info. I know my scars are way more apparent to the eye when my face is red. I wonder if that's something you've noticed.

My fear is I get a phenol peel and reveal more damage underneath. I dont know. I've just seen talks that phenol is the gold standard for resurfacing. If it works it seems to really work.

I work in retail, endless customers and in flourescent lighting. Should've got a more fitting job lol

I think you're right about the redness. When I removed the red color from my face (changed to different lighting), most scars were much shallower than original depth. Will see if this lasts.

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Day 17, skin MUCH better than Day 15. Still a bit patchy with the redness, no changes with the demarcation lines. I use moisturizer just once at night now; my skin is calmer. My skin no longer feels toodry, just tight. Skin slightly sensitive to the touch.Few comments from coworkers and some concerned looks but more of a curiosity than anything else.

Day 19, still not presentable in public, but looking much better than before.

2 hours ago, f93d said:

Day 19, still not presentable in public, but looking much better than before.

I see improvement from Day 15 for sure. Continue with the aftercare and keep doing what you're doing!

Thank you for the honest updates. This is invaluable to everyone who's looking into this.

Image 1: 4 weeks have passed. In-person, the scars aren't very visible. This is a morning picture, so some crease lines are present. Skin is smooth but sensitive to touch. The red scrapes on the left side were from sleeping on my side on a comforter - skin is very fragile. 

Image 2: Closer look atright side for remaining scarring

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At around 10 days when the mask came off, the pits & textural scarring were still largely visible and it looked like not much had improved.

It looked like scars started filling/blending in mainly after week 3. I don't know if these results will hold - just my observations right now. Scar shape and skin texture are constantly changing every few days.

The picture is a bit washed so the redness doesn't come through as well. I'm quite happy as this lighting used to show the Grand Canyon. I did go out in public yesterday and got some double-takes, so it's not socially acceptable yet. This downtime is no joke.

HOLY COW! The improvement fromDay 15 to Day 28 has been immense. It seems like you must have achieved at least 95%+ improvement from the beginning of your journey. Congratulations on all of your success and wishing you quick recovery!

WOOOOW! Amazing!! I am very happy for you!