Acne.org Products
OK - 2 day update (it seems like much longer)
The fine red lines have now formed scabs - so they don't look so fine anymore since the scabs are slightly raised, but I guess when the scabs come off (same time as the stitches come off?) there will only be a fine red line underneath. The good thing about having the stitches there is that it stops me from picking the scabs off!!! - so the fine line should develop nicely and hopefully I won't have indented fine lines to contend with.
All puffiness has gone now, the skin under the threads seem shrunk somehow coz the thread is no longer tight looking or pulling against the skin.
Really, I am extremely happy and hopeful that this is going to be the main treatment for my type of pitted scarring (since TCA spot is not available here) - Still, I guess my face/scars will never be 100% perfect - but if I can get maybe 70-80% improvement overall from last year I will be more than delighted.
Also, it's kind of nice not having to put on makeup - let my skin breathe - my skin tone is looking really great because of the N-lites and all the CP and ala/dmae creams ... who knows, when all this is over, maybe I won't even bother other with makeup anymore (but I doubt that very much he he...O:)
Goodbye holes - hello fine lines! 
The only thing I regret is that I didn't have excision earlier!!
That is also one of the reasons I recommend anyone 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
Yes, I wish I had been offered this earlier!!!! - but Dr Chu was still waiting on his delivery of those little punch things! And he and another derm (along with me) just chatted away about the weather and kids whilst all this was taking place. LOL!!
hey everyone thank you all for having kept us all informed on your success so far with this treatment...I have ice pick scars on both of my cheecks and would like to find a way to get rid of them or atleast to minimize the appearance of them. I have tiny ones spread throughout my cheecks and part of my right temple. I leave for the Army this November ...the 5th of November I ship out....If I were to find a surgeon or dermatologist that could perform the excision on my scars either this month or next month do you guys think I would be ok and ready to go by November 5th. I live in Los Angeles California....do you guys think that the ice pick scars I have would be somewhat improved by the excision treatment...I'm getting natural peels done for some red marks and the lady that does the peels told me that the ice pick scars I have would not be improved by smoothbeam or anything like that....I didn't know anything about excision and neither did she I think cause she didn't mention that to me...I really hope this can work for me and I really hope I can get it done before I leave. Thank you all for being a part of this message board and thinking about helping others not just yourself. It's good to have people sticking together....we have people from different nationalities ...this website just proves how we are all the same inside ..we all feel joy and pain...thjank you guys soo much for having this board..it really helps to give me hope.
Claudia
If I were to find a surgeon or dermatologist that could perform the excision on my scars either this month or next month do you guys think I would be ok and ready to go by November 5th. I live in Los Angeles California....do you guys think that the ice pick scars I have would be somewhat improved by the excision treatment
Well Claudia - It has only been 3 days since my excision of 12 ice picks and I can definately tell you that when I get my stitches out in 3 days, I will only have a very fine 2-3mm line instead of a 3-5 mm hole! I can even see the small line under my stitches and I can tell you that they are barely noticeable (in comparison to the ice pick holes) - so the down time is only 1 week. You will have tiny, very thin pale red lines instead of holes and they will fade quickly.
I had around 25-30 that needed to be excised - I only had 12 excised because the picks were too close together - so the derm will do more of them in 4 weeks. So.. if you find someone quickly, you will be able to get this done in 2 different sessions and look great for November. Most of my picks were 2-4 mm wide - and they have responded extremely well.
Good luck.
I think a plastic surgeon - but some derms also offer this too - ask them how long/how many times they have done this - experience is more important than job title.
The Doc I used in the UK is a derm and a surgeon so I was very lucky.
Hope you find someone soon.
Let us know how you get on
My 3 day update - wow!! :D/
Of the 12 scars excised - 11 of them look amazing - 1 think one of them needed 2 stitches instead of 1 (because of the length of the scar) so that one may need to be done again.
I have had several friends and my boyfriend inspect Dr Chu's handywork and they are well impressed! I have had such good comments I'm feeling really up.
I have worn no makeup these past 3 days and I keep getting comments of "wow, you have fantastic skin tone, really smooth, glowing etc..." - Is that the new ala/dmae cream or the NLite? he he.. or is it all the lactic peels, copper peptides... ahh.. so hard to figure it out but I guess something works.
Hey thanks Denise and Imbue 
I've received my next appointment for more excision on the 8th of October - I will most likely need another one after that (because of the close proximity of my ice picks) but I am thinking... really, by the end of the year I will be ready to put my hair up - that will be an enormous achievement!!
Day 4 - really, it's looking good - can't wait to get the stitches out in 2 days so I can give it the full inspection.
Maria - are you there? What's your update?
hey Maya I have been researching this procedure and it's effects on ice pick scarring and it seems that almost everywhere I look it says that besides getting the excision a few weeks or so after one would also require either dermabrasion or laser resurfacing...did your doctor bring this up with you when inspecting your ice pick scars? Also did you have any redness in the ice pick scars cause I do and was wondering if the excision takes care of that too or should I look for another treatment to take care of the redness?
Thanks in advance Maya....and I really hope all is well with you and I hope you are having success with this treatment.
not2bad
Yes, there was a little discolouration in the centre of the ice picks - but the way the scars have been sewn up, there will be no viewable discolouration apart from the fine line.
I am getting my stitches out on Tuesday 9.20 am (UK time) and I will be able to give you a clearer answer then.
My doc said that I will not get any raised scarring because of the excision (on occassions, he said, it will still be a little indented - still, it will be a fine line, not a hole!)
There are 3 types of excision - punch excision (what I am having where a little bit of the scar is cut out and then sewn back together) then there is punch elevation (not too sure about this) and then there is punch grafting (a piece of skin is taken from behind the ear and placed in the old scar.
My doc said that punch excision (what I had done) is the best because it does not create raised/keloid scars... whereas the other 2 methods can potentially make the scar raised ... therefore some sort of resurfacing would be needed to make the skin smooth.
At the worst, my excised ice pick scars will become 2-3mm fine lines that are slightly depressed instead of ice pick holes ( I prefer to have lines than holes) - anyway, I could always get some subcision to raise the scars back to skin level if that was the case.
Hope that helps
Hello All!
Maya you have had both tca and excision which worked best for you? Not2bad where in L.A. do you live? What Plastic surgeon did you find in your area whom does this procedure. I believe most Derms know how to do this procedure. My derm does this, but we are experimenting with the tca first and I am getting Smoothbeam done also. My derm is in the San Gabriel Valley area. It sounds to me though from Maya's experience that maybe the excision is a better way. I am glad you are happy with your results Maya. :(/
Ariel
Hi Maya ,
I did want to get to you earlier ,but could not because I had problems logging in with my old username.
Hope your excision has gone well.
Here is my experience on excision :
1.Do not expect your scars to be replaced by fine lines instanly.
2. Remove your stiches latest by day 5
3. Day 1 ,post stiches will look really good because
of the swelling.
4. The scars will be sligtly depressed and red but will look better,
(I could not see the thin lines at that stage)
5. It get better and better over a period of three months.
After about 3 -4 months period most of the scars are replaced by a thin line , sometimes a smaller scar.
So far excision has been my best treatment ,about 70% improvement.
I have a long way to go
I have been experimenting with local TCA peel.
Will let you know how I get along after a few trials.
(you can get it online).
Good luck!
Jasmine
jasmine - thanks for that! It's nice to have others here who have already had the procedure and can update on what to expect in the future.
Latest by day 5?????? My doc said 5-7 days... but I can see that the thread marks are going to be prominent for a while.
I am on day 5 now and do have an appointment to get the threads cut tomorrow - I was looking at the scars today and thought it would be so easy to cut the threads myself - I was thinking about going to the sewing shop and getting one of those sharp thread unpickers - hmm... I think I will go and do that now and just cut one of them and see how it looks and then I could cancel my appointment with the nurse if it goes OK.
Will update when I've done that.
you can remove the stiches yourself ,if you are brave enough.
My husband being a doctor removed the stiches for me.
You could get a suture cutter and a thread puller(forceps like thing,green one used in hospitals)
Some stiches do not come off easily, and you might expect some bleeding ,dont worry , It wil stop soon.
OK!! I've just cut off all the stitches myself 8-[ - using tweezers to lift the stitches up and a haberdashery thread unpicker to cut the thread. No bleeding at all , but very pink and slightly raw looking. Applied Manuka antiseptic honey gel immediately.
Jasmine - thank God you came to the board today!!!!!!!!!!! I can see that there is definate improvement - BUT some of the threads had cut very deep into my skin (the surrounding skin having grown over them) so not only do I have a tiny indented line one way on some of the scars, but another indented cut/line going across it!!! (where the threads dug into my skin.)
The good news : I can see that the original ice pick scars are no longer ice picks!!! 4 of them have compeletely dissapeared without even a fine line (WOW!), 1 of them did not work at all (but I mentioned on an earlier post that this one really needed 2 stitches because it's so big and long - so this one is still a large hole, needs re-doing) - the other 5 look like slightly indented boxscars (still, it's a definate improvement on ice picks and I guess will improve over time with my topicals and NLite) and 2 of them have no ice picks/indents now but have some deep red cuts (around 4-5mm long) where the thread had dug in to my skin. The wierd thing is that it seems to have been the thread that has made the line cuts, not the original cuts themselves.
My lesson to myself - I think next month when I get more excision done, I will cut the threads on day 4. Because of the kind of topicals I use, I think my skin is healing much faster than normal, so 4 days would be plenty.
Overall, I am very happy - excision definately works - can't wait to get more done. :D/
Jasmine, thanks again =D> - I think if I had left them another day, the stitches would've made even deeper cuts into my skin, so it's much appreciated you came here to advise me.
My doc said 5-7 days..I am on day 5 now and do have an appointment to get the threads cut tomorrow....
OK!! I've just cut off all the stitches myself - using tweezers to lift the stitches up and a haberdashery thread unpicker to cut the thread
I hope what you did works Maya. I tend to follow what the Dr says in situations like these, but if your wound doesn't burst open and it heals right then i guess you were justified in doing what you did.
Goodluck
will - my skin definately healed up/sealed quickly - I mean, when I pulled the stitches out there wasn't even a drop of blood.
I guess I will have to wait a few weeks to get a better indication on success, but really, the 11 of the 12 ice picks are no longer ice picks - some are gone and some are like small indents - all pink I must add(similar to how they look after needling but without the blood) with criss cross line (look like paper cuts) so I have started using the super copper peptides on them today to boost collagen.
