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Hey All,
Had cystic acne around my mouth throughout my 20s. It was not more than 1-2 at a time but I couldn™t get rid of them until I finally got accutane in my late 20s when the acne got worse and realized that I had a lot of scarring around my mouth. This past year I™ve been on an insane journey of trying to aggressively treat the scarring. Ive been told its a difficult place for scars to be because of how many different expressions we make with our mouths. In some lightings you can™t see it in others I look scary. Sometimes it looks lumpy looking directly at my face around my mouth because of the multiple rolling scars.
i have gotten:
(2)Microneedling treatment 7/2021-8/2021
(5) fraxel treatment 11/2021-5/2022
(1)Refine/(1)Define restalyne fillers 7/2022
(1) picosure treatment 8/2022
the pictures are basically taken from the worst angle but are AFTER all of the above treatments
I™m thinking I need subscision ?
was thinking fully ablative laser as well ? Or maybe subscision with skin pen or more picosure treatments - haven™t fully decided but I™d like to have some educated opinions before I spend more money
UPDATE: I just wanted to share a few things here thinking they might help some people in the ongoing search for proper cost effective treatments. I went to a plastic surgeon who specializes in scars for a consultation and he does fully ablative/subscision/fat injections in one go and it is super expensive but he expressed that you should not be getting all the fractional/microneedling etc with acne scarring because the effects of them aren™t cumulative. I think this is important to note because while there can be improvement on the overall look of your skin with treatments ultimately they won™t effect the lower layers of skin damage. I™m just sharing what he shared with me and haven™t further researched it but it makes sense considering everyone™s seeming displeasure with the efficacy of many of the typical acne scars treatment offerings.
i wanted to also share a photo from the very beginning of my skin journey (taken only after microneedling) and it is clear that there has been a lot of improvement. I hate looking at the picture but want to also give people some perspective on how things have improved instead of just expressing dissatisfaction with the end result.
i will probably end up getting the ablative laser, subscision and fat injection in a year or so once I™ve saved up and let everything else rest before and after
UPDATE: before picture is at the very bottom with the grey shirt
On 9/19/2022 at 12:39 AM, Dontgiveupitsonlyscars said:Filler. Dermabrasion. Not many options, in my limited opinion. Wear sunscreen, hats, use a vitamin A derivative (i.e. tret, tarozarc).. Use AHA/BHA in your skincare and vitamin c.
@DontgiveupitsonlyscarsThanks for replying and giving some insight I really appreciate it !!
if you don't mind me picking your brain a little more:
I had filler 2 months ago - will get again in 4 months but was thinking I needed to get subscision with it the next time to untether the scars - do you not think the subscision is worth it or effective? None of the drs i've seen have ever talked about subscision but I see it all over this forum so not sure if I should try to find a dr that does it.
Also, wondering why you think dermabrasion instead of microneedling? Is it because you think that I just need to focus on cell turnover more and dermabrasion helps with that instead of paying $500+ for microneedling sessions?
Will need to go to the dermatologist to get tretonoin - is it more effective when you use it before a treatment like mircroneedling/dermabrasion or does it not really matter?
Will get some AHA/BHA !
Thanks again for your reply !
I am kinda with you on this. I might consider fully ablative laser if it's still bugging you. My thought is when you fully ablate, the skin has to regrow, and has a chance to regrow more evenly.
But most important, as always, is to get under the care of a really experienced, good doc.
On 9/20/2022 at 12:59 AM, Burns313 said:@DontgiveupitsonlyscarsThanks for replying and giving some insight I really appreciate it !!
if you don't mind me picking your brain a little more:
I had filler 2 months ago - will get again in 4 months but was thinking I needed to get subscision with it the next time to untether the scars - do you not think the subscision is worth it or effective? None of the drs i've seen have ever talked about subscision but I see it all over this forum so not sure if I should try to find a dr that does it.
Also, wondering why you think dermabrasion instead of microneedling? Is it because you think that I just need to focus on cell turnover more and dermabrasion helps with that instead of paying $500+ for microneedling sessions?
Will need to go to the dermatologist to get tretonoin - is it more effective when you use it before a treatment like mircroneedling/dermabrasion or does it not really matter?
Will get some AHA/BHA !
Thanks again for your reply !
I think youre beautiful the way you are. I wouldnt try to remedy this too much with invasive procedures for fear of worsening or for the fact that it likely not produce significant results.
A good skincare that causes cell turnover will overtime likely be more beneficial for you, without breaking the bank.
You can do microneedling but I dont think it will do anything. If you want significant results, yes, filler or deep dermbasion. But again, the risk is that it wont make you happy if it doesnt remedy it completely or if it ends up worse. Also, the money expense in a economy like this Id just suggest a great skincare in the mean time.
Tret is fine, tarzotene is better. Turns cells are a faster rate than tret. A faster cell turnover is ideal for skin quality and anti-aging.
Not to say you wont respond well to microneedling, subcision, or laser. You may.
But at the moment, after all Ive encountered I havent seen very many people had anything remarkable to say about either. The time and expense to benefit ratio is very low.