You just have texture and few icepicks. When we talk about scars we have to talk on good man scale if the scar are visible from talking distance. This is the most important metric your scars are barely visible from talking distance which means only you are seeeing your scars such harshly. Whereas for treatment I do see there are texture issue. Not sure fractional is the right method maybe full ablative laser can take care of the texture. But I think fractional laser cause more texture issues as it damages the skin in a dotted fashion aka fractional compared to full ablative mode that ablated the entire tissue.

Hello, I truly appreciate your answer and insight. It means a lot to me.

I'm aware that I'm a 'little' too self-conscious about my scars, and I agree with you, most people won't notice them as much as I do. However, as you mentioned, the texture I have makes it look worse, since it emphasizes the ice picks. I may also suggest that the quality of the first pictures minimize the appearance of the scars, but again I honestly appreciate what you said.

As far as I know, dermatologist where I live prefer to stick with fractionnal (even tho it's ablative) regarding risks. The few derms I've spoken to prefer to avoid risks of complication with full ablative.

It seems that the most common in France is fractionnal, microneedling (RF or not) and peelings..

It's not cutting edge tech for resurfacing and it's not that common in our culture to go through ''beauty'' procedure.

5 hours ago, Arkhes said:

Hello, I truly appreciate your answer and insight. It means a lot to me.

I'm aware that I'm a 'little' too self-conscious about my scars, and I agree with you, most people won't notice them as much as I do. However, as you mentioned, the texture I have makes it look worse, since it emphasizes the ice picks. I may also suggest that the quality of the first pictures minimize the appearance of the scars, but again I honestly appreciate what you said.

As far as I know, dermatologist where I live prefer to stick with fractionnal (even tho it's ablative) regarding risks. The few derms I've spoken to prefer to avoid risks of complication with full ablative.

It seems that the most common in France is fractionnal, microneedling (RF or not) and peelings..

It's not cutting edge tech for resurfacing and it's not that common in our culture to go through ''beauty'' procedure.

 

 

I dont have any experience with fractional when it comes to co2 but most people here mention that they have seen orange texture, where erbium shouldnt do that. By result wise i think co2 fractional is better than erbium fractional. Becuase co2 produces heat aorund each laser dot. That makes the skin contract from one laser dot to another. So you can kind of say co2 fractional is more closer to full ablative because of the heat damage as well. In erbium fractional itjust evaporates columns of skin. Here is a video of dr h hussain

goto duration 13:41(Shows how different co2/erbiumdamage the skin)

duration 15:47 ( shows erbium full ablative laser resurfacing)

Thanks for the detailed answer. I looked it up. It's really interesting. Orange peel is the least of my concern if it real help with actual scarring. I don't expect a perfect skin.. just a better one

I'm always scared the results will be minimal, even with ablative laser since a lot of people seems disappointed. I've reasonable expectations but still, I haven't found a single true B&A with my skin type and fractionnal CO2... So I don't know what to expect.

People say my scars minimal but they look to me like real indent that people tends to qualify as deep ice picks. And it's really depressing to see that many ''holes''.

It's been 2y since I decided to do laser. However it was postponed several time to get my acne under control

This is just dotted texture, icepicks are bit deeper. A deep peel or full abaltive erbium is a good bet considering the risks.

I'll keep you updated

Agree that it's "dotted texture" basically. Although I don't know the best treatment, those two options seem like good choices.

That said, I see that you are on 30mg Accutane. I took 40mg back in the day, two courses. I believe you may have Rosacea like I have just judging by the redness placement (nose/cheeks). No idea if you have a dermatitis like I have as well as I do.

The redness is definitely serving to highlightthe pores or scars. If that redness could get more under controls (it may not satisfy you) but it would be less noticeable. Reason I state this is because, maybe if a dr agrees you have rosacea and it doesn't conflict with Accutane, there are prescriptions you could try to tone the redness or irritation. That said, it's weird because Accutane seemed to nullify most of my Rosacea based on recollection.

It's kind of hit/miss and some irritates, but I've found the most success from low doses of sporadic (take breaks when necessary) low dose doxycycline (although noticing symptoms/irritation now 3 months in so I'm unsure). I use to use Elidel and it worked really well initially but I felt it warped the texture past a few days or messed with the scarring (the level/appearance)so I don't use topical.

For the scar part, I can only suggest what gave me 80%+ improvement, Dermabrasion, or what getsmart suggests, a deep peel or full ablative erbium sound very plausible.

Hi, thanks for the answer.

I might have a slight rosacea which make my cheeks sometimes more red than they really are. I'm trying to get it under control but I'm afraid it will need a scar treatment.

I'm so f'ing lost. My derm said that accutane should be carried on until the end of the year even tho I don't have active acne anymore. Which means no treatment for now.

The only thing I will be able to do is fractionnal Ablative CO2. It's really hard seeing things being postponed.. and I just feel hopeless. Which ends up in destroying relationship with people.

I need a little hope right now and I just wonder if anyone as seen results with this kind of textural scars with ablative laser.. I'm lost.

Thanks guys