Day 2 of my VI peel. Today is a good day bc my skin is plump, but I know that will go away after a week.

So, I was looking over other threads, and I'm leaning towards doing subcision. I hate my "x" scar on my chin, I would classify it as rolling so I think that I could get some good improvement. It's been a year since this scar appeared and I keep thinking that it will gradually go away, but that has not happened. Similarly to what I read on another thread, it's so hard to find a good derm on this site. I've read a lot about Rappaport and Harley Street Clinic, as well as Dr. Lam and Oppenheiner, but what about Atlanta? I also might call my university's dermatology center to check this out. I have some down time this summer so this could work.

So my peeling is almost done, skin looks brighter but not much different. In fact my skin has started to break out around my mouth and neck which sucks.

I called my local university derm office today and they do subcision and tca cross which the receptionist said starts at 200. She said that they perform either procedure each day, but I'd like to see some pictures and talk to the derm. The initial consult is 90, so I may not be able to do it this month as I'm leaving for the summer and they don't have any appointments until May. I'm ready and willing to have a more even toned complexion so I don't care about spending hundreds more on my face. Acne is so expensive, ugh!

Ok, I booked an appointment 3 weeks from now with Dr. Orringer. He seems to have a lot of knowledge in lasers, but he performs subcision as well, so let's hope he doesn't push the most expensive procedure. I also called Dr. Griffin, but it seems like no one there knows anything so I left a message for his assistant.

Dr Griffin's office called me back in regards to subcision and the initial consult is free but the procedure can cost upwards of $1,300 because this is considered to be a surgery. Wow, that's pricey.

So I saw the derm today and he suggested TCA cross and fraxel restore. I told him that I was very hesitant about the laser due to all of the bad reviews, so he said that we could put it on the back burner. I kept pushing subcision but he said that I wasn't a good candidate for that and instead offered me restalyne. I own TCA but never cross that hard so he would probably get much better results than me. I'm also scheduled for some skin needling next week with a tattoo artist, been to her twice. The cross is 250 full face, restalyne 550, laser 950. I really thought that subcision-suction would be my answer but he said that my scars aren't tethered.

i've done 5 fraxel($1200 per session) and 6 ipl($150 or $175 per session...) laser treatments so far....but it didn't do anything to my scars...ipl helped a little to fade my red marks...

i have both rolling and box scars...i am too scared to get tca peel or even cross because i have dark skin tone...

now i am thinking about getting some fillers...

go see another dr, get a second opinion...even get a third opinion...many surgeons like you to get laser treatment, because they just love money..and they really don't care about your concerns...so be careful picking your dr..

Yea, I don't think that I want to go with the laser option due to many reporting an orange peel texture, but you know, what works for some doesn't work for others and vice versa.

So, I went to the tattoo artist last Tues but have been too lazy to put up pics. This was my third time going to her, but my second time working on the same area. She works on my ice picks with a tattoo gun, and the scabs stay on for a really long time, just today my last one fell off. Alas, I don't see any improvement, one scar does seem a bit shallower and maybe my rolling ones are a litttttttle less deep but that's questionable.

The pics are day 1 (2 hours after needling), day 2, day 4 (looks good with makeup but you can see tons of small scabs in person which look like dry skin, camera didn't capture that) and day 13 (today)

Have you had good results using a 0.25 mm needle? I used to needle myself with 0.31 lancets and saw no improvement at all.

I want to get recell. Contacted two doctors in the UK, thinking about booking an appointment. I just want to stop stressing and continuously looking at my skin.

Booked! Going to visit Dr Maini this August for recell!

keep us updated on your rcell experience. greatly appreciated

Hello, so yesterday I had my recell treatment and am writing this post on my phone so please excuse errors. I decided to get co2 combined with recell. I had contacted other doctors who said they demabraded the skin first, but decided to go with a laser due to the precision.

I arrived to my treatment at 9 am. Sat with the doctor who asked about concerns then took pics. Was originally told that bandages would come off day 4 but now looks like bandages come off day two, but thin plastic sheets remain. Am I going to have to walk through the airport like that? May change flight.

Went to the shower and washed myself in antibacterial soap then went to the operating room. The doctor proceeded to numb my face with ten needles! That was super painful and scary since I hate needles. Then the co2 came which want very painful due to the numbness. He did my whole face, then rubbed certain areas that had scars. After that he gave me some needles in the scalp which is where the biopsy came from. Then took the recell sample and said it was an excellent sample due to its milky texture. Next smeared the recell all over my face and bandaged me up like a mummy. Have been sitting in my room for two days unable to leave. Since the treatment there has been no pain, no burning sensation, no itching, nothing, just annoying bandages that make it hard to eat. Maybe he didn't go deep enough? But he said he was going down to the dermis.

Have been taking antibiotics due to showing up with some active acne.

Type 3/4 skin, and whole experience lasted four hours

Just came back from the doctor and bandages are off, along with some of the plastic sheets that were under the bandages. He cut and pulled everything off, and it didn't hurt, but some of the plastic sheets left skin that stung a little. I was really worried that he was pulling off new, good skin but he said that there would have been blood, and he is only taking off from places that had healed. Now I have to keep my skin most and apply Vaseline every few hours. Will be back in two days for a follow up. Still red so just sitting in my room. Amazing how my skin has healed but it's too early to tell what it will all look like. I like the baby pink texture of my skin though, makes it seem new and healthy

Next is me post op, all bandaged up, and finally what I look like three days later

Hope you get the results you are looking for. That X shaped scar is the same type of scarring I have and want to get rid of. It is not really rolling scarring they seem more like irregular shallow indentations.

Keep us updated.

Day 7

I had been hiding in my hotel room, but today decided that my scabs didn't look so bad, so I decided to wall around for a bit. Couldn't really look anyone in the eyes as I still feel like I look like a recovering drug addict with all the scabs on my face. My dr said those were sun damage spots! Can't believe I had so much sun damage already. They will fall off soon, and a lot of them are loose enough that I pushed them off today. My skin is a little itchy but not unbearable. I am alsO extremely shiny and oily as I have Vaseline On my face. Oh and today I washed my hair properly so it doesn't feel as dirty. Unfortunately the scalp biopsy resulted in a little scar where I do not see any new hair growing in. Hopefully that will change. Still haven't really washed my face as I have so much gunk on it but I dont want to really scrub it off as I don't want to cause any damage. I am still on antibiotics and I believe they are pushing whiteheads out of me as I see a lot of them on my skin, very tiny. Reminds me of the first few days of accutane when your skin begins to detox.

I have attached two pics of my left cheek ( that's the one that has the most scarring and are what most if not all my pics are if previously). The first was taken four moaths ago when I thought I was having a good skin day but wasn't. And the second one is me day 7 post recell

Hi gotchocolate,

Any updates? How much has your skin improved over the last month since you posted?

Day 32

So I'm using my cell and I can't get the right angle, but thus far I would have to say I am at a 10% improvement maybe? The indentations that I hate that are around my chin have returned. Post procedure I would say that days 9-14 were the best because my skin was still swollen so it looked like I had gotten a lot of improvement. A lot of my little boxcar marks have returned which is puzzling because we sanded my skin down with a CO2 laser so I am shocked that this couldn't even get rid of small marks. I spoke with the doctor and he said right now it is still too early to tell, and that the skin is still remodeling itself and results will be see at 6 months, all the way up to 18 months. I am skeptical, but let's see. Pictures are of my left cheek as always

Gotchocolate, sorry if I missed this in the thread but was it fractional CO2 or full on, old school CO2?

Do you know the name of the laser used?

He used a fractional laser, the CO2RE. He did this on my entire face, one pass. Then he took something like sandpaper and scrubbed off the skin on my cheeks and chin. The forehead was not scrubbed. My nose and upper lip did not get lasered.

Thanks for the great insight, gotchocolate. I have a couple of questions for you:

1. How is your skin looking now? Any improvements? Would you recommend this treatment?

2. Did you feel like your scar got any worse before getting better? ie. did the laser cause pore-like holes or more scars?

Thanks!

i've done 5 fraxel($1200 per session) and 6 ipl($150 or $175 per session...) laser treatments so far....but it didn't do anything to my scars...ipl helped a little to fade my red marks...

i have both rolling and box scars...i am too scared to get tca peel or even cross because i have dark skin tone...

now i am thinking about getting some fillers...

go see another dr, get a second opinion...even get a third opinion...many surgeons like you to get laser treatment, because they just love money..and they really don't care about your concerns...so be careful picking your dr..

 

TCA peels can be safe for darker skin tones. I know an esthetician at work who has flawless skin, she's black and does TCA peels on herself and also offers them for a price.

So some of you have asked how my results have been, and I'd like to post up a new picture. This is, like almost all my pics, of my left cheek. It has now been exactly 4 months since I got my procedure done and overall I can see very little, if any, results.

To top it off, my antibiotics have stopped working and now I have begun to break out on my chin, and neck. I'm pretty sure this is hormonal and I have been trying to avoid going on BC since I stopped 6 years ago. Right after I stopped my skin went out of control, and I can thank it with accutane and scars.

First pic- 5 months pre Recell (wearing makeup)

Second pic- 4 months post Recell

oh my god, so no results. I mean it's not even worth it for 10 percent results if you have scars like I do, which are actually deeper than yours. Thank you for posting your honest results and demonstrating to all of us that this laser with recell combo is completely useless for acne scarring. i'm sorry about your results but you are doing all of us an incredible service with your honesty. I despair there may be no cure for some time to come.

oh my god, so no results. I mean it's not even worth it for 10 percent results if you have scars like I do, which are actually deeper than yours. Thank you for posting your honest results and demonstrating to all of us that this laser with recell combo is completely useless for acne scarring. i'm sorry about your results but you are doing all of us an incredible service with your honesty. I despair there may be no cure for some time to come.

What doesn't work for others may work for you, and vice versa.