Just had dermabrasion today

[User105554 0]

I know dermabrasion gets a bad rap around here but after a lot of research, it was clearly the best chance of seeing a significant improvement. Yes dermabrasion can be a disaster when performed by an inexperienced Dr. but in the hands of an expert on the procedure, it's an effective way to improve acne scaring.

Here's how it went:

1. Needles to the face - The I received about 30 injections in order to numb my face. Some of them were extremely painful and brought tears to my eyes.

2. 30% TCA peel - This was done to my full face, forehead and jawline. The Dr said it was mostly to help even out the skin tone but would also help with some red marks and dark spots. It burned like hell on the areas that hadn't been numbed.

3. Subsision - The Dr did this on the deeper scars on my cheeks.

4. Dermabrasion - I was surprised at the method. Instead of a rotating tool, the Dr used various grades of an abrasive sheet that looked exactly like sandpaper that you can buy at any hardware store. He explained that the rotating tools are not the preferred method when covering a large area. It's also a cleaner method and doesn't send blood flying all over. He still uses the rotating tools when treating a small area of things such as wrinkles around the mouth and eyes.

I'm swollen up a bit and extremely raw right now but it's not at all painful. I won't lie to you though, the needles at the beginning and the TCA peel hurt A LOT and I've always considered myself to have a high tolerance for pain.

It was done by Dr El-Hoshy in Livonia MI. He's been performing dermabrasion for almost 20 years and is considered one of the best. He also teaches at an university in Cairo, Egypt. He has shunned lasers as he feels that they are all hype with limited results.

He says that the reason dermabrasion gets a bad rap is that there are inexperienced doctors performing the procedure that have no business doing so.

Dr El-Hoshy also said that dermabrasion can be used successfully on darker skin tones such as Asians but that he would not be nearly as aggressive as he was with me. The lighter your skin, the more aggressive you can be without risking permanent

pigmentation changes.

I'm not here to bash lasers and hype dermabrasion, I just thought I'd share my experience in case anybody was interested. I do have some pictures I took before the procedure and will post them and some after pictures in a few weeks if anybody is interested.

[Datura 2]

Sounds great! I think we would all be interested in seeing before and afters. Hope you heal nicely!

[camcorder 0]

That made me cringe. D:

I hope once the swelling and stuff goes down, you see the results you wanted!

[scoobie_do 1]

AT ALL COSTS, AVOID THE SUN/SUNLIGHT LIGHT LIKE THE PLAGUE.

DO NOT COUNT ON SUNBLOCK RIGHT NOW.

AVOID THE SUN. STAY OUT OF THE SUN.

[DudleyDoRight 144]

JMZ, I had Dermabrasion done a very long time ago, but I don't remember the details. What is the purpose of the TCA Peel in addition to the Dermabrasion? That almost sounds like overkill. I was raised in Lincoln Park so Go Red Wings, Tigers and Pistons

[User105554 0]

Yes, I'm avoiding the sun at all costs right now and when I finally do venture outside, It will be wearing a SPF 50 sunblock.

The TCA peel was to even out the skin tone over the entire face since the actual dermabrasion was limited to the areas on my cheeks with the depressed scaring. I have a lot of red/brown spots that have accumulated over the years so the TCA peel should also help out in those areas. Although my Dr didn't mention it, I suspect that the TCA peel also made it easier to remove the skin during the dermabrasion.

I'm swollen today and had a hard time sleeping on my back but other than that I feel fine. The worst part now is that I have to wash my face 5 times a day and then apply Vaseline and it hurts like hell when the water hits my face. The pain goes away in less than a minute but the pain is every bit as intense as the numbing injections were.

[s500 0]

Dont like the 30 injection idea to nub the skin, that means he had to dermabrade over many under skin bumps and lumps, which makes more room for errors and very paniful for the patient, there are better techiniques such as nerve blocking. Then the TCA, why even go that route when the dermabrasion will take out any red marks or brown spots.

Im still curious of the exact type of machine used as I never heard of it before.

Can you give a better description of it, like was it a disc sheet of paper or was it rectngle, did it rotate or reciprocate and what size was it, what grit paper was used. Any special name for the machine? Thanks

[User105554 0]

I didn't like the injections either...lol. I did ask why he didn't go with something like mild IV sedation and he said it's simply a matter of the office not being equipped to handle a potential bad reaction. He is only doing an average of 8 or so dermabrasions per year so I guess it's not really worth adding the required equipment.

After the first 10 needles or so, the rest went pretty well. The first batch were straight lidocaine and the rest, a mixture of saline and lidocaine. They did their job as the subsision and dermabrasion were painless.

Like I was saying, the dermabrasion was concentrated on the areas with the scarring. He did use finer grades of abrasive sheeting as he got further away from the scars to kind of feather the results as to avoid any demarcation lines. Areas like my forehead, nose and near my ears were never sanded. I was surprised that he wasn't using some kind of rotary device with a wire brush or stone as that's all I've ever read about when researching the procedure. The procedure the Dr used also seemed safer to me as I didn't have to worry about him slipping and going way to deep all at once. It also seems easier to maintain the proper depth with the paper as opposed to a device that covers a smaller area with each pass.

The sheets looked exactly like sandpaper that you would use on metal. There were varying grits but I never asked. He wrapped them around a small, round block about 1/2" in diameter and 2" long. He made numerous passes in many different directions with each grade of paper.

[DudleyDoRight 144]

JMZ, does this sound like what you had? It would seem like the doctor would have better control over the depth with the paper. Do keep us updated on your progress. I don't want to hear about anybody heading out to Home Depot.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/2572307546351523/

[Guest missyjean130]

My mother got this done when she was younger. She had her friend drop off food for her since she refused to go outside her apartment lmao.

She said it got rid of everything she had...scars and acne. My mom has amazing looking skin too...so it didn't leave her with disfigured skin at all.It was her savior!

Good luck with this!

[MissElegia 0]

Hi, it was interesting to find this thread - I had dermabrasion and TCA cross 10 days ago. I have been reading this forum and I have been little bit surprised that dermabrasion has such bad reputation here. When I first contacted the clinic I went to, I wanted to have co2 fraxel treatment, but the dermatologist said that using tca combined with dermabrasion, I should get more dramatic results. But one time wouldn't be enough.

Now, 10 days after, I can say that once certainly wasn't enough. On one scar (chicken pox scar) I can see at least 20 % improvement. In the rest, maybe 10-15 %. That's of course better than nothing. I have been using antibiotic cream to avoid infections and corticosteroid to take away the redness. My skin is still a bit pink, but with the help of concealer I'm now back to normal.

I have had the "normal" dermabrasion years ago, and then I didn't see any results. But now, tca should "lift" the skin to make it look more flat.

One thing that I can recommend to everyone is use of silicone gel. With help of that, I have seen good improvement with my scars. I my country the name of the product is Kelo-cote.

I'm very interested of your results, please keep us posted.

[User105554 0]

JMZ, does this sound like what you had? It would seem like the doctor would have better control over the depth with the paper. Do keep us updated on your progress. I don't want to hear about anybody heading out to Home Depot.

I'd have to guess that's exactly what my Dr did. Now that I do a search for "dermasanding" rather than dermabrasion, I am finding a lot more information about it.

After some reading, combining a TCA peel with manual dermasanding seems to be a reasonably well known combination.

[DudleyDoRight 144]

JMZ, see you brought something either new, or not previously discussed, to the forefront.

[User105554 0]

Update

I'm recovering better than expected. Most of my face is pink except for an area on my right cheek where most of my deeper scars were, which is still red. I feel comfortable being out in public and wouldn't have any problems passing for somebody with a bad sunburn.

I'm almost done peeling from the TCA peel except for a few flakes mostly around my hairline.

The overall swelling of my cheeks is gone although the scars are still obviously swollen as I can feel it with my finger and can not yet see any of the scars where the subcision was done.

The biggest surprise is that I did not scab up where the dermasanding was done. I had been washing and applying Vaseline 5 times a day per my doctors instructions and it seems to have done the trick. I've stopped that regimen as of this morning and am now using Cetaphil UVA/UVB Defense SPF 50 Facial Moisturizer.

[MissElegia 0]

It's now 2,5 weeks since my dermabrasion and TCA. I think that I'm also recovering quite well. My skin is still pink, but that was to be expected. The healing process is still going on, so I can't say yet what the final result will be like. My first impression was 10-15 % improvement, and it still looks like that. I think I'm going to have this treatment done at least once more. After that I might be interested in co2 fraxel.

[moving4ward 0]

I don't understand when people say they have improved 10-15%. How is that even noticeable improvement unless you are deeply scarred.

[MissElegia 0]

I don't understand when people say they have improved 10-15%. How is that even noticeable improvement unless you are deeply scarred.

I found that a bit rude. Well I guess I'm deeply scarred then, thank you for reminding me. Those kind of comments don't really encourage my to share my experiences here.

My dermatologist said that for people with serious problems, the treatment has to be done several times, maybe even six times. In that case the improvement-% of each treatment is logically something around 15 %, isn't it? (6 x 15 = 90). I believe it is possible to get smooth skin with this, but it takes time and multiple sessions.

[DudleyDoRight 144]

MissElegia, take a look at this link and pay particular attention to the depth of penetration.

http://www.zimbio.com/Boston+Medical+Spa/a...+Lumenis+Bridge

If this is to be believed then the conclusion must be for deeper scars you should look at Ablative Fractional CO2. Dermbrasion seems to be on a par with original CO2. I do believe improvement from these procedures is cumulative, although I have had dermabrasion and could not conceive of doing it 6 times. I will be doing my 3rd Re:pair on Oct 30.

[MissElegia 0]

Hi Dudley, thanks for the link. I'm sure you are right that ablative lasers are the most effective treatment there is. As I had dermabrasion combined with tca, I don't know how that would take place in the picture. If my only problem was "normal" atrophic scars, I probably would do ablative fractional laser. But I have one scar area, where there are both hypertrophic and atrophic parts. So I think for that dermabrasion is the best solution. Tca helps to lift the skin, too.

I am going to try everything there is. After I have finished this route, I'll go for lasers. And after that, for needling, if my skin still needs something.

[User105554 0]

Dermabrasion/dermasanding on it's own isn't going to give a significant improvement on deeper scars, especially with one treatment, that's why my doctor did subcision too.

[moving4ward 0]

I don't understand when people say they have improved 10-15%. How is that even noticeable improvement unless you are deeply scarred.

I found that a bit rude. Well I guess I'm deeply scarred then, thank you for reminding me. Those kind of comments don't really encourage my to share my experiences here.

My dermatologist said that for people with serious problems, the treatment has to be done several times, maybe even six times. In that case the improvement-% of each treatment is logically something around 15 %, isn't it? (6 x 15 = 90). I believe it is possible to get smooth skin with this, but it takes time and multiple sessions.

I didn't mean it that way. Even the deepest scarring from acne is no more than a few CM deep and I find it hard to believe that 10-15% is guageable for such depth.