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This is my current skincare routine minus the hydroquinone cream (not pictured). You might need to zoom in.
Tarzarotene is my prescription cream for cell turnover. Not only does it improve scars overtime, it prevents acne and wrinkles. It™s incredibly powerful so for those who have not tried it, it will be too sensitive for some.
The vitamin e oil is new to the routine and it only has one ingredient (vitamin e). (Pictured)
I also use two of the Ordinary™s masks such as the lactic acid and the AHA mask twice a week (pictured).
Feel free to comment or ask anything about this routine.
On 4/10/2021 at 7:43 AM, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:I eat high protein (salmon, chicken, tuna, steak, eggs). Goodfats such as avocado, olive oil,walnuts/nutsmix, butter, Mayoand I eat complex carbs such as oatmeal, potato, kidney beans and sprouted bread. I also eat strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, bananaseveryday. I mix lemon juice on to every dish. I also weight trainand try to walk minimum 10,000 steps a day. I purified water constantly.I wear sunscreen and a hat in the sunshine. All this contributes to good quality skin, according to the usual nutritionist and physicianconsensus.
I dont take supplements anymore. No real reason why, I just stopped buying them. I used to be a vitamin fiend, taking all kinds of vitamins like a chronicpill popper. Something about it just stopped marking sense for me. I dont know.I just stick to the food. I apply topical vitamins though such as vitamin c and vitamin e mixed with my mineral sunscreen, of course, before application I use glycolic acid toner to open to skin to become more absorbent to the products I place on it. I also use the ordinary lactic acid mask and the AHA mask thats red twice a week and then place products to absorb better.
sleeping habits: I sleep with a silk pillow case and I try my best to sleep on my back to prevent skin issues. I used to take melatonin because I had poor sleep but I found that spending a few minutes on the sun helps me sleep better, so I stopped taking melatonin about 3 months ago.
perhaps this is far more detailed than you requested but I find it better to over-explain than to under-explain to get a greater understanding.
I hope this helped.
Thank you for that. Very useful information.
It's very interesting that you stopped with the vitamin supplements. i have like 8 different pills i'm taking so yes right now i'm the proverbial pill popper.
19 hours ago, GuyGaGa said:Thank you for that. Very useful information.
It's very interesting that you stopped with the vitamin supplements. i have like 8 different pills i'm taking so yes right now i'm the proverbial pill popper.
Haha! Oh yes! Which ones are you taking? I used to take MSM powder, oregano oil in capsules, fish oil in capsules, vitamin c, vitamin e, vitamin d3 that you store in fridge, vitamin A, melatonin, zincand a few others I cant really recall. I used to get bad irritations for hours like my skin itching all over or felt nauseous or got headaches and I still took the vitamins everyday! Holy cow. I hadeven bought this giant vitamin bookabout which vitamins absorb better than others when taken together and which one cancels the absorption of x vitamin and what time of the day is best to take x vitamin...I would spend hundreds of dollars every few months just on vitamins and I justified it. Then I just stopped buying them and I realized I didnt really need them after all. To each their own though. Im definitely that personality type of all-or-nothing, toa major fault.
4 hours ago, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:Haha! Oh yes! Which ones are you taking? I used to take MSM powder, oregano oil in capsules, fish oil in capsules, vitamin c, vitamin e, vitamin d3 that you store in fridge, vitamin A, melatonin, zincand a few others I cant really recall. I used to get bad irritations for hours like my skin itching all over or felt nauseous or got headaches and I still took the vitamins everyday! Holy cow. I hadeven bought this giant vitamin bookabout which vitamins absorb better than others when taken together and which one cancels the absorption of x vitamin and what time of the day is best to take x vitamin...I would spend hundreds of dollars every few months just on vitamins and I justified it. Then I just stopped buying them and I realized I didnt really need them after all. To each their own though. Im definitely that personality type of all-or-nothing, toa major fault.
Wow the detail in preparation is amazing! Really is. I'm taking proline, glycine and lysine (amino acids related to collagen synthesis), ester vitamin c, zinc, msm, hyaluronic acid, vitamin b12 and vitamin d. I was taking vitamin e but just had subcision with Dr. Rullan and had to stop because it may cause excess bleeding and more bruising. I was also taking collagen pills but didn't realize that it had vitamin e in it until after i had my subcision. stupid me, that's probably why i'm still bruised which i don't know, from what i hear it's a good thing. More bruising, better results? In that case maybe i should take vitamin e pills before i get subcision. Lastly, the fish oil pills which i stopped along with the vitamin e.
On top of the doxycycline that i just got for some active acne, that's what....13 different supplements/antibiotic. Of course this isn't a long term pill binge, just while i'm healing from treatments.
13 hours ago, dakotadakota said:Be careful, some vitamins have been associated to acne and can negative reactions in some sensitive people.
Thanks, yeah i was getting acne mostly around the mouth before i went on this binge of pill popping. i'm hoping this round of doxycycline can keep acne at bay along with a new skin care routine. I'll probably stop taking these vitamins in a month or so after this course of collagen generation from subcision wears out.
7 hours ago, GuyGaGa said:Wow the detail in preparation is amazing! Really is. I'm taking proline, glycine and lysine (amino acids related to collagen synthesis), ester vitamin c, zinc, msm, hyaluronic acid, vitamin b12 and vitamin d. I was taking vitamin e but just had subcision with Dr. Rullan and had to stop because it may cause excess bleeding and more bruising. I was also taking collagen pills but didn't realize that it had vitamin e in it until after i had my subcision. stupid me, that's probably why i'm still bruised which i don't know, from what i hear it's a good thing. More bruising, better results? In that case maybe i should take vitamin e pills before i get subcision. Lastly, the fish oil pills which i stopped along with the vitamin e.
On top of the doxycycline that i just got for some active acne, that's what....13 different supplements/antibiotic. Of course this isn't a long term pill binge, just while i'm healing from treatments.
Thanks, yeah i was getting acne mostly around the mouth before i went on this binge of pill popping. i'm hoping this round of doxycycline can keep acne at bay along with a new skin care routine. I'll probably stop taking these vitamins in a month or so after this course of collagen generation from subcision wears out.
Very nice! Yes, doctors have told the same thing to me about vitamin e and bruising. I think its mostly before the procedure that doctors requestthe patient stops vitamin e intakebecause they end up bleeding without stop during procedures (correct me if Im wrong).
More bruising better results thats a question Ill research for sure haha.
Ive heard of collagen pills... the issue is I can't tell if its gimmicky or if it actually produces more collagen in the body, but even then that would seem problematic for the body to overproduce collagen? My whole family takes these collagen supplements but I take issue with it because I don't know enough about it. Do you find it working for you?
yes, antibiotics. Which reminds me, antibiotics kill good bacteria in the body so probiotics or prebiotics for a month before bed might help. Otherwise you may experience bloating or other minor issues associated with taking antibiotics. The gutbacteria helps brain function and mood. Oreating probiotic-type foods such as sauerkraut and Greek yogurt.
In terms of acne, I find topical prescription creams work best for acne.I use Tazaroteneand I never get cystic acne like I used to in my teensand if I have acne, the creams takes it away within a day or so. I heard azelaic acid treats acne, as well asdifferin. Speak with your doctor about topical creams to see if its a solution for you or what your doctor recommends. The benefits of using retinal is that it also prevents wrinkles and turns over the skin faster. This is not a salespitch haha.Im not a doctor though so take what I say with a grain of salt.
On 4/13/2021 at 5:38 AM, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:Very nice! Yes, doctors have told the same thing to me about vitamin e and bruising. I think its mostly before the procedure that doctors requestthe patient stops vitamin e intakebecause they end up bleeding without stop during procedures (correct me if Im wrong).
More bruising better results thats a question Ill research for sure haha.
Ive heard of collagen pills... the issue is I can't tell if its gimmicky or if it actually produces more collagen in the body, but even then that would seem problematic for the body to overproduce collagen? My whole family takes these collagen supplements but I take issue with it because I don't know enough about it. Do you find it working for you?
yes, antibiotics. Which reminds me, antibiotics kill good bacteria in the body so probiotics or prebiotics for a month before bed might help. Otherwise you may experience bloating or other minor issues associated with taking antibiotics. The gutbacteria helps brain function and mood. Oreating probiotic-type foods such as sauerkraut and Greek yogurt.
In terms of acne, I find topical prescription creams work best for acne.I use Tazaroteneand I never get cystic acne like I used to in my teensand if I have acne, the creams takes it away within a day or so. I heard azelaic acid treats acne, as well asdifferin. Speak with your doctor about topical creams to see if its a solution for you or what your doctor recommends. The benefits of using retinal is that it also prevents wrinkles and turns over the skin faster. This is not a salespitch haha.Im not a doctor though so take what I say with a grain of salt.
It's really hard to say about the collagen pills. i only started it recently andi'm taking so many pills that it's hard to single out which one would beeffective. I have heard nothing but good reviews about these pills whatever that's worth.
And i really want to try that tazarotene. The crazy thing is that i'm 40 freaking years old! Acne should have been over and done with long time ago!
On 4/14/2021 at 11:56 PM, GuyGaGa said:
It's really hard to say about the collagen pills. i only started it recently andi'm taking so many pills that it's hard to single out which one would beeffective. I have heard nothing but good reviews about these pills whatever that's worth.
And i really want to try that tazarotene. The crazy thing is that i'm 40 freaking years old! Acne should have been over and done with long time ago!
It might be Hormonal acne or acne related to environmental factors (such as hot climate mixed in with genetics that produce a lot of sebum in sweat glands which then can produce acne) or it could be food that triggers acne, apparently something to do with gut bacteria and digestive enzymes that dont react well and then your skin breaks out. So my point being, age 40 would not be exempt from experiencing acne.
some people take accutane, I havent. I heard it has severe side effects. Ive also heard that it has so much vitamin a that it remodels the skin/scars so much that the scars appear less especially combined with acne scar treatments that are not too aggressive. This is hearsay though, Im not sure if its actually valid.
Yes, try speaking with your dermatologist about acne fighting topical creams that would react well with your skin type.
On 4/15/2021 at 3:30 AM, acknee4life said:You're looking really good! Question, it looks like your pie has improved a good amount. What would you say is the reason for that?
For œpie do you mean the redness? If so, the redness subsides over time as your body heals and the skin you treated is not inflamed. I™m still applying the hydroquinone a few times a week and it makes my skin really red and inflamed as it™s trying to change or prevent darker pigment so it™s expected. A dermatologist told me that when the skin is red, it™s sensitive to sunlight and that if you go in the sun with the red skin, the sun will damage it and cause hyperpigmentation, so for those who have the reddish color after laser, be aware that your skin is most sensitive in this phase.
other than that, my usual skin routine and hats.
On 4/16/2021 at 1:21 AM, Elwood Cruz said:I see the improvement. Will send it to my girlfriend
Thank you. I hope this helps to inspire to not give up on life and that scars are really a minor accessory. If treatment can improve scars, great but if it doesn™t, it™s also okay. I am convinced that people who have scars are resilient and brave, and thus very beautiful.
Hi, I also did multiple treatments, which were manual, I got around 60% improvement and would like to try new treatments. Very interested in laser.
I did Erbium laser with Dr. Rullan, but it was very weak, so I guess that's why didn't see much results after this laser specifically.
Your results are impressive and I like your way doing things. Top Doctors are very expensive, finding doctor locally is very wise. I believe with lasers you don't need top doctors , it is not as difficult s manual treatments, right setting is the most important thing in my opinion. And for light skin person it is even less risks.
I went through whole thread and saw you mentioned that you were treated with physician's assistant, right? Can you please give us a name and what is the city and state? Thank you
On 5/21/2021 at 10:54 AM, Lany said:Hi, I also did multiple treatments, which were manual, I got around 60% improvement and would like to try new treatments. Very interested in laser.
I did Erbium laser with Dr. Rullan, but it was very weak, so I guess that's why didn't see much results after this laser specifically.
Your results are impressive and I like your way doing things. Top Doctors are very expensive, finding doctor locally is very wise. I believe with lasers you don't need top doctors , it is not as difficult s manual treatments, right setting is the most important thing in my opinion. And for light skin person it is even less risks.
I went through whole thread and saw you mentioned that you were treated with physician's assistant, right? Can you please give us a name and what is the city and state? Thank you
Thank you! I dont want to provide names because I like to remain quite anonymous. Try discussing with your local doctors/specialists what you desire from the erbium laser and at what depth and how many passes and usually the specialist will compromise if its compatible with your skin type and ability to heal. Be bold. Tell them what you want and back it with research. If one doesnt change its methods for you, go to another one.
*this is my opinion, I am not a doctor.
Hello everyone!
This is my update on the second Erbium laser that I got in March of 2021. It™s been about three months since then so let me show you my current skin. For those who do not know, after three months, the swelling is gone and the remodeling of the scars should have occurred around this time period. This is when you should take pictures to assess progress and compare to your skin before the treatment. Hopefully doctors can change to this method of showing scar progression because taking pictures one week after treatment as a œfinal result is highly misleading. Why? Because of swelling. Swelling doesn™t make the scars appear as they normally would, yet most doctors love to take pictures when you™re swollen for scars because it makes them more sales. Anyways, I digress. Here is the after pictures.
The first set of pictures is my right cheek, by far my worst side. It™s the side that is the first picture I posted at the beginning of this post. The other side is my left, where you can see a huge boxcar scar.
some pictures appear like the same picture but they are taken at slightly different angles to show you the depth and appearance of my scars. Some scars show more than others at different angles and vice versa.
Ask my questions or leave comments, I™ll reply.
So, what™s the next step of my journey?
I have a few ideas. There is a medical clinic in my area that performs CO2 laser on dark skin. They follow a one month hydroquinone cream (bleaching cream) to reduce the chances of hyperpigmentation. I™m just happy there is a clinic in my area that is willing to do it. I have yet to see the office and the doctor/technician who performs it but as you can tell I am hopeful. Oddly enough the prices are on the website, so it appears it is $600 for a small area of CO2. I would have to ask what a small area is to them. I only have scars on my cheeks. Anyways, I will go to this clinic for a consultation sometime this month or next month with the intention to get CO2 laser.
If something is fishy or the prices go up, I™ll let you know. In the meantime this is the plan I have. I ideally desire CO2 high strength that requires a week or two of healing because I believe longer time to heal means higher chance of scar revision, this is a theory through, don™t take this as truth. Perhaps because I™m ethnic skin type, being two weeks healing would not be good.... I don™t know! That™s the point I am making, that I don™t know. What do you think?
Here is my scars under shadow lighting. I am posting this to show you how they would look at their œworst. This was taken today at June 14, 2021 at 9:30pm at night. This is with as little swelling as possible too.
My left side is my œworst side while my right side is a little less. The left side is usually posted first and the right side posted last.
48 minutes ago, LivingWithFaith said:How did you go about finding a place that does co2 on darker skin?
Hi! I go on Google and type in for example Co2 laser Austin or erbium laser Seattle meaning that I type in the machine/procedure and I type in my city. I surf through the results which is usually med spas, dermatologists, plastic surgeons, etc. and I read the website. I then read the reviews. I then read the doctors name on the website and copy paste on real self to see if anyone left a review or to see if the doctor has scar revision pictures. From there, I usually call the office and ask for pricing. Some will tell you a direct price, some will tell you that its up to the doctor which is very proper but I usually try to let them give me an express warranty [this is legal speak]so that I can say well your receptionist said it was x price, thats all I got or your receptionist said it was x price, I only have [-30% of the procedure price], can you do that?.... anyways, I added my negotiation technique because I dont like paying top price. Its the summer so you should see doctors being more reasonable because most people dont get laser treatments in the summer (it is post-covid though so there might be more demand this time but still negotiate hard because doctors need to make up lost profit from last year and they may settle easier on a lower price).
so yeah thats how I look for places. Do your research though and if the doctor seems off to you or you dont like what they are saying, just leave. There is always more doctors. This is my opinion and a lot of people may disagree with my method of finding doctors because its not a brand name scar doctor... which is fine. Who knows, I probably would get better results with a brand name scar doctor but I dont have any near me, I have fear offlights, and I dont likepaying top price so this is my way of doing it.
Update: I have a laser appointment on July 12th in the afternoon. Its a new doctor and a new procedure. This doctor is a scar expert in my area.
here is what the doctor recommended to do:
PCOL + Co2 + sculptra filler = $850.
Originally they wanted $950 but asked for to do it for $850. I probably could have asked for a lower amount and negotiated better but I got lost in the moment because the I waited for 2 hours to see this doctor. I knew once the assistant easily accepted my lower offer that I could have negotiated much better but for now I will let them win. $850 is probably the most I have paid for a single procedure so yes Im a bit upset with myself about it. Does the price matter that much? No, but I like to think I can get the lowest price as a personal satisfaction. Oh well.
As usual, I will update with pictures daily starting the minute before the procedure and the duration after the procedure until my skin is not too wounded. Then I will update three months later to assess if there is improvement. These things take time, patience is needed.The doctor said it will take 7 days to fully heal which is great in my mind. Why? Because I believe more trama to my skin means more collagen production which means better scar revision. It is a theory. I could be very wrong.
*note: please do not ask me about what doctor I am visiting as I am a very private person. Its not that I dont want you to benefit, but Imuch rather you come to your own conclusions about which doctor is best for you.
On 12/15/2020 at 12:05 AM, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:Updated: Second Erbium treatment 3/18/2021; read the thread for more info.
Acne Scar Journey from 2017 - 2020 so far (before and after photos)
I have too many pictures to post of the journey through out the years but for now I will post the beginning photo (December 2017) and the current result (December 2020)
Treatments I have done:
(5) Microneedling RF less than two months of each other (July 2019 - May 2020)
(2) subcisions (2017, 2019)
(1) fraxel laser (2017)
(1) erbium laser (June 2020)
(30+) derrapen treatments at home, I stopped around December 2019 (2018-2019)
(2) TCA cross 80% (2019)
(2) vi peel treatments (early 2019) useless, don™t waste money
(1) hydroquinoine cream before and after erbium laser, stopped after one month
My last treatment was in may of 2020 (Erbium laser)
Skincare: tarzarotene cream every night (similar to retin-A) , if I had a treatment done it would be when I was healed, sunscreen in mornings, going to start vitamin c + vitamin e moisturizer for mornings
Treatments I will continue to do: erbium laser or laser that is equivalent unless doctor recommends another route.
**I have maintained the same weight; no weight gain. No fillers. No fat graft. I have followed Dr. Davin Lim for some time and the forums here. I have gone to different doctors each time, no specific one. I go by procedures, depth and cost so the doctor who does it often does not matter to me.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
In one of the post you said rf needling didn™t work but again how do you know it didn™t work. As you had last treatment with rf may 2020 and then in June of the same year you had erbium.
The result you noticed was on five months after erbium laser. So the time is about same for both rf and laser, it would be very hard to tell if it is the rf result you were seeing or the laser. Just my observation. What are your thoughts?
4 hours ago, getsmart121 said:In one of the post you said rf needling didnt work but again how do you know it didnt work. As you had last treatment with rf may 2020 and then in June of the same year you had erbium.
The result you noticed was on five months after erbium laser. So the time is about same for both rf and laser,it would be very hard to tell if it is the rf result you were seeing or the laser. Just my observation. What are your thoughts?
Yes, I said it was underwhelming but that it was hard to tell whether or not all of those treatments made a significant difference or whether it was only one treatment that did it. I dont dispute that fact that RF may have had something to do with my improvements but what I do think is that RF didnt change, from my perspective, my scars dramatically. I had four RF treatments vs. One erbium treatment, it could be that all those RF treatments improved my scars but when I got erbium, I noticed my scars were less noticeable. Does that mean RF didnt work?No.Its just really hard to tell is my point. It issubjective because I dont know whether the four RF treatments helped or whether it was one solo treatment of erbium. What I do know is that the period after the RF treatments and the period before erbium, my scars improved very minimally. It wasntas noticeable or dramatic as erbium at the time in my opinion. Then again, I was using hydro quinine which lightens your skin and causes slight inflammation so that may have contributed to my reasoning. Like I said, its really hard to pin point what exactly made the biggest difference. All I have is photos to compare because if I look in the mirror now, I can still find a few scars to complain about and say oh that did very little and so on. Meaning that its easy to say oh I still have scars and still noticing the depths, so I need more procedures vs seeing photos takenover the years and comparing it against your current skin now, things become more objective. Thus, the only really objective tool I have is photos. You can draw your own conclusions about which did what for my skin based on my photos and treatments, thats fine. What I may think one day could change. So, you may be right that RF could have contributed to my significant improvement but from my perspective it did not do as muchdue to the picturesbetween before and after a single erbium treatment.
Even now, when I see someone ask about RF, I dont discount it because I truly dont know if it helped my skin reach this new improvement or if RF only did a little of the work involved. I usually say considerRF and see how it benefits you. For me it was underwhelming but it might be help you etc.
