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Laser Resurfacing And Dermabrasion Are Not Permanent?

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2
(@foreverandpatience)

Posted : 11/01/2012 6:43 pm

I just read somewhere that scars can come back. Is this true?

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MemberMember
20
(@dragz)

Posted : 11/02/2012 6:15 pm

After the initial microswelling, yes. Beyond that, not exactly. You do lose collagen over time as you get older, but you don't lose collagen in the same spots as you had scars, it's more of an even loss all across the body.

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(@tokyogirl)

Posted : 11/02/2012 6:32 pm

With fractional co2 laser, some studies show you do lose some improvement to scars, even after microswelling has subsided. You peak at around 3 months and then could lose some improvement over the next few months or year. Here's one study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/20166157

 

I'm almost 9 months out from Deep FX, and I think I've lost a little bit of improvement. I'm still happy with my results though.

 

You also lose collagen as you age.

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MemberMember
20
(@dragz)

Posted : 11/03/2012 12:29 pm

With fractional co2 laser, some studies show you do lose some improvement to scars, even after microswelling has subsided. You peak at around 3 months and then could lose some improvement over the next few months or year. Here's one study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/20166157

 

This is pretty much the most realistic expectation you can have from ablative fractional lasers.

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MemberMember
21
(@austra)

Posted : 11/07/2012 5:21 am

This reminds me that the few scars that showed some improvement after my TCA cross a year ago have worsened somewhat since. And I'm not talking about microswelling either, but what the results were a few months after and now almost a year later. So this might just be the case with every scar treatment.

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46
(@tokyogirl)

Posted : 11/07/2012 7:30 pm

This reminds me that the few scars that showed some improvement after my TCA cross a year ago have worsened somewhat since. And I'm not talking about microswelling either, but what the results were a few months after and now almost a year later. So this might just be the case with every scar treatment.

 

Sadly, there is some truth to this. However, if you have success with subcision or excision, I don't believe your original acne scars will resurface over time. Of course, with excision, you'll still have a scar though, and I don't believe you can ever fully eliminate it. I do believe treating acne scars with methods like dermabrasion, traditional co2, fractional co2, tca cross, dermarollling, etc. will require maintenance to maintain your improvement. A sad reality

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MemberMember
2
(@foreverandpatience)

Posted : 11/07/2012 8:37 pm

Awh, this is depressing. I hope it isn't true, though. I mean I have needled, and I hope I don't have to do it for the rest of my life.

I have a newer scar, about six months old, I needled it at about four months... then a month later. It's leveled out. People have said collagen is still forming, and scars take up to two years to fully mature. Hopefully this is the case, and that THIS scar will least get better with time. I'm still young...17. And it is new. But I don't know. I don't want to feel helpless again. I just couldn't live with myself.

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MemberMember
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(@austra)

Posted : 11/08/2012 4:22 am

Yes, excision, subcision and punch floats are probably more permanent. I'd love to hear more from people who have seen improvement with lasers, dermarolling, TCA cross etc several years ago and then stopped treatments, but of course they wouldn't be coming back to acne scar forums after getting over that phase in their lives.

 

I would rather not commit to treating my scars for the rest of my life either, so ugh. I guess it depends on what you can live with. I would be okay with modest improvement, which hopefully wouldn't completely diminish in the long term. I'm also hoping that after several years my scars (about 3-6 years old now) would soften and thus look better, but I don't know if this is at all realistic. The idea of having to keep treating scars and looking for treatments and taking risks going through them for years and years seems too mentally consuming for me, so at some point I will just have to accept them for what they are and move on.

 

ForeverAndPatience, since you are so young, there is a good chance your scars are going to improve on their own in the next few years. Just try to live healthily, eat a nutrient-rich diet, get some good protein, sleep well and exercise. It does depend on the type of your scarring as well and your skin type, but still there is a good chance you will see some improvement even without any treatments. Scars always look their worst during the first year or two before settling anyway. You should really focus on preventing any further scarring, and please stop picking any inflamed acne altogether, there is no safe way to pop pimples and you do have to leave them alone completely and let them go away on their own (I've learned this the hard way, unfortunately). And since your new scar still hasn't settled, if it levels out in the first couple of years, I think there is a good chance it won't resurface.

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