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Hello everyone,
This week I am finally getting my first acne scar treatment which consists of Microneedling RF and Subcision with PRP.
My acne scars aren't too obvious and the doctor had a bit of a hardtime trying to pinpoint them, but in my eyesI can see therolling scars and uneven texture on my right cheek.
The cost is kind of steep ($1250 cad), but I am hoping that one treatment will hopefully be enough so I can no longer have to worry about these anymore. If I have to get another treatment I'll probably get it in another four months time.
I just wanted to ask anyone what I should expect from the treatment, such as how long is the downtime and when will can I see most of the results from the treatment and if I should prepare any precautions?
I'd also like to really thank everyone here for their expertise (especially beautifulambition). I would have likely pursued getting something like fraxel or CO2 if I hadn't known any other treatments which probably would have made my sensitive skin even worse.
EDIT: I am also looking to get PicoSure laser for my hyperpigmentation/rejuvenation later.. I was wondering how long of a time should I let my skin rest before I get PicoSure?
@ybbyThat cost is not steep at all they are doing many things at once. You will need several of them not one over time. Good on the 4 months' time.
No idea how long down time is for you, it's variable for everyone, ... just like your healing ability. Some it's a week, other's it's several weeks. Buy some concealer, foundation, tinted moisturizer or sunless tanner, dermablend makes a medical concealer. You see most of the results after 3 months, ... some don't after the first one alone, and need other treatments.
Be aware that it takes 3 years to treat for many.
Precaution, don't be on accutane, stop retin-a for a week, no exfoliants, sensitive skin products, and a week after until you heal, sunscreen, the rest is the Dr's responsibility to tell you, as your paying him for aftercare ;-P
Your VERY WELCOME!
Yes with sensitive skin not a good place to start, in fact I don't know why they are doing the rf needling with all that to start. I would have spaced that 3 months latter, but do whatever you feel is best. I have been having good results with those doing dermastamping and glycolic peels on their scars between treatments monthly(with sensitive skin do a test spot first and see how you heal).
I would not picosure until you do several of these treatments, ... they can cause more redness, ... so wait on those.
Thanks for the reply @beautifulambition.I am not sure if you already havebut one day if you would like to share your acne scar story and how you became so knowledgeable about the topic, I am sure me and a lot of other users are very curious and would find it interesting hearing your side of the story.
For me, I know I am beinghopeful and unrealisticfor wanting only one treatment to fix most of my scarring but I guess I will just have to wait and see how the results pan out. I do use BB cream (Smashbox Camera Ready) and when I do, most people have a really hard time distinguishing my scars so honesty I think my problem is 80% pigmentation and 20% actual scarring (if that makes any sense).
As for the rf microneedling, my doctor said that the microneedling and subcision shouldn't interfere with each other too much (which I get is probably a money/time issue for him) but I was also interested in the microneedling for overall texture benefits/pore size too. My "sensitive"skin is can handle most weaker treatments well but I found that using harsh chemical exfoliants (like retin-a) caused my skin to never really fully adapt. I am not sure how harsh of a treatment rf microneedling usually is, but I asked him to use lower-powered settings just in case.
Thanks again for everything @beautifulambition, do you have any recommendations for redness from acne and overall pigmentation too? I will look into dermastamping (though I am bit afraid of using mechanical devices at home) and glycolic peels.
@ybbyGo in expecting some improvement but not glass smooth skin. It takes many treatments and depends how you heal. Many people do not treat their internal scars, ... that is the hardest thing to address. There are apps like talkspace which offer unlimited therapy which can help. It's a tough journey treating scars.
Pigmentation, well you need a combo of either a hydroquinone cream or the pca hydroquinone free pigment gel nightly, ask the Dr to do vascular or pulse dye laser and if that does not work qswitch.
Rf needling might help some, it takes many treatments, it shrinks the pores but does not make them disappear. Use a Salicylic or Glycolic (spot test if you need to determine): peel or washacid to open up and clean out your pores. In fact many at home glycolic peels might help with your hyperpigmentation, worth a try.
Redness see above. Also more ideas in the faq, pinned to the top of the scar treatments sub, skin section and PIE or PIH.
I got my treatment done and I can't say it was an easy process. First of all, the treatments were PAINFUL. I thought I had a high tolerance for pain and I heard that these treatments are about 3-4/10 on the pain scale but both the subcision and RF microneedling were no joke. I would rate the subcision as 5-7 even though the doctor used a cannula needle and the RF Microneedling as a 4-6.
Other than that, I am excited about my results. I notice that most of the scars I had are minimized a ton but I still have a lot of grid marks, open wounds and such.