Hi all,

Ive been a long time lurker on this site and its definitely given me some insight on doctors, type of treatment I need for my scars, etc. but I feel like there is a lack of info for a definitive guide to good acne scar doctors in NYC. For reference, I have lighter toned skin (Asian), with a mix of rolling, boxcar, and ice pick scars mainly on my cheeks and temples. Over the past year or so, Ive been actively getting treatment/consultations from different doctors in the NYC area, and its shocked me to learn how much the info and treatment differs from doctor to doctor for the exact same treatment. The point of this guide is to let you guys know my honest experiences/costs involved, and for others who have gotten treatment recently in NYC to post their reviews as well so we canhopefully save others a lot of time and money in making educated choices about who they choose.

Dr Julia Tzu- this was my first subcision appointment in NYC after doing some research. Her consultation costs 300-400, but she puts it toward the cost of the procedures if you end up getting it done. She offers subcision with a smaller gauged needle (she said it was smaller than a cannula?). She started me off with numbing cream and then injected nerve blockers into my face and started subcising. One thing I noticed about this subcision is that I didnt hear a single grinding or cutting noise which I heard is usually the case, but she said this was normal in some patients. She used Bellafill for the filler with the subcision. I saw very little results aside from the initial swelling from this treatment. Also one thing I really didnt like about treatment from Dr Zhu was that she refused to subcise the temples (where a lot of my scars are), because she said it can potentially cause blindness if you hit a nerve incorrectly there? None of my other doctors seemed to have an issue subcising the temple area.

Dr Michele Green-I went to Dr Greenafter I saw no results from my first subcision with Dr Zhu. Dr Green offers subcision with Sculptra, but her subcision is unlike any of the subcisions on this list, I also mentioned the grinding noise that people have said you hear from subcision when you cut the tethered bands under your skin, and she looked at me as if I was crazy saying you should never hear any type of noise during subcision, which to me was a red flag about her being knowledgeable about subcision. Her subcision was the shortest and least invasive out of any treatment on this list, and it seems as if she simply injected Sculptra in my face, and actually didnt do any subcising, but she calls it subcision. I saw little results from this treatment as well aside from initial swelling.

Dr Kaveh Alizadeh- I went to Dr Alizadeh next, getting kind of exasperated since Ive seen little results thus far. I told Dr Alizadeh about the experiences I had so far, and he said the previous two doctors had no idea what they were doing when they doing the procedure, and that he was more knowledgeable since he was a plastic surgeon and not a dermatologist, and was more experienced in surgical procedures. I had 2 treatments of subcision with Sculptra with Dr Alizadeh, and this experience was far different from my previous two experiences. Dr Alizadeh uses a combination of cannula and nokor needles. He first injects nerve blockers, and then performs the subcision. This was the first subcision where I heard the grinding noise, which was very distinct,and it was the first time that I felt like I was getting the treatment that I was looking for. The swelling for this was the worst, but I also saw pretty decent results in terms of volume and my rolling scars, but not so much for boxcar, or icepick scars. Also the one complaint I would have about Dr Alizadeh is that his treatments are probably the most expensive.

Dr Tatiana Khrom- After two sessions with Dr Alizadeh, I went to consult with Dr Khrom, as I kept hearing her name pop up for scar treatment, and her prices seemed to be the best in NYC. I went for a consultation, and she recommended that I get Taylor Liberator Subcision, along with RF microneedling. Taylor Liberator subcision is basically a more aggressive form of subcision where tumescent anesthesia is injected into your face to make it swell up and then the subcision is performed. She said only one session of TL subcision is needed since its very aggressive. Dr Khrom is also the only doctor Ive seen that advised it was okay to do multiple treatments on the same day (subcision first and then RF micro needling right after). All of the other doctors said these treatments had to be separated into different sessions. The swellng from TL subcision is by far the worst, and lasts about a week, but I would say its given me the best results by far. Also, everyone there seems to actually care aboutyour treatment. Dr Khrom and another doctor who performed my micro needling both gave me their personal cell to call them about any issues that arise afterwards, and they called me the night of the treatment and the day after just to ask how I was doing, and to give me advice about aftercare. Although Dr Khroms office is pretty inconvenient to get to (deep Brooklyn), I would recommend her the highest out of any doctor on this list due to a combination of treatment results, knowledge about acne scars, cost, and patient care. No other doctor on this list followed up with me after my subcision.

If anyone else has opinions about your experiences with doctors on this list, or other doctors in NYC, please post!