Hi,I'm really new here, but I thought I'd share some info to (hopefully) perk some spirits up!I've had acne scars for about 8 years or so. Most of them were rolling a few boxcar and a smattering of icepicks all over my cheeks. I was so depressed about 3 years ago I thought about ending it...and came pretty darn close.Here's all the procedures I've had in the past 6 years:Microdermabrasion (did nothing)Subcision (short lived results)Needling (had this done the same time as the subcisions)Co2 laser (hated it)Smoothbeam (did nothing)Fillers (Zplast, Radiance, it's all faded now)Punch Grafts (helped with boxcar, but rolling was not treated)Dermabrasion (full face, helped a little)Jessner's Peels (4 of them)More Punch Grafts (helped a little)And guess what? None of those treatments made much of a difference except for maybe the last 3....I still looked hideous in most lighting.Finally I got to that point again where I felt like ending it all and I decided to try the most scary thing of all. I thought I might as well...what did I have to lose? So, I had the scars surgically removed one by one (except the icepicks. I'm working on that) and 3 linear scars that are mild and the result of Co2 laser. The ones I had surgically removed were the boxcars and rolling ones. They were incised not excised. My whole face was full of tiny stitches....36 of them in all!I was really unhappy the first 3 months of healing. I thought I'd created a monster and I was freaked. But over time about 8 months I noticed that everthing was working out. Here was the KEY because so much skin was removed (in tiny parts), it made my skin tighter which I KNOW if you've ever pulled your skin tight you can see many of your scars flatten out and appear to disappear. It was an added bonus. I just wish I would've done it sooner.I had to get rid of all the little red marks from the stitches. So I started off with some light peels and then had another Jessner's. That was in January. Now, I am basically scar free except for the *&(#@$ icepicks and linears. My skin texture went from a rippley effect to a muuuch smoother one I think because of all the peels and the stitches pulling the skin tighter. I did TCA Cross twice in March and it didn't do much. I'm hoping I can find a doctor who can do it. But so far the ones I've consulted with always push for "full face" peels.My skin is by no means "perfect". After all these years and so many treatments I finally have HOPE and I'm not so insecure. I don't feel like hiding. I can actually look people in the eye which may not sound like much but to me that's huge progress.I'd say I have about 90-95% improvement because I only have about a dozen tiny icepicks left and the linear scars are very mild, the dermabrasion helped to soften them. Keep in mind it took me 8 long years of failed treatments to finally figure out what to do. I'm actually thankful I became so hopefully desperate or else I would have never had the nerve to have the scars surgically removed.
This exactly what my PS told me, I had excision recently on my both cheeks, yesterday I went for follow up consultation. If everything turn out well, I'll have more excision, my PS examined my scars, I asked whether I still need more excision, he said because I had a lot of tiny skin removed from excision, it pull my skin tight and make the rest of scars flatten out, more like scarred pores.
I don't want to put my hope high. I think I have to wait for 3 months to see the final result and decided whether I need more excision or not. Can't wait till Friday, I'll have stitches out!!
