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People who will undergo excision:
Last April after my excision( Cosmetic Dermatology)for 14 hours it bleed coz the 2 stiches reopen. Internal stiches is laking(2nd layer stich) after a week that a have talk to a plastic surgeon, he said excision is not good if it will be performed by a dermatologist.....The reason some scars reopen coz the 2nd layer stich is laking....I take hemostan 500 mg for 4 times a day(that was afternoon no doctor to call coz its holy week doctors are on vacation) after the stiches reopen coz bleeding didnt stop after 3 long hours.....
That was my bad lesson lucky i have only one scar excise, but i do want to reexcise them this december by a Plastic surgeon....Who undergoes 2nd layer stich(all kinds of excision including a mole)...Make sure your plastic is the older the better. coz young one's have fewer excperience than the old one's.....The success depends on the hands of a surgeon
Hi all,
I had the stitches (two) removed today. I think it looks ok. I have a little hole in the skin, at first I thought this was my old scar (only smaller) but he said it was from the stitch and that it will heal. I sure hope he's right!! To be honest it's kind of hard to tell where my old scar was and where the stitches were...I guess that is a good sign!
Right now I have a tape strip over the scar, 'Micropore', not those steri-strips. He said they were only necessary for wider scars where there's more tension. I bled a little after the stitches were removed, but only where the 'hole' is. There's a little swelling, but not much.
Anyway, I have to wait at least a few weeks before I can tell whether the excision was successful or not. He said it will take months before I will see the final result. I'm just so tired of waiting, waiting and waiting...I guess you all know what I mean...heaven knows we are the most patient people in the world!! 😉
Oh well, at least it's done know...
Ok, it's been almost two weeks now and I think I actually will be pleased with the final result. So far I've had about 80% improvement...pretty good in only two weeks!! The area is still slightly intended, only noticable in certain angles though...but I know it will keep improving the following weeks and months, each day it seems to look better :)/
And this thin red line you're supposed to have...well...I CAN'T EVEN SEE IT!! The area is a little pink (easy to cover with makeup) but no line...so far.
I have to say that I definitely recommend excision! Short downtime, pretty cheap and REAL improvement! We're not talking about 40-50% but close to 100% improvement! The only thing I regret is that I didn't have excision earlier!! I just don't understand why that derm told me it wouldn't work ](*,)
That is also one of the reasons I recommend anyone (esp. lonelyman and tanja) who's considering excision to go to a plastic surgeon (unless your derm is very skilled). For a surgeon this is a piece of cake. I realised that when my surgeon began to whistle to the radio during the surgery!! LOL 
Maya,
You could probably go back to work the very same day, if you don't mind people seeing the stitches/tape strips. Otherwise I'd say at least a week. The area will be tender after the stitches are removed, I didn't put makeup on until after 1,5 weeks (even though 1 week might be ok).
Are you going to take any before/after photos? I did but I haven't developed them yet...
Best of luck on Wednesday! I think you will be really happy with the results!! 
I had the Punch Excision today! along with my 3rd N-Lite (at setting 3)
I had 12 scars excised!!! - 5 on each cheek and 2 on the forehead. There are around another 12/15 that will be excised in 4 weeks (if all goes well with the current excisions). They couldn't all be done at the same time because they are too close together.
Dr Chu felt that the larger icepicks/boxscars had not responded that well to subcision and N-lite and that excision and more N-lite will produce the best results for me.. so I told him to "go for it!" and now my face has 12 black stitches all over!
I was locally numbed with injections (around 12 injections).
He used a 3mm punch too for these (going around 2mm deep), he said double layer stitches were unnecessary, and did one layer stitch, with just one stitch for each scar.
I only got plasters because I asked for them, but he said it was unnecessary to cover them up. So, now that I am home, the plasters are off.
After the punch excisions (by the way, Dr Chu and another derm worked on me at the same time - one on each side of the face) - it took more than 30 minutes for the blood to stop spurting - we all got involved holding large swabs, pressing them down against my face whilst I was lying down.
I bled a lot (I kind of expected it when I was covered with a large plastic sheet :-k ) But once it stopped it bleeding, that was it -no more blood.
Sorry for the gory details, actually, I am very pleased to have had so much done in a day - if this works out - there will be a duplication of the above in 4 weeks and I will only have to worry about a few red marks (which will be easy to get rid of with time and topicals) and some shallow scarring which I can so easlily live with (and get rid of with my normal topicals and microdermabrasion)
I have an appointment with the nurse at my GPs office in 6 days to get the stitches removed.
Tonight, I will wash my face and start applying my ALA/DMAE emu oil cream.
And yes... I have taken plenty of photos. When it's all over, I will post my photo journal... from needling to.... subcision and N-lite.... to excision! :)/ .
By the way, Dr Chu is fantastic - he has excellent people skills, made me feel very comfortable and his team of derms and nurses are great too.
Okay, I was just feeling really lousy, but always feel better after hearing about positive experiences...thank-you for sharing Maya (and Maria).
I've called a plastic surgeon about doing the punch excisions (on a previous consult he wanted me to have dermabrasion/laser treatments, which I'm glad I chose not to do after reading some of the experiences on the board!) and he wants to do another consultation with me. They've just recently gotten the smoothbeam in his office, but I'm a little leery of that because I have light to medium light asian skin and with the icepick scars that I have, am not sure it would help anyhow.
Unfortunately, I have been having a problem finding a plastic surgeon in this are who will do the punch excisions first....they all seem to want to go with some type of laser treatment, but I'm determined to keep trying as the ones who do this seem so happy with it (if it is properly done).
Thank-you Maya for sharing all of your experiences (good and bad) and your daily/nightly regimen (you are one very determined and self-disciplined lady!)
Happy healing!
-nancy
smilingeyes
From what I've heard, Smoothbeam or N-lite on its own is not for useful ice picks. Try and look for subcision/skin needling/excision/TCA cross method. They are the best methods for deeper scars.. and then non-ablative lasers can help to smooth out and boost collagen.
And yes... I am determined!!! For some crazy reason, I held onto all my cystic scars for 5 years before researching ways of getting rid of them. I spent a year (2002) just talking to people, looking on the internet etc... and since the beginnng of 2003, I have been on a quest!!!
Keep looking - you will find someone!
The skin around the stitches is kind of puffy and swollen coz the stitches are on so tight - the stitches are kind of making indents into my skin and pushing the skin on the sides up and out - hope it all evens out properly when the stitches come out. :-s
By the way (I hate to keep saying this but...) the emu oil is such a great pain reliever! I love emu oil!
Oh - and to those who've had excsion, what was your after care procedure?
Hi Maya,
Wow! 12 excisions! You go girl! )
I don't think my skin was that swollen...on the other hand I had tape over the stitches so it was kind of hard to tell. But when the stitches were removed my surgeon said I had unusual little swelling. Do you have a lot of pain? I had no pain what so ever, maybe because I only had one excision (?)
Yes, the stitches will make small indents in the skin but this should heal after the stitches are removed (that's why it's so important to not have stitches longer than 6-7 days).
Since I had Micropore over the area I didn't have any after care procedure the first week (except for taking supplements). After that I began to apply copper peptides (TriReduction, the Super Cop will probably be too strong). Maybe I will begin applying aloe vera from my plant as well...
Hi Maria O:) - well, the swelling is going down so quickly - and it was only the injections that were painful - even after the numbing wore off, only a little sore, but not painful.
I have been applying 3 times a day my home made cream with ALA/DMAE etc.. and emu oil - it's really helped. Also, I just put on the standard (not super) copper peptides.
Now that it has been 24 hours, I can see the fine red hairline marks - maybe they are only 2-3mm long each - wow!! so much better than a hole in the face. I am really excited. And those fine red marks are easy to fade or cover up with some powder. I can't wait to get the stitches off so I can admire myself ha ha!! Now I am really hopeful that this is indeed the solution I have been waiting for - I will still need excision for another 15 or so similar ice picks (not possible to do that many at once because they are too close together) so maybe another once or twice for excision and then I will be very, very, very happy!
I will keep updating