You look like you have a mix of ice pick + smaller boxcars + big pores. Sadly this type of scarring is the most difficult to treat - but minus a few, they seem fairly shallow/small.
You're most likely going to need more than one treatment "type" - I would look into retin a + tca cross + fractional co2 + needling. If none of that works, you have the option of excisions (punch float) + dermabrasion (just keep in mind these carry a lot of risks).
Personally I would start using retin a to generally make your skin/pores look better and then tca cross on the ice picks and either laser/needling on the scarred areas (you'll need more than one session).
wouldn't peels make them less noticeable as well?
Most of the peels that aren't likely to cause complications won't work well imo and the ones that can create results carry a ton of risks ie phenol peels. It's like the difference between micro-dermabrasion and regular dermabrasion.
You look like you have a mix of ice pick + smaller boxcars + big pores. Sadly this type of scarring is the most difficult to treat - but minus a few, they seem fairly shallow/small.
You're most likely going to need more than one treatment "type" - I would look into retin a + tca cross + fractional co2 + needling. If none of that works, you have the option of excisions (punch float) + dermabrasion (just keep in mind these carry a lot of risks).
Personally I would start using retin a to generally make your skin/pores look better and then tca cross on the ice picks and either laser/needling on the scarred areas (you'll need more than one session).
Thanks for the reply. I don't mind the ice pick and the big pores so much. I'd definitely want to get rid of the boxscars. What's the most effective way with minimal risk and downtime to treat boxscars? How much could the treatments cost me?
Thanks
thats so crazy ...retin a is eating away old skin ...my face has peeled so many time since i started using it 4 weeks ago or so ...and i'm planning on using it for good ...check out the 70yo man on www.owndoc.com that uses it regular he looks really young!
Wow that's crazy. Has anyone used that DermaRoll to treat acne boxcar scars yet? If so, how does it work for you?
I have a pretty good sized boxcar that has responded pretty well to the needling. It will take many months though, before you see enough improvment to get excited about. a year or more to really see them "go away". I've been doing the rolling for about 5 months now, and it's made a huge difference, but you have to eat very very healthy and take msm and hyaluronic acid and plenty of vitamin c. I use copper peptides and a retinol product post roll. I do the "big roll" (1mm roller and 1.5mm stamp for trouble areas) about once a month and "small rolls" with a .5mm roller a couple of times a week for topical absorbtion. It's been very productive. I was comparing before pics to now pics last night and the results are there for sure. I will probably never stop dermarolling forever. I did a tca cross for my ice picks 8 days ago. They're healing nicely, and I am optimistic that the TCA cross is going to help me but it's going to take a number of treatments by the looks of it, and it's a laborious and mentally taxing process to be sure. Didn't want to even go out for the first few days because it looked like I had cold sores all over my face. I have decided that I am just going to have to suffer through it for a while. I want my old self back.
I have a pretty good sized boxcar that has responded pretty well to the needling. It will take many months though, before you see enough improvment to get excited about. a year or more to really see them "go away". I've been doing the rolling for about 5 months now, and it's made a huge difference, but you have to eat very very healthy and take msm and hyaluronic acid and plenty of vitamin c. I use copper peptides and a retinol product post roll. I do the "big roll" (1mm roller and 1.5mm stamp for trouble areas) about once a month and "small rolls" with a .5mm roller a couple of times a week for topical absorbtion. It's been very productive. I was comparing before pics to now pics last night and the results are there for sure. I will probably never stop dermarolling forever. I did a tca cross for my ice picks 8 days ago. They're healing nicely, and I am optimistic that the TCA cross is going to help me but it's going to take a number of treatments by the looks of it, and it's a laborious and mentally taxing process to be sure. Didn't want to even go out for the first few days because it looked like I had cold sores all over my face. I have decided that I am just going to have to suffer through it for a while. I want my old self back.
Congrats on your progress. Do you mind posting the before and after pictures?
I have a pretty good sized boxcar that has responded pretty well to the needling. It will take many months though, before you see enough improvment to get excited about. a year or more to really see them "go away". I've been doing the rolling for about 5 months now, and it's made a huge difference, but you have to eat very very healthy and take msm and hyaluronic acid and plenty of vitamin c. I use copper peptides and a retinol product post roll. I do the "big roll" (1mm roller and 1.5mm stamp for trouble areas) about once a month and "small rolls" with a .5mm roller a couple of times a week for topical absorbtion. It's been very productive. I was comparing before pics to now pics last night and the results are there for sure. I will probably never stop dermarolling forever. I did a tca cross for my ice picks 8 days ago. They're healing nicely, and I am optimistic that the TCA cross is going to help me but it's going to take a number of treatments by the looks of it, and it's a laborious and mentally taxing process to be sure. Didn't want to even go out for the first few days because it looked like I had cold sores all over my face. I have decided that I am just going to have to suffer through it for a while. I want my old self back.
Congrats on your progress. Do you mind posting the before and after pictures?
Hi, yes I will be happy to post some pics. I need some time to find some that show the difference, and to figure out how to get them on here so you can see them. I will tell you, the scars are not "gone", but I think there has been a good bit of improvement. I had an area under my eye that had sunken in due to repeated zits right in the same area over the years, and it has puffed back out a lot, although it is still clearly there. I'm hoping with continued needling it'll keep getting better. Honestly, though, my focus has shifted from fixing my scars to learning to live with them and be happy again. Needling seems to be something I can do that doesn't effect my everyday life at all, but still gives me continued improvement and so it is my treatment of choice for sure, that coupled with topicals. I did a TCA cross that did help, but it was such a difficult process healing and recovering and dealing with a small breakout from keeping the scars moist that I'm not sure I want to keep doing it. I may keep treating some of my larger ice picks that way, but not all of them again or smaller ones, I don't think. I'll get back to you about the pics, be patient with me I am trying not to think about my scars for the rest of the day today. : ) I have scheduled a consult with a plastic surgeon next week about possibly excising one or two scars that I would certainly trade for a line scar. the rest of them I think I can deal with.
macnoob, I posted some pics in my gallery to show the overall progress of the deep pitting in my right cheek. what the photos don't clearly show are the small ice picks and boxcar scars riddled throughout the pit, and scattered around my face. as I started out, the deep pit in my cheek was my main concern. for only 5 months, I think the progress I have made is outstanding. I can't believe how much the pit has puffed back out. this is the first time I have been able to make a side by side comparison even for myself. if you look in the center of the pit, you can see a small dark spot, that is my boxcar. in the later pics, you can see that the dark spot has become lighter as the boxcar has also improved. I think this is a strong case for the effectiveness of needling. but diet and topicals are crucial.
one of the people I work for pulled me aside last week and told me that whatever I was doing, I should keep doing it because my face was looking a lot better. and the guy who did it doesn't do things like that. so, it made me feel pretty good.
i realize my example isn't like your scarring, but the ice pick type scars i do have have also softened and improved with the needling, but it think it would take a year or two to make enough of a difference for you to be totally happy with, unfortunately. I have seen some pretty good examples of excision followed by lasers that worked for your type of scarring, but finding a really good plastic surgeon would be absolutely the key to your success, and it likely wouldn't be cheap. and there is the chance a few of the excisions might fail. do a search for excision followed by laser and see what you think.