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On 9/18/2020 at 1:57 AM, dazzed said:Knowing how he operates, he is MORE than likelyreading the site and taking notes on what people say about him. As for his past very suspect behavior, a lot of the charges are true. There was an incident in the past where he was accused by someone of creating fake profiles to troll people. His reaction to that was to delete ALL of his hundreds of posts.
There have been instances where other people, myself included, have challenged him on certain things when we felt what he suggested was too aggressive or needlessly complicated or expensive. He would launch personal attacks against those members who dared to call him out on this. In my case, he reported me and DELIBERATELY edited and removed posts or sections of my posts that directly challenged what he said. This was alarming enough.
Overtime another weird trend started to emerge. He would vehemently protect certain doctors, and attackpeople who had anything critical to say about the doctors and their treatment regimens. To me, that suggested that he was almost certainly getting kickbacks from these doctors and he had a financial motivation to preserve their reputations. A CLEAR CONFLICT OF INTEREST. And as everyone has noticed, he began to disappear and only give advice in DMs where it seems like he directed people to certain doctors. Doing everything in PM's meant that there was no transparency, no sharing of information, and gave him a way to hide the fact that he was getting financial kickbacks from doctors for funneling patients to their practices. I suspect that the senior moderators caught wind of this and banned him from the website for his financial dealings behind the scenes with clinics.
Look, he's more than entitled to offer his advice for a fee. No one is coercing people into seeking his advice. That said, the guy has a financial motivation to push people to the network of doctors he works with, and his advice is now biased in favor of the doctors. I seen this happen many times over the years with doctors who started out wanting to help people but became greedy when they knew how much money they could wring out of desperate scar sufferers (Rahimi being one of the most egregious examples).
My advice is that everyone needs to do their due diligence and EDUCATE themselves on the different scar treatment approaches so you don't get taken advantage of by doctors or anyone charging you for their services. Be an educated consumer.
The thing is BA did NOT gain all that knowledge by himself and he has benefited from the years of collective knowledge shared by many members. It's sad that he has decided to use the knowledge freely available here to ENRICH HIMSELF.
These are my own observations. And oh yeah... one time I openly wrote that Obi must be Lim..And guess what? My comment was removed. LOL hmmmmm
Yes!! Thank you for this post!
Do we know BA is a man? I'm pretty sure BA is not Adam Levine but I'll assume BA is male based on everbody's posts. People who have been on this forum for years know that he has provided good information for the most part. He's NOT 100% accurate but neither are doctors or any of us. Anybody who gets information or "advice" from us needs to know that we're not doctors! They need to gather information from all sources and compare...... just like getting multiple consultations from doctors or quotes from car dealerships. There are a few doctors I will recommend but along with the good things, I will mention the bad things (risks, costs, inexperience with certain procedures).
If there's any conflict of interest, it should be pointed out. Thanks to all of the members who call people out for any shady dealings. I recently saw a post here from a private practice in CA defending their doctor. In a way, I think its ok if they are trying to prevent slander or misinformation from a member, but that can also mean that there's a possibility (albeit small) that they can have other accounts referring people to their place.
Rahimi..... ugh. I don't know what to think of him. He seems like a knowledgeable doctor but his costs are so high and I read that the results from his treatments aren't astounding. He has the talk down though.Rahimi is against TCA Cross which is surprising. He says that it's hard to control TCA and that it widens the scar. This goes against many doctors but I can agree with him here. He does push for lasers all of the time - is this due to more money or better results? Someone clue me in.
11 hours ago, AcneScarGuy said:I find it hard to believe you had derma fillers and you subcised the same scars again. That is not how derma-fillers work.
And who is this Great Doctor BA recommended you? Care to share?
From what you have shared, BA did not give you a good treatment plan at all and this is a reason to avoid him.
Before even knowing which doctor you already categorized them as a bad doctor, so why would I post theirname when youre clearly trying to attack whatever is said that you dont agree with.
Im not discounting everyones experiences with BA, Im simply stating mine in case it helps anyone because it DID help my skin whether you like to hear it or not.
Youreacting like your word is the absolute truth,that is concerning. If doctors can be wrong (and often times they are) then so can you. You are literally acting like what youre complaining about BA doing.Dermal fillers can move and dissolve so yes, more subcision can be needed. Its my face and my experience,there is no reason for me to lie. I wouldnt want anyone to give up on subcision after only 2 timesbecause they read yours and others postsclaiming to know how everyone elses skin works and ignoring others experiences.
I saw your video on cupping and I think its great that you are giving demos on cupping as it is really needed. I seriously dont understand why you think it helps to minimize others experiences just because it wasnt what you experienced.
6 hours ago, hlp334 said:Before even knowing which doctor you already categorized them as a bad doctor, so why would I post theirname when youre clearly trying to attack whatever is said that you dont agree with.
Im not discounting everyones experiences with BA, Im simply stating mine in case it helps anyone because it DID help my skin whether you like to hear it or not.
Youreacting like your word is the absolute truth,that is concerning. If doctors can be wrong (and often times they are) then so can you. You are literally acting like what youre complaining about BA doing.Dermal fillers can move and dissolve so yes, more subcision can be needed. Its my face and my experience,there is no reason for me to lie. I wouldnt want anyone to give up on subcision after only 2 timesbecause they read yours and others postsclaiming to know how everyone elses skin works and ignoring others experiences.
I saw your video on cupping and I think its great that you are giving demos on cupping as it is really needed. I seriously dont understand why you think it helps to minimize others experiences just because it wasnt what you experienced.
Again. Derma fillers last quite a long time and it prop up the depressed scars. I honestly find it hard to believe you subcised the scars again. I simply state a fact and you went defensive and strawman stating I claim to be absolute truth.
You need to be honest and spell out which doctor was recommended by BA. Your claims are unfound because I would have no interaction with said doctor. The community here on the other hand may find it useful. You stated the doctor was "Great" and yet afraid of revealing him?
You may also want to post pictures of your improvement.
We are trying to help you here. You may achieve using less money.
19 minutes ago, AcneScarGuy said:Again. Derma fillers last quite a long time and it prop up the depressed scars. I honestly find it hard to believe you subcised the scars again. I simply state a fact and you went defensive and strawman stating I claim to be absolute truth.
You need to be honest and spell out which doctor was recommended by BA. Your claims are unfound because I would have no interaction with said doctor. The community here on the other hand may find it useful. You stated the doctor was "Great" and yet afraid of revealing him?
You may also want to post pictures of your improvement.
We are trying to help you here. You may achieve what you using less money.
Hey I agree with you. What you write makes a lot of sense. As much as I appreciate BA taking his time to answer my questions and give advice, he did recommend a lot of treatments , some of them too aggressive for my moderate scarring and I'm not sure it's the best piece of advice. I also think that if I go to the recommended doctor he'll offer his standard treatments to me as well.
Regarding having fillers and then subcision I am not a specialist but it could be done this way. Depends on the filler. How often you get it injected. If you have HA filler with subcision you can do another round in about 6 months bc the filler desolves. If you have Sculptra you can have subcision the next month since Sculptra is being injected not under the scar but under the skin. It's a different skin level from my understanding. So the doctor BA recommended is not necessarily a bad doctor.
8 minutes ago, BlueMaloney said:Hey I agree with you. What you write makes a lot of sense. As much as I appreciate BA taking his time to answer my questions and give advice, he did recommend a lot of treatments , some of them too aggressive for my moderate scarring and I'm not sure it's the best piece of advice. I also think that if I go to the recommended doctor he'll offer his standard treatments to me as well.
Regarding having fillers and then subcision I am not a specialist but it could be done this way. Depends on the filler. How often you get it injected. If you have HA filler with subcision you can do another round in about 6 months bc the filler desolves. If you have Sculptra you can have subcision the next month since Sculptra is being injected not under the scar but under the skin. It's a different skin level from my understanding. So the doctor BA recommended is not necessarily a bad doctor.
Yup. We need more awareness that Sculptra is nota derma filler but a collagen stimulator. It will not stop the scars from attaching back. Once it attached back, no amount of collagen can lift the scar up.
I prefer the natural healing process and it saved me money.
3 hours ago, AcneScarGuy said:Again. Derma fillers last quite a long time and it prop up the depressed scars. I honestly find it hard to believe you subcised the scars again. I simply state a fact and you went defensive and strawman stating I claim to be absolute truth.
You need to be honest and spell out which doctor was recommended by BA. Your claims are unfound because I would have no interaction with said doctor. The community here on the other hand may find it useful. You stated the doctor was "Great" and yet afraid of revealing him?
You may also want to post pictures of your improvement.
We are trying to help you here. You may achieve using less money.
You keep saying you find it hard to believe, even though Im telling you its exactly what happened. Im not straw maning you lol. Youre trying to say because it was not your experience and it does not fit into your theory then its not likely it actually happened, even though it did. You are not stating a fact, you are stating your theory thatevery case onlyneeds two subcision. Im telling you that blanket statement does not apply to everyone, and is harmful to make people think they should give up after 2 when they might still achieve better results with more.
You literally stated tell us who the doctor is so we can be wary of him. You already have anegative bias without even knowing the name.
If your intention is to help, then you should be more open to hearing others experiences and not being combative claiming it to not be true because it doesnt fit your theory of how acne scarring should be treated.
My widespread scarring has improved tremendously but there are still a coupleI want to improve. Ill take a picture before doing my next treatment,as seeing scars in the lighting needed for pictures can be triggering if Im not able to do a treatment soon. I do not know when I will do my next treatment because of the pandemic.
51 minutes ago, hlp334 said:You keep saying you find it hard to believe, even though Im telling you its exactly what happened. Im not straw maning you lol. Youre trying to say because it was not your experience and it does not fit into your theory then its not likely it actually happened, even though it did. You are not stating a fact, you are stating your theory thatevery case onlyneeds two subcision. Im telling you that blanket statement does not apply to everyone, and is harmful to make people think they should give up after 2 when they might still achieve better results with more.
You literally stated tell us who the doctor is so we can be wary of him. You already have anegative bias without even knowing the name.
If your intention is to help, then you should be more open to hearing others experiences and not being combative claiming it to not be true because it doesnt fit your theory of how acne scarring should be treated.
My widespread scarring has improved tremendously but there are still a coupleI want to improve. Ill take a picture before doing my next treatment,as seeing scars in the lighting needed for pictures can be triggering if Im not able to do a treatment soon. I do not know when I will do my next treatment because of the pandemic.
You strawman again. I stated cleared in the post that "If you have done cupping or suction properly, once or twice would be good enough" but you reduced it to saying i said you only need 2subcision.
I find it suspicious that you refused to reveal your doctor nor provide any pictures of said improvement. Without evidence, you provided wild claims with nothing to back it up. This is not how the world in general works. Until there is proof, you have nothing to contribute here.
My intent is to help clarify, because if you have seriously engaged BA, you would havepictures, and not "I will take a picture later" and "my scars are triggering" lmao. What kind of lame excuse is that?
And to everyone here, hlp334 is a highly suspicious individual linked to BA. Please take note and read with a pinch of salt for his posts. Thank you.
1 hour ago, AcneScarGuy said:You strawman again. I stated cleared in the post that "If you have done cupping or suction properly, once or twice would be good enough" but you reduced it to saying i said you only need 2subcision.
I find it suspicious that you refused to reveal your doctor nor provide any pictures of said improvement. Without evidence, you provided wild claims with nothing to back it up. This is not how the world in general works. Until there is proof, you have nothing to contribute here.
My intent is to help clarify, because if you have seriously engaged BA, you would havepictures, and not "I will take a picture later" and "my scars are triggering" lmao. What kind of lame excuse is that?
And to everyone here, hlp334 is a highly suspicious individual linked to BA. Please take note and read with a pinch of salt for his posts. Thank you.
You'rearguing with beautifulambition lol. This hlp user has randomly gone on numerous new threads this year and advertised to send DMs to BA.I almost said something when I noticed hlp/BA doing that for the fourth time. but I just laughed and ignored it. Some of the posts are exactly how BA would talk.The fact is BA is still lurking on these boards hourly, and is the type of person who would make multiple burner accounts. Odd way to spend your days, but to each their own.
On 9/11/2020 at 3:56 PM, dodgerguy said:You're either BA's burner account or BA's burner account lol. So then why did he/she delete more than half the content on the acne scar ebook and wrote in big font forusers to DM for the complete guide? I noticed this change earlier this year. When I first discovered acne.orgsummer of 2018, the whole ebook was up there with no strikethroughs on half the sections. The chemical peels guide was also taken off the sticky and eventually got deleted with the remaining ebook recently. There's absolutely no reason for other moderators to remove content that is helpful, so the scenario that BA basically packed up and took his ball home by deleting the two guides "actually makes sense."
I created a burner account in 2011 just for this moment? Tinfoil hat is strong in this one.
4 minutes ago, Nick Corona said:I created a burner account in 2011 just for this moment? Tinfoil hat is strong in this one.
Hi BA, nice of you to jump in for a comment. Funny how you want to make a comment from the Nick Corona account minutes after I made a comment about the hlp user. Did you confuse which account you were logged into by making this random comment?
15 minutes ago, dodgerguy said:Hi BA, nice of you to jump in for a comment. Funny how you want to make a comment from the Nick Corona account minutes after I made a comment about the hlp user. Did you confuse which account you were logged into by making this random comment?
You're so toxic; it's ridiculous. Get a life.
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385840-scar-treatment-need-advice/
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385809-treatment-for-my-scars/
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385612-according-to-mris-ha-fillers-last-longer-than-6-12-months/
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385437-what-treatments-should-i-get-for-my-acne-scars/
Just a few examples I found of whoever is controlling the hlp account. I hope the moderators see this, as it's a manipulation on vulnerable acne scar sufferers to promote yourself using different accounts.
1 hour ago, dodgerguy said:
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385840-scar-treatment-need-advice/
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385809-treatment-for-my-scars/
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385612-according-to-mris-ha-fillers-last-longer-than-6-12-months/
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385437-what-treatments-should-i-get-for-my-acne-scars/
Just a few examples I found of whoever is controlling the hlp account. I hope the moderators see this, as it's a manipulation on vulnerable acne scar sufferers to promote yourself using different accounts.
I™m not a BA account you™re actually insane lmao
I™m just suggesting to people what worked for me when they are literally posting for advice??? I told them to message BA because he knows way more than I do and I only know the stuff for MY specific type of scarring.
The moderators can gladly see my PM™a with him where I send pictures of my scarring and see him giving me on going advice/responding to my questions. 
Anyone talking about BA helping them and trying to tell others about him that might not know because again for the millionth time, it did actually help me, now gets hated on and tries to be called a burner account. You guys seriously think everyone needs to think exactly like you guys or there™s a conspiracy.
4 hours ago, AcneScarGuy said:You strawman again. I stated cleared in the post that "If you have done cupping or suction properly, once or twice would be good enough" but you reduced it to saying i said you only need 2 subcision.
I find it suspicious that you refused to reveal your doctor nor provide any pictures of said improvement. Without evidence, you provided wild claims with nothing to back it up. This is not how the world in general works. Until there is proof, you have nothing to contribute here.
My intent is to help clarify, because if you have seriously engaged BA, you would have pictures, and not "I will take a picture later" and "my scars are triggering" lmao. What kind of lame excuse is that?
And to everyone here, hlp334 is a highly suspicious individual linked to BA. Please take note and read with a pinch of salt for his posts. Thank you.
œhighly suspicious individual what is wrong with you guys?? also if you and you friend dodger guy read my profile past the BA comments you can see my reply™s to hormonal acne/birth control posts to determine my gender, if you guys actually care about getting the facts right.
Your argument on subcision accounts for no human error. If you have widespread scarring, they might not get every spot each time. BA never pushed only filler and did say I could do cupping, but filler was easier for me to not worry about doing cupping wrong. People have different preferences. I am allowed to state what worked for me even if you think your way is better/cheaper. How many times have you done subcision/cupping?
œYou have nothing to contribute here why do you think you get to decide that?
My scars being triggering is not a lame excuse, I™m definitely not the only one who feels triggered by posting unflattering pictures even on a scarring website. Hence why I PMed BA instead of posting publicly.
Moderators can see my very real messages with BA, see my email/location I™m sure, and see the difference. You guys attack and make unfounded claims towards anyone with a differing opinion. Insane.
Oops almost forgot to mention hi @nickcorona !! Apparently we are the same person, crazy isn™t it?
2 hours ago, dodgerguy said:
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385840-scar-treatment-need-advice/
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385809-treatment-for-my-scars/
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385612-according-to-mris-ha-fillers-last-longer-than-6-12-months/
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/385437-what-treatments-should-i-get-for-my-acne-scars/
Just a few examples I found of whoever is controlling the hlp account. I hope the moderators see this, as it's a manipulation on vulnerable acne scar sufferers to promote yourself using different accounts.
This is ridiculous. Another user recommending someone to BA does not mean it™s him in disguise. I™ve referred some people to him myself because I thought he knew what he was talking about. I™ve PM™d him personally and he gave me his opinion of my scars. I™m not holding his evaluation as gospel, but it was a resource and it was free. There™s no harm to want to share that.
10 hours ago, AcneScarGuy said:
OMG, this is insane.
Fake accounts apparently gaveme advice too. In support of BA's recommendation of 8-10 subcisions, even though I said the first subcisions didn't do much in my case. It's suspicious how those accounts only give advice on a variety of skin problems, do not seek any help with improving their scars.
Now I feel totally disheartened that I will be able to receive good advice here.
Greedy doctors disguised as patients giving feedback here, greedy "expert advisers". I'm glad that at least I went with my gut feeling and didn'ttake/didn't payfor medical advice froma total anon with an Adam Levine avatar.I generally don't mind giving a small donation but the way it was done was totally offputting.
From now on I'm reading only threads with photos, following people's scar treatments.
57 minutes ago, BlueMaloney said:OMG, this is insane.
Fake accounts apparently gaveme advice too. In support of BA's recommendation of 8-10 subcisions, even though I said the first subcisions didn't do much in my case. It's suspicious how those accounts only give advice on a variety of skin problems, do not seek any help with improving their scars.
Now I feel totally disheartened that I will be able to receive good advice here.
Greedy doctors disguised as patients giving feedback here, greedy "expert advisers". I'm glad that at least I went with my gut feeling and didn'ttake/didn't payfor medical advice froma total anon with an Adam Levine avatar.I generally don't mind giving a small donation but the way it was done was totally offputting.
From now on I'm reading only threads with photos, following people's scar treatments.
8-10 subcisions?? Who has money and time for that? I've never heard a doctor recommend that many.
Don't be totally discouraged. There are really good people whose intentions are to help members. But keep in mind that there may be a few lurking that have ulterior motives. My advice is to read all you can and get info from a variety of sources including doctors (online and consultations), articles, forums, videos. None of us are experts so don't just trust one person.
1 hour ago, squeezeMcQueen said:This is ridiculous. Another user recommending someone to BA does not mean it™s him in disguise. I™ve referred some people to him myself because I thought he knew what he was talking about. I™ve PM™d him personally and he gave me his opinion of my scars. I™m not holding his evaluation as gospel, but it was a resource and it was free. There™s no harm to want to share that.
Actually, it is ridiculous to include in many posts to new users to send a DM to someone soliciting currency. And wording it almost like BA would before he stopped commenting under the beautifulambition username.
I see that you joined May 20, but seem to know a lot with 20 something posts.
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/386274-acne-scarring-help/page/4/#comment-3631609
Other than BA, no one has ever made this claim about Dr. Rullan the way you did. I also know that BA referred users to the FAQ page with those threads as examples and not aware of any other user doing so like this.
This post looks like something BA would type up, not a newer user.
This was on the first page of this thread. What new user would make such a defense for BA? BA wasn't giving advice anymore and more than half the ebook was deleted already.
The fact that these users (hlp334, Nick Corona, SqueezeMcQueen) jump on this thread after I showed proof of the shady posts is VERY suspicious. Who defends a random person that decided not to help people in the forum in an effort to make money through DMs? Added to this is the fact that BA is proven to be a neurotic individual, and I have no doubt BA is lurking hourly to watch what's typed on the forum. Burners? Not burners and just odd folks? It's 2020, who knows haha.
38 minutes ago, Amanda Hall said:8-10 subcisions?? Who has money and time for that? I've never heard a doctor recommend that many.
Don't be totally discouraged. There are really good people whose intentions are to help members. But keep in mind that there may be a few lurking that have ulterior motives. My advice is to read all you can and get info from a variety of sources including doctors (online and consultations), articles, forums, videos. None of us are experts so don't just trust one person.
3-8 or 8-10 subcisions you get the idea. Do as much as possible, even though you don't see results. It's a recommendation by BA, that I've seen echoed by other board members (who now seem to be fake accounts). I was shocked that I wrote with one of them..
Yes, I am trying to read/ watch / consult with doctorsa lot because everything is still so confusing. With doctors it is often the case that they chase their own financial interest and have totally different opinions. It's like if you go to 2 doctors, you'll get 3 different opinions.
And now this circus with BA deleting valuable content and apparently operating fake accounts...i'm speechless. Not to mention that this whole thread seems to have started as a covered advertisement for BA.
I'll be following the forum but from now on I'm only interested in photo documented scar treatment threads and will take every other suggestion with a grain of salt.
11 minutes ago, BlueMaloney said:3-8 or 8-10 subcisions you get the idea. Do as much as possible, even though you don't see results. It's a recommendation by BA, that I've seen echoed by other board members (who now seem to be fake accounts). I was shocked that I wrote with one of them..
Yes, I am trying to read/ watch / consult with doctorsa lot because everything is still so confusing. With doctors it is often the case that they chase their own financial interest and have totally different opinions. It's like if you go to 2 doctors, you'll get 3 different opinions.
And now this circus with BA deleting valuable content and apparently operating fake accounts...i'm speechless. Not to mention that this whole thread seems to have started as a covered advertisement for BA.
I'll be following the forum but from now on I'm only interested in documented scar treatment threads and will take every other suggestion with a grain of salt.
Many doctors will only recommend treatments they are familiar with. For example, why would they say go to Doctor XYZ when they can pocket hundreds or thousands of dollars for themselves? You can bet that some doctors who have older lasers are trying to make their money back or milk the machine for as much as they can and won't bother learning about newer and better tools.
By the way, many of us know that there aren't many scar specialists so a few of them are mentioned quite often here. That's good because we're directing patients to them so they can get good treatment. However, let's keep it real. Those doctors can have good hearts but at the same time be greedy as hell. It doesn't take a genius to realize that doctors like one "down under" post on RealSelf for monetary purposes. The doctor I recommend raised his costs substantially because of the traffic he was getting. I wish there were more scar specialists....
3 minutes ago, Amanda Hall said:Many doctors will only recommend treatments they are familiar with. For example, why would they say go to Doctor XYZ when they can pocket hundreds or thousands of dollars for themselves? You can bet that some doctors who have older lasers are trying to make their money back or milk the machine for as much as they can and won't bother learning about newer and better tools.
You are right. Doctors won't send you away and will treat you fully knowing that their treatment isn't going to help or worse can cause more damage. I'm really struggling to find a good doctor who can help me right now.
I was interested in Dr Emil and his Genius treatment but I have read about grid mark issues on thin sensitive skin and my skin is super sensitive. His endorsement of BA when BA turns out to be a dubious individual doesn't convince either.
7 minutes ago, BlueMaloney said:You are right. Doctors won't send you away and will treat you fully knowing that their treatment isn't going to help or worse can cause more damage. I'm really struggling to find a good doctor who can help me right now.
I was interested in Dr Emil and his Genius treatment but I have read about grid mark issues on thin sensitive skin and my skin is super sensitive. His endorsement of BA when BA turns out to be a dubious individual doesn't convince either.
I had Infini treatmentseveral times. I got grid marks but only during recovery. However, I saw on someone's beauty blog that the grid marks were present after recovery and she got the same treatment done. Her website and YouTube are not available now but this is her: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/396598310917765223/ . Does this mean it will happen to you? There are so many variables like doctor's skill level, depth, area of treatment. I can't tell you what's going to happen unfortunately.
I think you should keep some guard up but not totally dismiss those people you mentioned. It sucks that money has to be a focal point when we discuss these people but the more important thing is: are they providing good treatment plans?