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This is a thread dedicated to the treatment progress of my acne scars.
I have had acne for most of my life and it left me with scars on my cheeks, temples, and forehead.
For the sake of comparison, I will try to take pictures in the same setting. I will also try to take pictures in the most harsh lightings so that you can see the full extent of my scars.
Please see below for my baseline pictures taken in August 2019. I have not had any acne scar treatments back then and as you can see, I had a mixture of active acne, post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, rolling scars, box scars, and ice pick scars.
Date: Jan 2020
Treatment: Cannula Subcision + Filler
Improvement: 20-30%
Cost: $800 subcision + $700 x 2 HA filler = $2200
Comment:
- The dermatologist had to use two syringes of fillers so I was charged $1400 for the fillers instead of $700
- My dermatologist said my scars were quite severe. She rated the ones on my cheeks to be grade 2-3 and the ones on my temples to be grade 4. She said that I had mostly rolling scars with some boxcar scars on my cheeks and boxcar scars on my temples.
- Asked about TCA cross and dermatologist said that since I do not have many deep scars she doesn™t think I need it at the moment
- Followed up with her 2 weeks after subcision and she was quite happy with the results. She recommended that I get another session of subcision with filler in 2 weeks.
Note: The pictures here were taken under the same lighting as the ones above
More before and after photos
On 2/15/2020 at 8:06 AM, Y2J97 said:Is it a permanent result oryou have to do subscission + filler every year?
Generally, filler can be topped up once every few years. Some people who are satisfied with their results never need to.
@BabylullabyThank you for sharing these photos and our progress. I see a vast improvement in the scars! Well done!
On 2/16/2020 at 3:36 AM, SkinnyStrong said:Generally, filler can be topped up once every few years. Some people who are satisfied with their results never need to.
@BabylullabyThank you for sharing these photos and our progress. I see a vast improvement in the scars! Well done!
Thanks. I am going in for a second subcision + filler session this Wednesday. Also hoping to try some other treatment modalities like microneedling and laser.
@Babylullabyim curious were you given a plan about how your forehead scarring will be treated?
Great results for just one session. I have stated this before in other threads, but with filler it takes a few sessions to really fine tune things. Once the skin is pierced with a needle it starts to swell immediately and obscures scars. That's why you can't get it perfect in one go. Subsequent sessions are necessary to fine tune after all the swelling from the previous session has calmed down.
The pause inbetween Subs should be at least 3 months. The new collagen has been built and if to repeat earlier you just destroy it. Also some of your scars might benefit from tca cross, you can try yourself and see, all procedure is described in detaileson this site. From my experience you can really estimate the result after minimum 3 Subs and to wait for 2months after the last Sub.
On 3/3/2020 at 11:45 AM, daelz7 said:how many subs for this case would you say?
3-6 is the general recommendation. you need to treat scar type though, it's not all about just one procedure. TCA cross for the icepicks. Case studies have been done showing the massive improvement of sub+fill, with microneedling and TCA peels alternating every 2 weeks. Look it up here on acne.org.
On 2/24/2020 at 7:53 PM, catlover6 said:@Babylullabyim curious were you given a plan about how your forehead scarring will be treated?
My dermatologist said with laser because the forehead has too many nerves and the skin is very thin. She thinks subcision will cause more trauma than its worth.
Date: Feb 2020
Treatment: Cannula Subcision #2
Improvement: 0-5%
Cost: Free?
Comment:
- Went in for a second subcision because my dermatologist said she was not happy with some of the more stubborn scars on my face
- Only heard very minor œpopping this session. She said that is because most of the scars have been lifted already
- she really went in on some of the more stubborn scars on the cheeks
- Entire session took 10-15 minutes (vs 1 hour last time)
- In terms of the cost, not sure if this was a mistake or not, but they did not charge me anything
*Sorry I do not have very good before after for this as I got another procedure soon afterwards. It might look like there was major improvement but the lighting is different between the two sets of pictures. Personally I did not notice any major improvements from this one from looking at my own face.
Date: March 2020
Treatment: Microneedling + PRP
Improvement: 20%
Cost: $525
Comment:
- Pre-treated with 4% hydroquinone because I have pigmented skin
- Also pre-treated with retinol but stopped a few days before
- Really pleasantly surprised with the results actually. I was not expecting to make such a huge difference. Hope it™s not swelling.
- My mom actually commented on my face saying that she thinks the scars look better on two separate occasions.
- Note the following pictures are all taken under the same light conditions
On 3/18/2020 at 4:36 PM, monkieturtle said:Do you recommend doing microneedling first or subcision with filler first?
I think subcision with filler first is better. Subcision targets scar depth whereas microneedling is more resurfacing. However my dermatologist says it does not matter what order you do treatments in, you will get the same result.
she recommended getting subcision first though because you get results fast and she thinks that is encouraging for people who have struggled with their scars for a long time.
On 3/17/2020 at 9:02 PM, hevek said:Wow, I'm so jealous of your results. I really need to get subcision+filler...
Thank you for posting these results... it gives me hope.
Thank you! I am very happy that you are able to see the improvement in my scars as well.
It is my intention with these posts to show a realistic progression of myscars over time with different treatments. I have come to terms with the fact that I am notgoing to see improvement over night. All of these things take time. I am happy as long as there is progress.