Seems like some atrophic scars appeared from cystic acne. Your skin is so beautiful, don't worry about the scars. You can cover them with your beard as a last resort. I wish I would have such a beautiful face like you. I have similar acne than you, but accutane doesn't help me like it did to you. You should be happy about the improvement.

Hi Maclas!

Your scarring seems moderately deep but it's isolated, which is good. Your skin tone is awesome so I would think twice before jumping into lasers! I am still treating post-laser pigmentation issues. I would use lasers as a last resort or as a touch-up when your scarring is more superficial, if you need it. Everyone is different of course but just food for thought.

I think you have a mix of rolling scars and boxcar scars, some of which appear quite large in diameter. I think you'd be an excellent candidate for a device called the eDermastamp. Basically it's skin needling but for smaller, more isolated areas. The needles puncture through your skin, break up scar tissue and trick your body into thinking that it needs to repair a wound (when there is no wound, per say) and therefore your body produces healthy collagen. Your scars fill up over the course of 5-6 treatments over roughly 8 months.

Yes, slow going but take it from someone who has had experience... it works! While I haven't had the eDermastamp treatments (yet) I have had 5 sessions of the Dermaroller. My skin has never looked so amazing. It takes time and dedication but it is worth it!

Other options for you could be subcision and/or fillers like Restylane. I really think that needles are better than lasers.

Seems like some atrophic scars appeared from cystic acne. Your skin is so beautiful, don't worry about the scars. You can cover them with your beard as a last resort. I wish I would have such a beautiful face like you. I have similar acne than you, but accutane doesn't help me like it did to you. You should be happy about the improvement.

OP, has the pigmentation faded much since November? Or has it stayed roughly the same?

It's nice that you give the OP such lovely comments but it's not helpful. They've come here to ask us for help and advice so clearly their scarring is troubling them. We should be careful about telling people what they should be thankful/happy about. Telling someone their "scarring is not bad", "just cover it with make-up", "don't worry about it", "I wish I had skin like yours" etc, is frustrating to them.

OP, has the pigmentation faded much since November? Or has it stayed roughly the same?

It's nice that you give the OP such lovely comments but it's not helpful. They've come here to ask us for help and advice so clearly their scarring is troubling them. We should be careful about telling people what they should be thankful/happy about. Telling someone their "scarring is not bad", "just cover it with make-up", "don't worry about it", "I wish I had skin like yours" etc, is frustrating to them.

Hi Fox,

You give really great advice on this forum (including to me)

But I have to disagree. Different people react differently. Yeah, some people would find it frustrating to be told "don't worry about it", but some people would be reassured to hear that. And in some cases, people do have more of a psychological issue than a physical one, and I think telling them straight up is still the right thing to do, regardless of whether they like to hear it or not...

Agreed.

OP, has the pigmentation faded much since November? Or has it stayed roughly the same?

It's nice that you give the OP such lovely comments but it's not helpful. They've come here to ask us for help and advice so clearly their scarring is troubling them. We should be careful about telling people what they should be thankful/happy about. Telling someone their "scarring is not bad", "just cover it with make-up", "don't worry about it", "I wish I had skin like yours" etc, is frustrating to them.

Hi Fox,

You give really great advice on this forum (including to me)

But I have to disagree. Different people react differently. Yeah, some people would find it frustrating to be told "don't worry about it", but some people would be reassured to hear that. And in some cases, people do have more of a psychological issue than a physical one, and I think telling them straight up is still the right thing to do, regardless of whether they like to hear it or not...

Thank you all for your responses. As a matter of fact the pigmentation has not faded since November, it stayed more or less the same through these 7 months.

bump

Any other opinions from forum subscribers?

As the pigmentation hasn't faded in 7 months, it might be a good idea to try fading that first with something topical. As Fox said, laser treatments risk worsening your excellent skin tone for what are relatively minor scars. It's worth at least trying things like creams first as they're basically risk-free.

With the pigmentation removed, you might find you no longer have a problem with the minor scarring. Or then you can try to resolve the scars separately with dermarolling or subcision.

bump

Lasers don't always ruin your skin. That's rare even with bad/good skin tone. People need to stop pushing people away from laser. Bad skin tone is most of the time improved with certain laser treatments such as co2/repair.

Well, this is just me but I wouldn't jump into doing laser without exploring other options. You could get a second opinion from another dermatologist, but basically they'll try to sell you whatever it is they have available (this has been my experience at least). Right now, I'm doing gentle peels and red/blue light therapy and I'm using a bio-peptide cream at night to help with texture, but my scars look different than yours so I don't know if these would work for you. I think before you jump into anything, do your research and weigh the pros and cons. And for what it's worth, your skin texture is really nice!

Well, this is just me but I wouldn't jump into doing laser without exploring other options. You could get a second opinion from another dermatologist, but basically they'll try to sell you whatever it is they have available (this has been my experience at least). Right now, I'm doing gentle peels and red/blue light therapy and I'm using a bio-peptide cream at night to help with texture, but my scars look different than yours so I don't know if these would work for you. I think before you jump into anything, do your research and weigh the pros and cons. And for what it's worth, your skin texture is really nice!

I agree. Lasers should be last resort. But don't completely remove them from your options...

i think your skin looks pretty good but if you want to get rid of that redness why not just get a few ipl's for that. the scars will look better when they are the same color as your skin. ipl is super easy i get mine on my lunch break and come right back to work. you need to go to a reputable place and have them do multiple passes on each spot to get good results and ipl is not laser and the best part is that they only zap the areas that need it not the entire face.

i think your skin looks pretty good but if you want to get rid of that redness why not just get a few ipl's for that. the scars will look better when they are the same color as your skin. ipl is super easy i get mine on my lunch break and come right back to work. you need to go to a reputable place and have them do multiple passes on each spot to get good results and ipl is not laser and the best part is that they only zap the areas that need it not the entire face.

Tracy, IPL is considered a red light treatment, correct? I'm not sure if that was what I tried it last time I got a facial, but my esthetician asked me if I wanted to try pulsed light for free to see if I like it. I think it was similar to the IPL. I didn't even know estheticians can do this type of treatment, I thought they need to be licensed/ trained to do this. Are you seeing results with it, and how often do you do it? I'm trying to smooth out my skin without resorting to lasers, so I was hoping that peels and red light treatments (and possibly IPL if it's safe) would help me, as I'm already seeing some results. Anyway, the esthetician told me that the full treatment lasts for 20 minutes...she only did a few minutes on my skin last time and I thought it was intense. Are 20 minutes too much for this type of treatment?

hello! ipl is a broad spectrum light. i havent seen anywhere that has estheticians doing this type of procedure so if you are going to try it again i would got to a reputable place to get it done. i have been getting ipl for years now probably close to 7 by now for my red and brown marks and broken caps. it works very well and at least to me its like the easiest treatment to do because there really is no down time. you can get them every 4 weeks you just have to make sure to avoid the sun before and after the treatment for a few weeks thats about it. i have gone 4 different places to get these done and i have had the best results when they do multiple passes on each spot at a high setting. i can do the high setting because i have been getting them done long enough where the person that works on my skin knows how high to go but i would start with a lower setting with multiple passes and work your way up. the last ipl i got at a new place where the lady was very experienced she did 10 passes on each spot which took about a half hour only because she did my entire face but if i just get a spot treatment it takes less than 10 minutes. afterwards they give me ice to help with the swelling and redness and then a few hours later my skin is back to normal. the red marks look more red after the treatment but nothing that you cant cover up with makeup (you can apply makeup right away if you need to) and my brown spots look more like coffee grounds. usually in about 5 days those will fall off and then the red marks will be noticeabley lighter. usually for my stubborn red marks i would say 2 treatments usually does it for me but at first they wont be doing a high setting so it might take longer but shouldnt take more than say 4 treatments to get the results you want. they just need to do multiple passes on each spot that is the key to getting great results. if you need anymore info let me know you can always pm me. i have had at least 20 ipl's in my life time and never had one single problem so its a very safe procedure.

hello! ipl is a broad spectrum light. i havent seen anywhere that has estheticians doing this type of procedure so if you are going to try it again i would got to a reputable place to get it done. i have been getting ipl for years now probably close to 7 by now for my red and brown marks and broken caps. it works very well and at least to me its like the easiest treatment to do because there really is no down time. you can get them every 4 weeks you just have to make sure to avoid the sun before and after the treatment for a few weeks thats about it. i have gone 4 different places to get these done and i have had the best results when they do multiple passes on each spot at a high setting. i can do the high setting because i have been getting them done long enough where the person that works on my skin knows how high to go but i would start with a lower setting with multiple passes and work your way up. the last ipl i got at a new place where the lady was very experienced she did 10 passes on each spot which took about a half hour only because she did my entire face but if i just get a spot treatment it takes less than 10 minutes. afterwards they give me ice to help with the swelling and redness and then a few hours later my skin is back to normal. the red marks look more red after the treatment but nothing that you cant cover up with makeup (you can apply makeup right away if you need to) and my brown spots look more like coffee grounds. usually in about 5 days those will fall off and then the red marks will be noticeabley lighter. usually for my stubborn red marks i would say 2 treatments usually does it for me but at first they wont be doing a high setting so it might take longer but shouldnt take more than say 4 treatments to get the results you want. they just need to do multiple passes on each spot that is the key to getting great results. if you need anymore info let me know you can always pm me. i have had at least 20 ipl's in my life time and never had one single problem so its a very safe procedure.

Thanks for the info....I'll send you a PM with more questions after my facial this weekend. Btw, the treatment costs about $20 at my spa, and I thought IPL was expensive. They call it "Light Touch", and I thought she mentioned that it's like IPL, but I could be wrong. I saw IPL videos and that's how the treatment I got was - intense light pulses multiple times on each spot. But $20 seems too cheap for an actual IPL right?

yeah $20 is way too cheap when i get spot treatments they are $125 and when i get a full face treatment its around $350 and thats not that expensive some places charge even more than that. you know when you get an ipl because when it hits the skin it feels like a rubber band snapping and then you feel a very hot almost burning type sensation. i never heard of light touch but maybe its like a home version of the ipl machine or something that is like that but a very very gentle version of it. i cant see that really doing anything. yeah you can pm me anytime and you are very welcome!