It looks great! Thanks for the updates.

Is it weird that I'm envious of your scar pattern? It looks so soft and just kind of rolls. You can either keep going with your treatments and fill them in with your natural collagen, or you can be like me, lazy (lol) and go for filler. Unfortunately my scars have defined edges. They're not even that deep, just sharp edges which doesn't respond to filler.

2 hours ago, LivingWithFaith said:

It looks great! Thanks for the updates.

Is it weird that I'm envious of your scar pattern? It looks so soft and just kind of rolls. You can either keep going with your treatments and fill them in with your natural collagen, or you can be like me, lazy (lol) and go for filler. Unfortunately my scars have defined edges. They're not even that deep, just sharp edges which doesn't respond to filler.

Why don't you get tangential laser just on threscars' edges, the technique Dr Mark Taylor propagates? Not full face, just on the damaged skin of the scars. Smooth the edges out and then get filler, it will look better than filler under sharp edged scars.

11 hours ago, LivingWithFaith said:

It looks great! Thanks for the updates.

Is it weird that I'm envious of your scar pattern? It looks so soft and just kind of rolls. You can either keep going with your treatments and fill them in with your natural collagen, or you can be like me, lazy (lol) and go for filler. Unfortunately my scars have defined edges. They're not even that deep, just sharp edges which doesn't respond to filler.

Thank you so much for your kind words. I appreciate it immensely. Im still thinking of excising mylarge box scar on my right cheek. Do you think collagen will fill in?

41 minutes ago, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:

Thank you so much for your kind words. I appreciate it immensely. Im still thinking of excising mylarge box scar on my right cheek. Do you think collagen will fill in?

Before you do something permanent to your skin like surgery, I think you're better off getting some filler injected into it. Perhaps do a thorough subcision on that one box scar and then fill it in. Try that for a year or two and if you like the results, keep at it and consider a semi permanent one. The thing with excision is that you cannot go back. Surgery changes the structure of your skin. At least with acne scars, they are natural scars and can blend into your skin especially if the lighting is good. Surgical scars are a whole other thing and if done by the wrong hands, you will be kicking yourself for a very long time. Excision shouldn't be glamourized like it's been lately. It should only be done in worst case scenarios where you have more to gain than lose. Before choosing excision, try to find how surgical scars look on those with your ethnic skin type. Then try to imagine how that will look on your face. It may change your mind all together. Choose filler first or continue with other collagen stimulating treatments. It's possible that collagen will eventually fill it in, but it may take a long time. You can inject filler into it in the meantime while waiting for the natural collagen to fill in, some fillers can even stimulate collagen production. Also, make sure you're drinking collagen supplements as well.

9 hours ago, JaysonC said:

Why don't you get tangential laser just on threscars' edges, the technique Dr Mark Taylor propagates? Not full face, just on the damaged skin of the scars. Smooth the edges out and then get filler, it will look better than filler under sharp edged scars.

I may eventually try this, thank you

1 hour ago, LivingWithFaith said:

Before you do something permanent to your skin like surgery, I think you're better off getting some filler injected into it. Perhaps do a thorough subcision on that one box scar and then fill it in. Try that for a year or two and if you like the results, keep at it and consider a semi permanent one. The thing with excision is that you cannot go back. Surgery changes the structure of your skin. At least with acne scars, they are natural scars and can blend into your skin especially if the lighting is good. Surgical scars are a whole other thing and if done by the wrong hands, you will be kicking yourself for a very long time. Excision shouldn't be glamourized like it's been lately. It should only be done in worst case scenarios where you have more to gain than lose. Before choosing excision, try to find how surgical scars look on those with your ethnic skin type. Then try to imagine how that will look on your face. It may change your mind all together. Choose filler first or continue with other collagen stimulating treatments. It's possible that collagen will eventually fill it in, but it may take a long time. You can inject filler into it in the meantime while waiting for the natural collagen to fill in, some fillers can even stimulate collagen production. Also, make sure you're drinking collagen supplements as well.

I may eventually try this, thank you

I agree with him, for soft boxcars surgery is not worth it. But if it really affects you a lot, if that is the only scar that bothers you compared to all. Then you can go for surgery as you are not excising all of them. If you go for surgery dont excise the complete boxcar area as it will be too big and the risk of opening up will be high so instead just break up the scar by excising the middle portion of the scar. The only reason you hate it is because it has a large area to it.

where I disagree with living with faith surgery scars also can be improved as same as acne scars as long as it is a skin and if you doany damage to it it will reshape the scars. Why do you think we do lasers post excision if you cant do anything about surgery then? But again I think excision should be reserved for deep scars icepick or boxcar scars and should be tried by doing 1 or 2 to see how your skin heals before indulging in many excision .Amy from rullan office told me phenol chemobrasion removes even the linear scarring left behind from surgery.But again if filler can help you, then by all means just fill it up, as in our mind that is the important thing but from people point of view, its the overall look.

11 minutes ago, getsmart121 said:

I agree with him, for soft boxcars surgery is not worth it. But if it really affects you a lot, if that is the only scar that bothers you compared to all. Then you can go for surgery as you are not excising all of them. If you go for surgery dont excise the complete boxcar area as it will be too big and the risk of opening up will be high so instead just break up the scar by excising the middle portion of the scar. The only reason you hate it is because it has a large area to it.

where I disagree with living with faith surgery scars also can be improved as same as acne scars as long as it is a skin and if you doany damage to it it will reshape the scars. Why do you think we do lasers post excision if you cant do anything about surgery then? But again I think excision should be reserved for deep scars icepick or boxcar scars and should be tried by doing 1 or 2 to see how your skin heals before indulging in many excision .Amy from rullan office told me phenol chemobrasion removes even the linear scarring left behind from surgery.But again if filler can help you, then by all means just fill it up, as in our mind that is the important thing but from people point of view, its the overall look.

With all due respect Getsmart, I don't thinkanyone should comment much on a specific procedure or persuade anyone to get it if they haven't received it themselves. No one should be commenting at length about excision or any procedure unless they have personal experience with it. I'm doing my best to educate you all about the risks of excision because I wish someone had sat me down and explained this to me, especially in the context of dark, ethnic skin. Dontgiveup is ethnic herself, so I'm trying to explain the risk factor here since most of these derms are white and have only studied white textbook cases in school and mainly work with white patients, so theyaren't nearly as informed on how drastic procedures such as excision may affect darker skin tones. The reasonable ones will decline all together.

And again, no disrespect, but excising the middle of a scar is a terrible idea. That will only make it deeper. I would know, my doc did that for one of mine and it is deeper than before. If you must excise it, try to do the whole thing.

The main reason I don't recommend she get excision is that the scar is quite wide, more than 3 mm, and it's on the cheek which is an area of thick skin and may likely heal poorly. If it was towards the edge of her face or an area of thin skin, it's more likely to be an unnoticeable scar. I just don't want her to be unhappy with a long line on her face that stands out from her other soft scars.

You all also bring up laser as if that's a guarantee that the post-excision scar will be almost invisible afterwards. You cannot guarantee that especially since often lasers can barely make even the shallowest of scarredpores budge. Please don't comment on something with no experience. It's irresponsible and leads people to making decisions they cannot reverse.

2 hours ago, LivingWithFaith said:

With all due respect Getsmart, I don't thinkanyone should comment much on a specific procedure or persuade anyone to get it if they haven't received it themselves. No one should be commenting at length about excision or any procedure unless they have personal experience with it. I'm doing my best to educate you all about the risks of excision because I wish someone had sat me down and explained this to me, especially in the context of dark, ethnic skin. Dontgiveup is ethnic herself, so I'm trying to explain the risk factor here since most of these derms are white and have only studied white textbook cases in school and mainly work with white patients, so theyaren't nearly as informed on how drastic procedures such as excision may affect darker skin tones. The reasonable ones will decline all together.

And again, no disrespect, but excising the middle of a scar is a terrible idea. That will only make it deeper. I would know, my doc did that for one of mine and it is deeper than before. If you must excise it, try to do the whole thing.

The main reason I don't recommend she get excision is that the scar is quite wide, more than 3 mm, and it's on the cheek which is an area of thick skin and may likely heal poorly. If it was towards the edge of her face or an area of thin skin, it's more likely to be an unnoticeable scar. I just don't want her to be unhappy with a long line on her face that stands out from her other soft scars.

You all also bring up laser as if that's a guarantee that the post-excision scar will be almost invisible afterwards. You cannot guarantee that especially since often lasers can barely make even the shallowest of scarredpores budge. Please don't comment on something with no experience. It's irresponsible and leads people to making decisions they cannot reverse.

Anything you do on face is aggressive for instance high strength tca can make the scar deeper as well, I do understand what you are saying about ethnicity being an issue when healing from excision. I believe thick skin in general heal differently than thin skin that is why I said do 1 or 2 to see how you respond to the procedure it is not an exact science and the best way to know is how you heal from it. If you heal poorly doesn't mean she will. Its her choice to makeand where i agree with youon this is she needs to evaluate the risk vs reward. Regarding the persuasion part, I am not getting a commission ifshe does excision.If you have seen my posts whenever i mention excision I do mention the risk of opening up or healing with indent, its not like I am showing the green side of things only but when you have a really deep scar the trade off is definitely worth it, only you can tell that. You have to visualize in your mind indented thin line or excision being openedor the current scar and think which one is better.

At the end of the day nothing is guaranteed in terms of risk, anything can happen with cosmetic procedures, we can debate the risk part but the risk stays with any procedure. Countless people have also claimed that tca made their scars worse, does that mean you stop doing tca, we dont know how the application was performed or just that the person healed poorly. But if she had tried the conservative procedures already and then its her choice to make. But in her case I don't see the scars are deep enough for excision.

46 minutes ago, getsmart121 said:

Anything you do on face is aggressive for instance high strength tca can make the scar deeper as well, I do understand what you are saying about ethnicity being an issue when healing from excision. I believe thick skin in general heal differently than thin skin that is why I said do 1 or 2 to see how you respond to the procedure it is not an exact science and the best way to know is how you heal from it. If you heal poorly doesn't mean she will. Its her choice to makeand where i agree with youon this is she needs to evaluate the risk vs reward. Regarding the persuasion part, I am not getting a commission ifshe does excision.If you have seen my posts whenever i mention excision I do mention the risk of opening up or healing with indent, its not like I am showing the green side of things only but when you have a really deep scar the trade off is definitely worth it, only you can tell that. You have to visualize in your mind indented thin line or excision being openedor the current scar and think which one is better.

At the end of the day nothing is guaranteed in terms of risk, anything can happen with cosmetic procedures, we can debate the risk part but the risk stays with any procedure. Countless people have also claimed that tca made their scars worse, does that mean you stop doing tca, we dont know how the application was performed or just that the person healed poorly. But if she had tried the conservative procedures already and then its her choice to make. But in her case I don't see the scars are deep enough for excision.

They really aren't deep enough for excision, I'm glad we can agree on that. Punches are lower risk in a way that they won't leave this long line across her face but her scar is too wide for one so excision shouldn't be an option inmyopinion. If you know you can't live with a scar potentially getting worse, then just don't do it. That's my new motto.

And of course you don't gain commission from excision or other procedures, I wasn't implying that, but the way some of these other posters move on this forum, you would think they did. My point is to justbe very careful with what you put in people's heads regarding acne scar revision because a lot of us are coming from extremely desperate and psychologically broken places and will do anything for relief. Even a casual suggestion of excision or some other not so conservative procedure will have some of these posters jump at it and possibly make things worse if they don't do their research. I would know, I was one of them and used to romanticize excision. Not so much anymore and wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did. If you do any procedure, be conservative no matter how trustworthy the doctor may seem. Patch test everything.

26 minutes ago, LivingWithFaith said:

They really aren't deep enough for excision, I'm glad we can agree on that. Punches are lower risk in a way that they won't leave this long line across her face but her scar is too wide for one so excision shouldn't be an option inmyopinion. If you know you can't live with a scar potentially getting worse, then just don't do it. That's my new motto.

And of course you don't gain commission from excision or other procedures, I wasn't implying that, but the way some of these other posters move on this forum, you would think they did. My point is to justbe very careful with what you put in people's heads regarding acne scar revision because a lot of us are coming from extremely desperate and psychologically broken places and will do anything for relief. Even a casual suggestion of excision or some other not so conservative procedure will have some of these posters jump at it and possibly make things worse if they don't do their research. I would know, I was one of them and used to romanticize excision. Not so much anymore and wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did. If you do any procedure, be conservative no matter how trustworthy the doctor may seem. Patch test everything.

Agreed, we can always end up worse than before which we dont want. I just wish every doctor would identify 4 similar scars of each scar type such as ice pick, boxcar and rolling and then do 4 different procedures for each type to see what is working for that patient instead of wasting months just to know that the procedure didnt worked. We could call it a patch test for scars. If improvement is there then we need to do more of that procedure.

you could say that doctors experience should show if a procedure worked or not but again we dont know if it will work in that specific person. Oneperson could respond to that procedure better but the other could perform worse.

20 minutes ago, LivingWithFaith said:

They really aren't deep enough for excision, I'm glad we can agree on that. Punches are lower risk in a way that they won't leave this long line across her face but her scar is too wide for one so excision shouldn't be an option inmyopinion. If you know you can't live with a scar potentially getting worse, then just don't do it. That's my new motto.

And of course you don't gain commission from excision or other procedures, I wasn't implying that, but the way some of these other posters move on this forum, you would think they did. My point is to justbe very careful with what you put in people's heads regarding acne scar revision because a lot of us are coming from extremely desperate and psychologically broken places and will do anything for relief. Even a casual suggestion of excision or some other not so conservative procedure will have some of these posters jump at it and possibly make things worse if they don't do their research. I would know, I was one of them and used to romanticize excision. Not so much anymore and wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did. If you do any procedure, be conservative no matter how trustworthy the doctor may seem. Patch test everything.

I know I am responsible for my own choice to do a procedure. I like a good debate about the merits of excision. I am researching excision and may or may not do it. I would have to see my doctor about it anyways and ponder. But for right now, I'm not relying on it. I'm just letting you know its in my thoughts.

11 minutes ago, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:

I know I am responsible for my own choice to do a procedure. I like a good debate about the merits of excision. I am researching excision and may or may not do it. I would have to see my doctor about it anyways and ponder. But for right now, I'm not relying on it. I'm just letting you know its in my thoughts.

You seem logical and levelheaded so I can't see you making a completely ill informed decision anyway. Most of my knowledge of acne scars comes from bad decisions honestly lol. Hindsight is 20/20. Good luck with your future treatments! Your skin is looking good.

48 minutes ago, LivingWithFaith said:

You seem logical and levelheaded so I can't see you making a completely ill informed decision anyway. Most of my knowledge of acne scars comes from bad decisions honestly lol. Hindsight is 20/20. Good luck with your future treatments! Your skin is looking good.

Thank you, my love. I would think some of your "bad decisions"comes from hope and faith. Don't punish yourself too much.

Hello everyone! Im scheduling consults with my current dermatologist and Im going to try to schedule other consults with plastic surgeons. Im going to see if I can excise my boxscar on my rightcheek. Any questions I should ask the doctors? Such as stitching technique or when to perform the laser, either right after stitches are removed or 1 month after stitch removal. I know many of you have warned me about the risks on excision. Im going to see how this excision goes. If I dont like it, I wont do others. If I do like it, I will probably do four more excisions that are a bit smaller then the boxscar one. I know this information will let some people down but I dont think collagen will fill in my boxscar. Crossing fingers that everythinggoes well if I get a doctor to remove the boxscar.

Im leaving a article I read on scar excision on ethnic skin types. I liked the scar excision of the boxscar that the male had in the artcle. I know that age and skin type might be a factor that can work against me. Im aware of the risks.

https://dermatology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2956&sectionid=248485767

Ill let you all know what the doctors say and the prices as usual. And if I get the excision I will document it here.

4 hours ago, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:

Hello everyone! Im scheduling consults with my current dermatologist and Im going to try to schedule other consults with plastic surgeons. Im going to see if I can excise my boxscar on my rightcheek. Any questions I should ask the doctors? Such as stitching technique or when to perform the laser, either right after stitches are removed or 1 month after stitch removal. I know many of you have warned me about the risks on excision. Im going to see how this excision goes. If I dont like it, I wont do others. If I do like it, I will probably do four more excisions that are a bit smaller then the boxscar one. I know this information will let some people down but I dont think collagen will fill in my boxscar. Crossing fingers that everythinggoes well if I get a doctor to remove the boxscar.

Im leaving a article I read on scar excision on ethnic skin types. I liked the scar excision of the boxscar that the male had in the artcle. I know that age and skin type might be a factor that can work against me. Im aware of the risks.

https://dermatology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2956&sectionid=248485767

Ill let you all know what the doctors say and the prices as usual. And if I get the excision I will document it here.

Here is how to decide if you should proceed, do you think you will be to accept anindented closed scar, flat scar ideal situation, or opening up with some depth compared to the current soft scar you have ?

Ask them about dissolvable sutures to keep the stitches longer and if it help excision in your case just for added support longer, seeif they have done excision specifically for acne scar patients, seequality before and after pictures, see if they think combininglaser and excision in the same session look better there was a study done were both of these were done together and the output was it healed with no excision line. In my opinion soft edged box scars are better with filler than taking risk for a bigger excision, the larger area excisingthere is more risk. The smaller the excision less chance of things going wrong. Also how many sutures would be added.

9 hours ago, getsmart121 said:

Here is how to decide if you should proceed, do you think you will be to accept anindented closed scar, flat scar ideal situation, or opening up with some depth compared to the current soft scar you have ?

Ask them about dissolvable sutures to keep the stitches longer and if it help excision in your case just for added support longer, seeif they have done excision specifically for acne scar patients, seequality before and after pictures, see if they think combininglaser and excision in the same session look better there was a study done were both of these were done together and the output was it healed with no excision line. In my opinion soft edged box scars are better with filler than taking risk for a bigger excision, the larger area excisingthere is more risk. The smaller the excision less chance of things going wrong. Also how many sutures would be added.

Thank you! I will ask about dissolving sutures. I had a rhinoplasty in 2019 and they cut my septum skin area to perform the procedure and I had a stitches for 5 days and they were removed. I healed great on my septum area and I have no scar. Not even one line. I didnt even get laser for it. I also have two dots of when they performed the rhinoplasty on my eye area that healed well, one of them has a white pigment but you cant really tell. Im not saying that I heal well, but I have a little bit of confidence in my ability to heal one line. Maybe the skin is different on my septum area but I am hoping for the best. I have one consultation with my first doctor who did the Co2 laser on the 25th of August. So far I have called three plastic surgeons but with no successful consultations yet because they either have to call me back because they are busy or they want me to pay for the consult over the phone which I think is ridiculous. Then again, it is my face. I just want to see as many doctors that are knowledgeable on scar excision as I can in my area. I will not stop until I see one that I truly trust. My doctor who did the Co2, I dont trust completely to be fairly honest. But lets see what she says on the 25th.

If you're set on excision, find a derm who specializes in Mohs surgery. They know better than a lot of doctors on how certain parts of the face are likely to heal along with having meticulous stitching techniques.

On 8/13/2021 at 9:49 AM, LivingWithFaith said:

If you're set on excision, find a derm who specializes in Mohs surgery. They know better than a lot of doctors on how certain parts of the face are likely to heal along with having meticulous stitching techniques.

I figured that. Mohssurgery is what I was researching along side excision. I will call a few MohsSurgery doctors based on your recommendation. My only concern is getting laser after the stitching is removed. I hope they understand that for me this is a requirement. I guess I could go to my original doctor who did Co2 for laser if I was in a pitch. I'm going to do only this one scar to see how I heal and if the results are good, I will remove other scars. I just want to voice how grateful I am for you and this community. I am almost to the point of tears. I am extremely grateful for all of you.

3 hours ago, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:

I figured that. Mohrs surgery is what I was researching along side excision. I will call a few Mohrs Surgery doctors based on your recommendation. My only concern is getting laser after the stitching is removed. I hope they understand that for me this is a requirement. I guess I could go to my original doctor who did Co2 for laser if I was in a pitch. I'm going to do only this one scar to see how I heal and if the results are good, I will remove other scars. I just want to voice how grateful I am for you and this community. I am almost to the point of tears. I am extremely grateful for all of you.

Well this is interesting , i ve seen pics online tumors removed and great results almost no scar , keep us informed , i really wonder what dr will tell you , problemwith some scars , esp deeper boxcars is that they dont respond to any treatment , so the only way is the excision really

Here™s an update. I called two Mohs surgery doctors in my area. One of them I had to send pictures to the office and the doctor would see if I was a candidate for scar excision. I sent the pictures above this comment. The assistant replied that the doctor rejected the procedure and referred me to an office that does laser. That™s no help. Then I called another office that has a mohs surgeon at this rather large dermatology office and I have a consultation but they require $250 just to see the doctor. I told the assistant that they didn™t even have before and after pictures and I refused to pay the consult fee and requested that she wave it. She kind of went back and forth with me and I said œI will be there on the appointment date (August 31) but I™m not paying the fee¦ I guess I™ll take up the fight with the front desk lady. I say œfight very lightly. I™m not at all hostile to anyone, even on the phone, but I am direct. No one takes me seriously anyways because I sound like I™m 12 years old, haha. 
 

So I was at the gym today (on the treadmill) and I searched up œscar excision and saw every video that popped up. I saw one where a facial plastic surgeon was talking about scar excision and the methods he uses. Well, I found key information about silicone gel and silicone strips to be used for THREE months. I looked up the silicone gel on Amazon, it™s $202. To improve an excision scar, I will pay this price for a gel. I will also purchase silicone strips but I can™t find the brand that the doctor recommended on Amazon (Silagen). I will link the video here so that you can see it. There is other information I saw about collagen which I thought was interesting. 

So, armed with this information, I decided to look up FACIAL plastic surgeons. I don™t know why I didn™t think of that sooner. So, I found two doctors that do œreconstruction surgery for scars and such and they look very promising based on the before and afters. I will call them tomorrow and try to schedule an appointment. The only downfall with facial plastic surgeons that are popular is that they are hard to book and also usually very high priced. I™m scared of having a scar excision for $3,000 or something. Then again, where is my line in terms of scar excision price? I don™t know yet. I would have to compare each doctors price that I visit and also my subjective level of trust that the procedure will be done in good hands. 

Then, I watched a video of this women who had an accident where something cut open the skin under her eye area and she had it stitched up. There are two videos: one where she describes the procedure and then the second is a video TWO YEARS LATER and shows the results. It™s very interesting. She™s also young and ethnic, which is very interesting to me. 

So this is my update. I hope all this aids you with more knowledge in some form or at least let™s you know how I am navigating finding doctors and appointments. I™m about to upload today™s photos that I took after the gym, in the gym lighting. This is the scar I want to excise and hopefully it™s shown better each time I take pictures.

Oh I don™t know if I said this but I want a doctor to perform Scalpel excision on the top layer of my skin because I don™t think it™s in the other layers. I took anatomy 1 in college and got a C so don™t take this as fact hahah. 

Regarding silicone, I recommend silicone tape rather than gel as soon as the sutures come out. A really strong, adhesive one kept on for 24 hrs a day can make even the worst post op incisions heal to a fine white line and prevent hypertrophy. Though my punch procedure was kind of a disaster, silicone really sped up the healing process. Myredness cleared up within 4 months though they usually predict 6 or more. I used Aroamas for 3 consistent months and majority of my punches look like nothing ever happened. It's the few areas that I slacked on that started healing funny, but with time they have normalized. There's alsoScaraway which is cheaper, but that stuff would NOT stick to my face, probably because my skin is so oily. These brands are both on amazon.

I think it's worth a shot to call that first office and ask why he rejected it. It may give you some useful insight.

If you happen to be in Texas, I know of a derm surgeon I recently discovered who did an excellent excision on someone with a similar depression as yours. The woman appeared elderly though, but the scar right after suture removal was already nearly invisible which is a good sign.

I too think it's ridiculous to pay $250 to consult onwhether they can remove your scar. It makes sense if it gets applied to your procedure, but it's terrible practice to pay anyone you just met that kind of money. What if there's a personality clash? I would only pay if there's proof that they've successfully done this specific procedure.

I think it's great that you've been able to bargain with these offices so far. I didn't even think that was possible. I usually just ask if I can just send them photos for them to relay to the doctor and more often than not, they get back to me and tell me whether or not they could help. Saves time and money.

Not to minimize your concerns, but I swear I would be getting a good night's rest every night if I had your scars. Your skin has come such a long way already.

1 hour ago, LivingWithFaith said:

Regarding silicone, I recommend silicone tape  rather than gel as soon as the sutures come out. A really strong, adhesive one kept on for 24 hrs a day can make even the worst post op incisions heal to a fine white line and prevent hypertrophy. Though my punch procedure was kind of a disaster, silicone really sped up the healing process. My redness cleared up within 4 months though they usually predict 6 or more. I used Aroamas for 3 consistent months and majority of my punches look like nothing ever happened. It's the few areas that I slacked on that started healing funny, but with time they have normalized. There's also Scaraway which is cheaper, but that stuff would NOT stick to my face, probably because my skin is so oily. These brands are both on amazon.

I think it's worth a shot to call that first office and ask why he rejected it. It may give you some useful insight.

If you happen to be in Texas, I know of a derm surgeon I recently discovered who did an excellent excision on someone with a similar depression as yours. The woman appeared elderly though, but the scar right after suture removal was already nearly invisible which is a good sign.

I too think it's ridiculous to pay $250 to consult on whether they can remove your scar. It makes sense if it gets applied to your procedure, but it's terrible practice to pay anyone you just met that kind of money. What if there's a personality clash? I would only pay if there's proof that they've successfully done this specific procedure. 

I think it's great that you've been able to bargain with these offices so far. I didn't even think that was possible. I usually just ask if I can just send them photos for them to relay to the doctor and more often than not, they get back to me and tell me whether or not they could help. Saves time and money.

Not to minimize your concerns, but I swear I would be getting a good night's rest every night if I had your scars. Your skin has come such a long way already.

I love your detailed response! I added your silicone sheets to my Amazon list. You are amazing.
 

Would it be redundant to use silicone gel and silicone sheets? I won™t use scaraway now that you mention it because I have very oily skin as well. Love this information. I™m so happy your punches look great, that motivates me even more! I™m starting school this month for my doctorates degree and I™d just like to say it™s very convenient for when I get the excision to wear a mask during the stitches and even with the silicone sheets. Makes me feel more comfortable about it. 

Also, when it comes to a resurfacing laser after the stitches come out, should it be immediately after the stitches are out or 1 month after the procedure? 

I™ll try to remember to call the office and ask why. 

I™m not in Texas, unfortunately  I™m happy to know this procedure has worked on someone else with great results. 
 

yes, I figure it™s the summer and there has got to be less people coming to the offices so doctors must want new patients but lately it™s been really hard to even get a call back. I think it™s the post-covid surge in people wanting treatments from being on Zoom for 8 hours a day. Just a theory. I doubt the office will turn me away when I™m there because I won™t pay the consult fee, that™s just poor business skills. Then again, another office tried to collect cancellation payment over the phone and I refused, to which the office assistant would not budge. Lost a potential client! 
 

You won™t minimize my concerns, you can express yourself. You are very kind. Thank you for saying this. Lately I feel optimistic about removing that dreaded boxscar on the right cheek. I™m quite excited! And now with the added bonus of using silicone sheets/gel, I feel much better about it. Maybe I shouldn™t be too happy yet because anything can go wrong, so I™ll tone it down (note to self: calm down) haha  Do you have a journey to document? I™d love to see your results. If you don™t that™s fine too, I™m simply curious. 

I love this community! 

You're very welcome. I'm enjoying your journey so far. You've made great strides and you're going about this in a really methodical way which is refreshing.

And yes, it would be redundant. You have to choose either the gel or silicone sheet. You can't do both, believe me I've tried and that just lowers the efficacy of both of them. The silicone sheet needs absolutely dry, ideally recently cleansed skin to stick its best (just fyi, if you think you need to get a fresh sheet since the previous one is no longer sticky, try just washing your skin and it will stick better). Silicone gel needs to be applied as a thin layer and then absorbed throughout the day. Compliance is usually better with the gel since you apply it twice a day and let it dry rather than having a sheet on your face or other exposed body part, but I think sheets provide a better healing environment since you don't have to worry about it rubbing off or not having applied enough of the gel.

And no lol, I didn't mean my punches look great as in removal of scars (a few were completely removed and look good, but majority look the same as previously). It all could've been worse though without silicone use is what I meant.

Do resurfacing as soon as the stitches come out and also a month afterwards to be safe. You can do this up to 3 months which is when most scars are basically at the beginning of their maturation phase. The more resurfacing, the better.

I've been experimenting with some treatments, but I haven't reached any major goals yet. I'd rather not document a journey and then not finish it because I lose interest or motivation. I'd rather document once I have something worthwhile to share. I hate seeing unfinished journeys on here and never want to be one of them. I love that you and Shei have been so consistent with your journeys and documenting the good as well as the bad. You have no idea how invaluable this is to the entire acne scar community. I really appreciate you both and the other posters of the past who have had well documented, successful journeys.

38 minutes ago, LivingWithFaith said:

You're very welcome. I'm enjoying your journey so far. You've made great strides and you're going about this in a really methodical way which is refreshing. 

And yes, it would be redundant. You have to choose either the gel or silicone sheet. You can't do both, believe me I've tried and that just lowers the efficacy of both of them. The silicone sheet needs absolutely dry, ideally recently cleansed skin to stick its best (just fyi, if you think you need to get a fresh sheet since the previous one is no longer sticky, try just washing your skin and it will stick better). Silicone gel needs to be applied as a thin layer and then absorbed throughout the day. Compliance is usually better with the gel since you apply it twice a day and let it dry rather than having a sheet on your face or other exposed body part, but I think sheets provide a better healing environment since you don't have to worry about it rubbing off or not having applied enough of the gel. 

And no lol, I didn't mean my punches look great as in removal of scars (a few were completely removed and look good, but majority look the same as previously). It all could've been worse though without silicone use is what I meant.

Do resurfacing as soon as the stitches come out and also a month afterwards to be safe. You can do this up to 3 months which is when most scars are basically at the beginning of their maturation phase. The more resurfacing, the better.

I've been experimenting with some treatments, but I haven't reached any major goals yet. I'd rather not document a journey and then not finish it because I lose interest or motivation. I'd rather document once I have something worthwhile to share. I hate seeing unfinished journeys on here and never want to be one of them. I love that you and Shei have been so consistent with your journeys and documenting the good as well as the bad. You have no idea how invaluable this is to the entire acne scar community. I really appreciate you both and the other posters of the past who have had well documented, successful journeys. 

Thank you!! Ok I wrote this down on in my notebook so that I don't forget. I will probably buy both but not use it at the same time as you said. I will use the sheets for when I'm not outside and while sleeping and then I will use the gel for when I'm out in public. I will ask whoever does the excision to do two lasers sessions (one after the stitches are out and 1 month after). Do you recommend getting Botox on the scar so it doesn't move? You mentioned this earlier in another thread. Do you think the skin/muscle will atrophy if I don't move it? I'm concerned about smiling. When I smile, all my scars move and tighten. I hope I don't smile in my sleep. Talking, I notice I don't really move my mouth much. Chewing might be a problem. Maybe I'll stick to liquids for the first days of the stitches? Am I being paranoid? 

No worries, do as you are comfortable with. Consistency is hard, if it's out of sight out of mind. Luckily, I'm quite obsessive. I never stop thinking. I think so much that I've almost never had a proper sleep. But resting is for the dead, I tell myself! Gotta live life, vroom vroom  I love Shei514. I was reading her journeys years ago and she would motivate me. I finally posted here because she had such a great thread and I wanted to contribute. You and this community are well appreciated too. 

Check this topic, maybe it is interesting for you:

50 minutes ago, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:

Thank you!! Ok I wrote this down on in my notebook so that I don't forget. I will probably buy both but not use it at the same time as you said. I will use the sheets for when I'm not outside and while sleeping and then I will use the gel for when I'm out in public. I will ask whoever does the excision to do two lasers sessions (one after the stitches are out and 1 month after). Do you recommend getting Botox on the scar so it doesn't move? You mentioned this earlier in another thread. Do you think the skin/muscle will atrophy if I don't move it? I'm concerned about smiling. When I smile, all my scars move and tighten. I hope I don't smile in my sleep. Talking, I notice I don't really move my mouth much. Chewing might be a problem. Maybe I'll stick to liquids for the first days of the stitches? Am I being paranoid? 

No worries, do as you are comfortable with. Consistency is hard, if it's out of sight out of mind. Luckily, I'm quite obsessive. I never stop thinking. I think so much that I've almost never had a proper sleep. But resting is for the dead, I tell myself! Gotta live life, vroom vroom  I love Shei514. I was reading her journeys years ago and she would motivate me. I finally posted here because she had such a great thread and I wanted to contribute. You and this community are well appreciated too. 

Lol at smiling in your sleep! But botox would definitely help and it usually wears off within 3 months, just enough time for your scar to mostly heal. I don't think it should make smiling too difficult as it would just be a small amount in a localized area, but I've never received botox before so take  what I say with a grain of salt. This will all be up to your doctor's discretion of course. A good one will know exactly what you need.

I would try to restrict moving the mouth too much for as long as the stitches are in. That was one of my mistakes. I don't think a week of restricted movement should cause any damage to your muscles. Just avoid really thick foods, don't smile excessively for at least a week until it's time to take out the stitches. But it should be fine either way. As long as you don't feel the stitches pulling as you move your jaw then they shouldn't be coming undone or anything.

But definitely try to relax though lol. The most difficult part here is finding a suitable doctor and then the next challenge is practicing good post op care. Those are the only two things you can control, but once you got that covered, everything should be smooth sailing and nothing more than a waiting game. But I trust everything will work out for you. I have a good feeling about this Good luck!