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Hello everyone! Im very depressed and were looking and reading this forum, but havent found anything like this. This is me 4th week post 100% TCA Cross. My cosmetologist says its normal. Theres awful hyperpigmintation and all the scars are much worse than they were before.
Redness is normal after CROSS, but deeper scarring isn't a common side effect. Are you sure they are deeper? Perhaps you're just noticing the redness? Redness will fade with time. Make sure to stay out of the sun and practice patience. It can be really annoying and take a long time for redness to fade in some people.
Another thought: In some people scar width may increase, but I've never heard of scar depth increasing. Perhaps you mean the scars are wider?
Last thought: Did you pick at the scabs when they formed? That can also cause problems.
@dan-4 hello Dan! I think it did make my scars deeper. I now have brown marks instead of red. Its been 4 weeks now, Ive tried to find examples but with other people its not as extereme, so Im depressed.
I did not pick any scars.
The pigmentation is fading so that's good. They are not deep, so it makes me wonder what they were like before. Have a pic?
Usually CROSS is for icepick scars, which are deep-ish.
The good news is your scarring is not deep, so there are other options, like maybe laser. So keep the faith.
Not sure its fading if it becomes dark. I feel like its getting worse. My cosmetologist is saying its normal, however, this is my 2nd TCA and the first one I have not experienced any hyperpigmintation. Heres the photo before I did 2 TCAs and 2 VI peels. The reason they are not so deep now is because I did those threatments and it helped.
I've seen TCA cross help in photos and worsen in photos. I don't know why it varies from person to person but I've seen it widen/deepen in person too, but others have gotten decent results.
Did the same person do the TCA cross last time as prior? Was it same duration, same way he dipped it etc?
Redness should be normal and it should fade, but I'm not a expert on TCA either. Personally I can't see any "deeper" but the redness masks the depth comparison, and I think it's a different cheek right? Either way the hyperpigmentation should fade over time. The TCA cross should not go deep enough to damage any anatomy that leads to permanent pigmentation imo.
Again I'm not an expert but would any derm suggest you do a retinoid to help fade the hyperpigmentation? Technically helps cell turnover speed up.
Surprised you have this much redness 4 weeks after cross. As far as the scars being deeper. Do you know if they're actually deeper or just wider? I think I've seen how cross works is it shallows the scars but as a result it can also make scars bigger (wider not deeper). Though I do remember when I had cross, I would have scars that looked so bad initially and then a couple months later, it would looked better than before I got cross. All part of the healing process possibly.
@harmlessboy1441 thank you for the reply. Ive been to 2 derms and will go to another one, because all of the seems to try to sell IPL which Im not a fan of, because I read some horrow stories after laser and my skin is already damaged, so why do laser on the damaged skin?
Im waiting for the Klingsman formula cream that the derm has prescribed, so hopefully I can test and see how it goes..
@acknee4life thank you for sharing. They got better, some of the are wider but flattened. I am planning to do other peels like VI peel to make sure they flatted more after 6 months. How was hyperpigmination for you? The person who did my TCA cross said that I healing normally, but I dont believe her.
Hi i got mine 80% tca cross done 9 weeks ago. few of mine also got really red or brown but the others are fine. I feel the redness make it look worse but they are not really worse . I am an east asian. People say hyperpigmentation may take 6 to 12 months to fade for darker skin type. I have follow up with my doctor next week. I will ask more about it
@roserose23 please let us know how it goes. Mine became darker. I visited another dermatologist and am using Klingsman formula creme now for 3 days. Hard to say about the progress so early, but skin is flacking, so hope it speeds up the process. Ill post photos when there will be changes.
@tcany Sure. Meanwhile I am seeing this post https://www.acne.org/forums/7-scar-treatments/377814-tca-cross-mistake-left-behind-red-marks it gave me confidence. His hyperpigmentation gone in 6 months and one of the reply mentioned the hyperpigmentation phase as "It will likely go from that purplish red color, to a deep red, to deep pink, and then to a light pink color."
@roserose23 yes, I think I read all possible threads with hyperpigmintation here and on redditI am still freaked out, but a lot of those who did reply, all said that 6 months after it faded. But I dont want to wait 6-12 months you know. My dermatologist told me it takes time but on its own it might not even fade, so I dont know who to believe. Also, do you plan to do something after? My scars are now not as deep and some improved, but some are bigger and wider. So I wonder if VI peel would help to even them.
@tcany Hi I totally understand your pain. I cried a lot because of the hyperpigmintation. My doctor gave me hydroquinone 4% to fade it but it is just so irritated so i just stopped using it. I will ask him again on this product again next Friday. I heard that is the most effective ingredient fading hyperpigmentation. Right now I am using la roche posay's glycolic acid serum to faster the speed.
I will wait a little longer to decide whether to get a pico laser or not, but from what I read, all the PIH related to chemical burn should be able to fade by themselvea, just need to wait at least 6 months.
@roserose23 thank you for sharing, I still cry.
I use the cream which has hydroquinone in it too, 4%, so far my skin is reddish, but my derm said its expected. She said to moisturise a lot. I hope our pigmintation will fade quicker than 6 months.
I do remember previous posters who have done tca cross saying it got worse before it got better. Got to keep applying the sunscreen throughout the day. vitamin c serum helps with hyperpigmentation and helping with collagen building so i'd use that as well if I was doing tca cross. hyaluronic acid serum, growth factors. Give your skin treatments every chance to be successful.
@guygaga I use good moisturiser, cream with hidroquinone, vit c serum too. Thank you for the suggestion. Ill wait a few more months to do other treatments, maybe the scars will fill up more. I hope Now Im focused on dealing with hyperpigmintation that makes them look worse.
@tcany Yes, hope we can look better soon.
If you are using hydroquinone 4% and you are a skin type 1-2 I think you should heal faster.