Hi people, I can safely say that my scarring is worst then 99% of the people in this board. I can accept many things but severe acne scarring isn't one of them, I feel like I lost my soul. I even downplayed my situation by saying I only have moderate scarring for years but seeing the superficial scars that you all post as moderate mine would have to be severe. My parents say that my face is normal and that I couldn't get a partner has zero percent relation to how I look now. I would have been happier if they were more honest. Judge for yourself, i'm using a camera phone to take this pictures, and in reality its much much worst then it looks in the pics.
Right Cheek: Left Cheek:
I do not know how to carry on with life, a lot of you in this forum say scarring isn't a big problem and then you move on. I believe that majority of you have very superficial or superficial scarring, there's no way anyone with my scarring can say something like that because people's opinion of you and their reaction actually changes when they notice my scarring. I'm so depressed and it doesn't help that I need to meet people in my line of job. It's a double whammy of stress.
By the way these are both opictures of your left cheek.
I know its tough to have acne scars. But you gotta keep your head up high. Theres many famous actors and comedians who have acne scars. You can't let that stop you in life.
You gotta try looking for solutions. I hope you find what will work at fixing your scars. There's several procedures you can try. Perhaps someone can share insight on what has worked for them.
How did you get these scars? Did you leave your acne untreated?
By the way these are both opictures of your left cheek.
I know its tough to have acne scars. But you gotta keep your head up high. Theres many famous actors and comedians who have acne scars. You can't let that stop you in life.
You gotta try looking for solutions. I hope you find what will work at fixing your scars. There's several procedures you can try. Perhaps someone can share insight on what has worked for them.
How did you get these scars? Did you leave your acne untreated?
No, that one is the right cheek, I accidentally inverted the picture. Those famous actors with acne scars have minor ones only. I got these scars from a severe period of acne that lasted 3 months. I've tried many treatments already but to no avail.
By the way these are both opictures of your left cheek.
I know its tough to have acne scars. But you gotta keep your head up high. Theres many famous actors and comedians who have acne scars. You can't let that stop you in life.
You gotta try looking for solutions. I hope you find what will work at fixing your scars. There's several procedures you can try. Perhaps someone can share insight on what has worked for them.
How did you get these scars? Did you leave your acne untreated?
No, that one is the right cheek, I accidentally inverted the picture. Those "famous" actors with acne scars have minor ones only. I got these scars from a severe period of acne that lasted 3 months. I've tried many treatments already but to no avail.
Look at Jet Li, and George Lopez. They're not that minor, but still, we like the people for who they are.
Did you say you treated the acne or the scars?
[
Look at Jet Li, and George Lopez. They're not that minor, but still, we like the people for who they are.
Did you say you treated the acne or the scars?
I treated the scars with dermal rolling, and 10 sessions of laser. 5 sessions were scion laser, cant remember what laser was the other one but it was a less penetrative laser.
When I had acne during the 3 months, I didn't have the means to go for the treatment (No money), my parents said my acne was not bad and when it becomes worst they will inform (Like seriously? Something that is not bad will cause scars like on those pics? Sometimes I can't stand their logic). When it became really bad, I forced them to bring me to a dermatologist. They brought me to some lousy doctor who just attended to me for 5 minutes and gave me a tub of hydrogen peroxide to use. (WORST CHOICE IN MY LIFE!!!), I found out later that hydrogen peroxide drys up the skin alot and keeping the skin moist is a very important factor to healing without scars.
So everything that could go bad actually did. In fact to add the icing to the cake (In a bad way), I actually had my real first girlfriend before having to break off with her after having terrible terrible acne that you guys cannot imagine at all.
Hydrogen peroxide for acne is a bad choice for acne treatment. I'm assuming the doctor was for general practice and not dermatology. That sucks that he prescribed you that. Even more so that your parents didn't think your acne was bad and neglected to give you proper care.
This is my opinion... Those icepick scars don't look that bad... They just look like large pores. For the side of your face on the cheek bone, it looks like you have either a few large ice pick scars or a boxscars. This can be instantly gone with excision. This is where they cut the scar out, like the way they remove moles, then sew the skin back together. Excision is best done by a facial plastic surgeon instead of a dermatologist to best help minimize complications with the surgery. Most of the problems with this procedure is that if the stitches come loose, it can make the scar look worse, and it would have to be redone.
Excision can also be done on certain rolling scars. But it appears that you have quite a few rolling scars grouped together so excision would just cut out too much skin for those. I would look into subscision for those rolling scars on your cheeks. This is where they make a small incision next to the scar and disconnect the flesh from the scar tissue that is holding the flesh down, thus allowing the skin to raise back up. The procedure requires about 4 times for maximum results.
Excision provides the more dramatic results. Or, what you might consider is to just treat the deepest scars that bother you with excision. Then you'll probably forget about the other scars and can live with yourself without having to think about them anymore.
this guy has severe acne scarring, by your reckoning what level of scarring do you have again ?
God bless that guy. This is really really bad. Forgive me but this is total disfigurement already. That said, my scars looks smooth and forgiving because im using a camera phone. In reality, you really have to imagine it 3-4 times worst then the pic i provide. ( I mean i'm not being oversensitive and telling the world world my face is bad when it isn't, there are many people who up frontly tell me that I have several scars on my face, if its a minor thing people won't point it out already)
I already have a phobia of holes because of my situation, when I think of my scars I think of lotus pods.
and It causes a very very adverse reaction to me. When people look me in bad lighting, I feel something like this pic below, only that those holes are on my face. I feel so nauseatic everytime. It's not like I can control my emotions. There was one time in the shopping mall with those fluorescent lights I just felt so uncomfortable and my friend commented I look very pale and sick. If my feelings are just "All in my head" like what my parents will preach, then why does my physical body shows the symptoms of distress? Sometimes, I like to listen to my parent's words. People say that elder's words are words of wisdom. But not this time, I feel that their advice are so lame.
Your scars are worse than 99% of people in this board? Youve gtta be kidding me. Have you been to the gallery for scars. Have you seen ALL of them. I did, i saw them and they did infact have worse than yours.
Although, i can understand that your only able to say that because your judgements are clouded by your emotions. I know it's hard. I myself have a dogbite scar on my face. Ive searched google for dogbite scars and mine seems to be worse. It's composed of indentations and hypertrophic scars so imagine how that looks like. Not only that, i have tons of scars that i wont even bother writing cause im tired of proving people that think they have the worst skin.
Have you seen seal? Search Seal in google. He's a singer.
Btw, it is all in the mind.
You see there are studies about people who have facial dysmorphy and people who are normal. The study shows that they both have the same happiness and same sadness.
Ive also read people who got attacked by acid ON the FACE, and that is never curable. A lot of the stories i read is that they did wanted to die but then through support by their family and friends, they have become strong and loved themselves.
So yes, it is all in the brain. I mean, if you dont care about it, you woudnt care about what people say right?
I have this dogbite scar since i was a child. I also burnt my face with scorching oil when i was a child. There's so much more.
But im not giving up. Im gonna try my best to live my life WHILE treating my scars.
The only moments where i really feel embarrased is when people go very close to my face and when i get huge zits that are red. A scarred face is better than a zitty face. Not those little pimples but those humongous ones with puss in the middle cause those really attracts attention.
Putting this topic back into perspective. (Also, can someone get rid of those pictures, I think it is scaring off the viewers ffs)
The only thing I see on your face are enlarged pores and moderate scarring. You heard me. Enlarged pores and moderate scarring. You actually have rather similar scarring to mine, maybe give or take a touch severe, but not much different.
I have cut out unnecessary cosmetic products from my regime (vitamin E serum, copper peptides etc, all out the window) and stuck with tretinion cream, a thin moisturizer and mild non-drying cleanser. I had a vigorous session of CO2RE ablative fractional CO2 (milder Fraxel Re:pair equivalent) laser a month before this and it has helped with some of my pores and a lot with my scarring. That being said, tretinion is supposed to help with your pores in the long run too.
Don't let your skin limit your potential. Stay frosty.
I'd say you have moderate scarring, not unlike my own, and it's not as bad as you think. For example, my boyfriend has many enlarged pores allover his inner cheeks like your smaller scars, but I can only tell they're there because I'm skin-obsessed and his girlfriend who's seen him upclose for countless times - his skin looks absolutely flawless normally. So other people most likely only notice your bigger scars and most of your skin would look normal.
That said, since you're not happy with your skin, I'd recommend fractional ablative laser based on research for my own scarring. Go for Deep FX or Fraxel Re:pair, preferably more than once. You should see improvement.
I completely understand what you say, most people here understand. I posted that picture to put things into perspective on the classification of acne scarring and in comparison to severe acne scarring, i would say you have mild scarring even if in reality they are 3/4 times worse.
This is just my opinion, i suppose in certain cultures people are different and classify things differently. Your parents and real friends should care about you and will never over estimate your skin problems, they will tell you as it is. The people who dont care will pick up on your faults and elevate them, life is like a game of poker, if they know your cards thats game over. Your skin is fine, just dont let yourself down because your skin is not absolutely perfect.
[Edited image out]
You think your scars are worst than 99% of the people on this board because the only people that post their pictures don't actually have that bad a case of scarring. Please don't pay attention to those posts because they're just seeking validation, while on the same token making the rest of us with truly bad scars feel like crap about ourselves.
That said, you do have scars, but they're not severe. I do understand what you mean though that pictures never truly capture the extent of someone's scarring.
In your case, I think that subcision and fillers to help restore volume to the cheek would help with shadowing. With fillers, you have to accept that it will require maintenance, the frequency depends on which type of filler you choose. For the boxcar and ice pick type scars, I would say lasers, however be prepared to accept that you may hyperpigment for a while (treatable with bleaching cream). Also be prepared for multiple rounds of c02 fractional lasers as it's never a one and done kind of thing. Excisions are NOT appropriate in your case, and they often fail and turn out worst.
And seriously... that pic.... I don't know if I could go on if I was truly disfigured like that. My scars are bad, but damn... My heart just breaks for people who get dealt such a terrible hand in life.
I would say this is moderate.
There are a lot of people on here who post mild as moderate. But yours is a true moderate.
It does suck. All you can really do is focus on what you can do to repair it, and go on living your life, since repairs take a long time. If you decide to shut yourself off until your skin is perfect, you will lose a lot of youth. Just aging will take away more of your appearance...so even if you have millions of laser treatments, your skin will never look as good as it did before the acne because you will have aged in the meantime. Just hard facts of life.
Your best bets are:
- Fraxel treatments
- TCA + subcision
- Dermarolling
- Retinoids
Don't forget that male celebrities wear makeup constantly. I have worked in the movie industry. They goop on foundation pretty thick to cover up stuff like that, not to mention airbrushing for print and post-production filters for film.
You can get away with a light tinted moisturizer to cover this up in the meantime. If you get a good color match, no one will know the difference.
Don't give up hope please!! Ik the feeling I had bad acne too and I am left with minimal scars on my cheeks,. It really affected me.. You need to find a good plastic surgeon maybe out of your area.. Take a trip to New York or la they have the best of the best there and the best treatments as well... Your skin can be fixed it will just take many treatments and time..
