I am a bit wary as these treatments cost a lot of money and i feel a bit put off by a member on here i think his name was Faizal, who had all these expensive treatments with Dr Khan and saw no improvement.

if the scars really bother you, all you can do is try. results vary and nothing is guaranteed. Im the same and im booked in for recell/prp tomorrow and very apprehensive that i could be throwing away s but what else can i do?? if you want changes you have to do SOMETHING. I'd rather throw the big money at it than spend exactly the same amount over the years trying all the cheaper options. good luck with the appointment

Subscribed! I'm glad to see you moving forward to get this done. Are you residing in the UK?

Yes i am in the uk.

I will definitely have something done but was hoping for some advice what to have.

I have been having dermarolling treatments for a long time and having environ facials, progress is very very slow with these though but at least they are not high risk. I will not risk lasers.

So i was hoping to have prp with Dr Khan and hoping that would give some improvement. I was wary about recell because its so expensive, im not sure what it is and if my scars are the kind that would get improvement from it.

Looking at my scars what do you all think would be the best treatment?

my understanding is that PRP wont do a lot on its on, and as you may need to do it more than once, the cost can add up to being not that far off from Recell

I'd see what the dr recommends. Faizel might not have had good results but theres another guy on here who had good results with the recell, ernesta-something (sorry cant remember the exact name) although you do need to laser the area prior to Recell....

Hey Kristabel. What procedure did he recommend you for the best results?

Well i have not seen him yet, i am seeing him tomorrow.

I feel a bit hopeless as im not sure if anything would work for me.

Recell sounds too invasive for me, i think there could be a risk of making it worse. I am wondering if stem cell treatment would work but its an expensive gamble.

I was hopeful that a couple of goes with prp might improve my skin texture along with the dermaroller treatments i have, but i just read that the results of prp wear off over time. I wonder then if prp is any better than hyaluronic acid fillers?

Anyway, any suggestions for things i could ask about my scarring before i go?

i was worried about recell having a risk of making my scars worse. I dont think thats the case, now ive seen and experienced how it increases healing.

Yours are more the indented type of scar...i also had/have a big indent .it may be worth having the appointment see what he says. If he recommends recell, maybe wait a few weeks and see if my indent improves from the procedure? Its early days for me and its not clear how much improvement from the indent i'll get.

See what the doc said but PRP combined with dermaroller sounds like a good plan for a less drastic procedure....i'll be looking at PRP /carboxytherapy to continue my improvements further down the line, if needed

Great you'll be sharing your experience with us! I've also put my hope on Khans expertise after seeing Ernestoria's results. Therefore I think your results will be of real value to me and the many other people here saving up and waiting for the big day. Wish you the best of luck!

Kristabel has an appointment with the most infamous doctor mentioned on this board and no one has any questions for the man?

I'll take a shot if you don't mind .

First of all, ask him what options you have and what he thinks is best for your condition. Ask him about the risks associated with each one. I'd go with the one with the less riskier options. He will probably recommend you laser + recell. Less risky would probably be stem cell + recell.

Re-Cell is probably the least invasive of all the options you have. The only thing invasive about Re-Cell is taking a biospy sample of your skin. For the most part, it is simply a spray-on treament onto your wounds. I have a Re-cell thread if you search for it.

I have a few VERY important questions regarding his Stem Cell treatment that I would love to know the answer to.

Just a quick overview of the procedure:

Fat tissue (Adipose) is extracted from either your abdomen or your thighs through liposuction. Stem cells are then separated from the fat tissue and then recombined with the good fat tissue in less quantity, so there is a higher concentration of stem cells per cm2 (area) when re injected into your skin.

What is important to know is that there are a few ways to go about this. You can technically inject the stem cells alone OR combine them with the better fat tissue for fat graft/stem cell combo. Although fat grafting alone has produced good results in the past, alot of times 20-90% of the fat gets reabsorbed into the body rendering the procedure less effective. Stem cells are said to improve the retention rate of fat graft ... however this has not really been scientifically documented and at the same time, you need an adequate amount stem cells per fat tissue to even matter.

To improve the quantity of stem cells (potency of treatment) you can culture the stem cells to increase quantity, and this will probably take a week in a lab. Then recombine with good fat for a potent injection. Dr. Khan has done this before and I believe he used a lab in Cambridge for culturing.

However, he has since acquired a very expensive machine called the Cytori Cellution to perform stem cell extraction in house. Here's the CATCH most people don't realize. The Cellution machine DOES NOT culture stem cells. However, he can process your fat and stem cells and reinject the same day.

Here's the million dollar question: How can the Cellution machine produce a stem cell potent treatment, if it does not culture stem cells? What is it about the process that makes it so special other than being able to extract the good fat in-house and recombine with stem cells?

His answer will probably be... when combining the stem cells with a smaller amount of the good fat, you create a higher concentration per cc of stem cells. This is true, however, is it ENOUGH stem cells for the entire procedure? Unless you are getting ALOT of fat liposucked out of you, its seems unlikely.

Ask him how much fat is he planning on extracing from your body. Typically its around 200cc of fat tissue. It has been scientifically documented that fat tissue yields roughly only 1-5% of stem cells. So for every 200 cc extracted from your body, you get roughly 2-10 cc of stem cells. Unless you are getting more cc's of fat extracted from you, I don't see how the injection can be stem cell potent, without culturing. I would love to hear his explanation on this.

And ask him...if you requested to have the stem cells cultured, would he be willing to do it? He might try to give you a half ass excuse.... "oh most of the stem cells will be dead by the time it gets to you, it's not a good idea." This all depends on the skills of the applicator, not the culturing and delivering process itself.

Present yourself seriously and firmly. Don't be intimidated by his pink tie . show him that you are knowledgeable and give him the perception that money is not an issue. Only results.

I'm assuming your consultation is not free. If you can get me a real solid answer to these questions, I will paypal you $100 . Good luck.

A few more things I would like to mention.

Ernesto received Stem Cell Treatment with Khan using the Cytori machine. He reported 20% improvement, which is not bad considering the depth of his scars. 20% of his scars is a considerable amount of improvement.

Faizal also received stem cell treatment from the cytori machine and received no improvement. His scar was on a cartilage area on his nose and I don't believe his scar was acne related? please correct me if im wrong.

Khan's previous clients who received stem cell treatment from cultured stem cells reported 80% + improvement if I read correctly. They are no longer active so its hard to verify.

i just don't want him to treat us with a less effective treatment just because he spent $100k on a machine and wishes to save a some $$$ by not outsourcing part of the process. Money is not an issue. Saving time and getting results is what we need. If he can give some sort of personal gaurantee for some level of satisfactory improvement, he can certainly get more business his way.

Wow Roller.

SOrry but i didnt read your posts till after i had seen Dr Khan yesterday

however, i am pretty sure i will see him again and will try and address all your points with him then. So feel free to send me some money if you want! lol

So many points you raised that i want to address but i probably wont get to them all in this post.

firstly, Dr Khan the most infamous doctor mentioned on this board? I didnt know that! why?

roller, i was also expecting to be offered something along the lines of what you said, laser, stem cell, recell but no, my scars are not suitable for these, i found out at my appointment.

I asked what would be the best course of action for my scarring, asked about stem cells and recell etc. Dr Khan said recell basically treats the damaged skin surface. In my case the surface of my skin is healthy and the cause of my scarring is fat loss beneath the skin, so for me it would be a case of trying to go in and plump out the scars from underneath. So no more was said about recell, sorry to disappoint (although luckily you can all follow gbl's experiences)

Dr Khan told me the best chance of success for me would be a fat transfer with prp, followed by fractora which i know nothing about, its a radiofrequency that heats up the tissue underneath the skin and tightens it, which should shrink any scars still visible after the prp fat transfer.

I asked why he suggests prp fat transfer instead of stem cell fat transfer, he said the stem cell fat transfer would only be needed if i was older or if the scarring was more severe than it is. So no more info for you on stem cells either as i was not offered it.

I have done a bit of research on fat transfer on these boards - one case of a guy being left with a fat face (which would be awful), one case of lumpiness (even worse) and a few cases of no improvement because all the fat was reabsorbed. However none of these people were treated by an expert like Dr Khan, and also the fact that this is not standard fat transfer but prp fat transfer might make it more effective? Got a lot to think about

Hi Kristabel. It's ok. We'll give it another shot when you visit him again. We'll be much more prepared this time .

How much do you know about PRP? Is he planning on doing PRP and fat grafting as 2 separate treatments on the same day or is he somehow combining the PRP (blood) and fat into one solution before injecting? PRP will be beneficial. How beneficial is what we need to know. I can give you more details if you don't know what PRP is or what it's intended to do.

I see you've done you fair share of research on fat grafting. Your concerns are valid and you should definitely bring it up to him. Of course he will tell you "it's all in the skill of the applicator." That's pretty much all he can say and it is somewhat true. If he can offer some sort of gaurantee or at least gaurantee to continue treatment free of charge or at a substantial discount if it doesn't turn out as promised, then we will really see how confident he is in his skills.

Seems like he is also somewhat admitting stem cells is much more effective. If it works well for severe scarring, wouldn't it be even better for mild to moderate scarring? I'm not understanding the logic. Did you give him the impression you were on a budget? His stem cell approach is roughly 6000 pounds. It's quite a bit of $$$. Or is he trying to wheel you in with a lesser treatment and then sell you on the higher level treatments later? Who knows what his intentions are. I'm only speculating and concerned only for your interests.

Another simpler way to ask the questions I had early would be , "If I wanted to inject stem cells ONLY (no fat combined) would the cytori machine make it adequately possible for my condition?"

Kristabel. I'm dying to send more money your way .

Oh and in regards to Dr Khan's infamous reputation ........ it is partly because of the dramatic improvements he's had in Ernesto's case and NO improvement in Faizal's case lol. He's also very expensive, which adds to the mystery and at the same time, some view him as a charlatan for how he dealt with Faizal.

Doctors aren't the best businessmen. However, that does not necessary mean he's not a skilled doctor at the forefront of cutting edge treatments. He has an impressive armamentarium for treating acne scars compared to other doctors in this field. Probably much more than any Dr. you'll find in the U.S.

Oh... Here's a little fun task for the next time you see him. See if you can get the brand or model of the watch he's wearing. This is just for fun, don't make it a mission. I personally think you can tell alot about a person by the watch he chooses to wear. Just trying to get a feel for his personality . Good luck

Well i have to wait a few weeks before i get to see Dr Khan again. I am still thinking about the treatments he said i could have.

I know prp is blood cells with growth factors? Dr Khan said because i am quite young i should have plenty of growth factors in my blood and therefore prp fat transfer is enough for me. I asked would prp be more effective than stem cells in my case? He said it was just because he didnt think stem cells would be necessary for me and that prp fat transfer would be enough because i am young and my scarring is not very severe.

I know nothing about fat transfer. Is fat injected into each scar? Dr Khan mentioned he would be using a microdroplet technique.

I didnt say anything about being on a budget but he might have guessed that i was lol

Oh and in regards to Dr Khan's infamous reputation ........ it is partly because of the dramatic improvements he's had in Ernesto's case and NO improvement in Faizal's case lol. He's also very expensive, which adds to the mystery and at the same time, some view him as a charlatan for how he dealt with Faizal.

 

Doctors aren't the best businessmen. However, that does not necessary mean he's not a skilled doctor at the forefront of cutting edge treatments. He has an impressive armamentarium for treating acne scars compared to other doctors in this field. Probably much more than any Dr. you'll find in the U.S.

My scars are very similar to yours - more prominent on one side over the other. Mainly on my cheeks.

You mentioned in one of your earlier posts that you tried dermarolling. Did you notice any improvement in your scarring at all? Did you ever use retin A of any kind? I'm scared of lasers (only had v-beam laser done multiple times to help reduce the redness of the scars) but am afraid to try any of the fraxel sorts that are out there.

This fat grafting idea is also pretty darn scary and intrusive for me so i doubt i'd go this route. Was hoping to give dermarolling a shot (0.5mm) and take it from there.

PLease share your results!!

seeing as the issue is dents more than texture and pigment i'm inclined to think he made a good suggestion for you. The only question i would consider is, can you afford it, bearing in mind the results are not guaranteed. Nobody can guarantee the outcome of any procedure.

My scars are very similar to yours - more prominent on one side over the other. Mainly on my cheeks.

You mentioned in one of your earlier posts that you tried dermarolling. Did you notice any improvement in your scarring at all? Did you ever use retin A of any kind? I'm scared of lasers (only had v-beam laser done multiple times to help reduce the redness of the scars) but am afraid to try any of the fraxel sorts that are out there.

This fat grafting idea is also pretty darn scary and intrusive for me so i doubt i'd go this route. Was hoping to give dermarolling a shot (0.5mm) and take it from there.

PLease share your results!!

 

I have been having dermaroller treatments about every 6 months at the hospital, with a 1.5 i think, and been using Isotrexin (similar to retin a i think) I have never dermarolled myself so maybe the results are different for that. These treatments have given probably around 20% improvement over 3 years. Not enough for me! But it might work faster if your doing it yourself and more regularly, do it and see. Its not a risky thing to do.I know nothing about fat transfer. Does anyone have any info on it?

seeing as the issue is dents more than texture and pigment i'm inclined to think he made a good suggestion for you. The only question i would consider is, can you afford it, bearing in mind the results are not guaranteed. Nobody can guarantee the outcome of any procedure.

 

Like most people on here i will give anything for improvement. I would rather be in debt than have to live knowing i never tried. PRP fat transfer is much less costly than stem cell fat transfer though. But i still want to learn more about it before i can decide whether to fork out for it

Hey Kristabel.

The microdroplet technique is derived from the BOTOX microdoplet technique. It's a more refined and gradual technique with the philosophy , "It's better to under correct than over correct." I'm sure Dr. Khan has alot of pratice from offering his "baby botox" treatment.

Give it a shot and we'll go from there. Did he ever discuss pricing with you?

Whatever you do, you should compliment it with your own LED therapy to speed up the processes. I might do a separate thread on stem cell for easier ready. the other stem cell thread is 60 + pages.

Hey Roller

I still have dermaroller every 6 months at the hospital, and nlite laser which is also supposed to help.

Do you think using leds would really increase the results of these? Theyre expensive. Which one is the best one on the led man website do you think?

I was thinking of asking Dr Khan to do some restylane for me while i try and make my mind up about a more permanent treatment

Go with the red, infrared, and yellow light combo. i just recently purchases one myself. I had another brand before. it's pretty good.

I was reading in the laser/light forum that the combo lights cancel each other out or something? Something about it being better to use one colour at a time?

Also is it safe to use these leds with bp and retin a?

the unit has switches. you can use whatever light you want independantly. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to use them with a topical.

Thanks for all your advice roller.

Seeing Dr Khan again on wednesday, will try and ask him all your stem cell questions.

Have been seriously considering asking him to do some restylane for me during the appointment to tide me over till i make up my mind what to do...

But feel scared that restylane might stretch my scars or make them worse. cant decide...

you can ask him the questions if you want, but i think my question is flawed.

Whether stem cells are adeqaute or not should be case by case basis. For some it might be adequate, for others it might not be.