I've been a silent stalker of Acne.org for a while now, and I suppose it's time that I come out of the shadows and into the light.
Firstly, I will say that two of the biggest things I have done to help heal my acne are:
1)Change of diet. I'm not perfect with it, but the better I am at keeping dairy out of my diet, the better my skin does. I realised last summer that peanut butter also triggers breakouts around my neck and jaw line (hormonal, so they say), so I've cut peanuts and nuts out as well. I've since read that peanut butter naturally boosts ones testosterone levels, so the jawline acne would make sense.
2) Coming off of birth control. Don't get me wrong - the first 8 or so months after coming off were pretty awful, and I tried everything to control it. The more I tried, the worse it got. When I moved overseas and had to leave my arsenal of concoctions behind, my skin cleared right up. I guess that actually makes three things that helped heal it, so I'll add the last...
3)Taming down the beauty regime. For 4 or 5 months, I washed only with water and used lavender oil on any small spots that came up. My skin was really good during this time. Since I moved back home (different climate) and my skin has become a bit more oily in certain areas, I've started to use rose water (Burts Bees) as a toner and Cerave moisturiser, but otherwise stick with the water-only cleansing, and the lavender oil.
Well my skin has been pretty good for 6 months now, aside from one cyst (I know what caused it - it was definitely a once off) and a few spots once in a while. I really wanted to work on improving the canvass I have left to work with. Getting older and having lost some facial fat, I'm seeing the different effect that scarring has on ageing skin. Some scars were around my smile lines, which made it look especially displeasing, and scars above my brows made it look like I had very deep 11's even though I didn't. After a lot of research on Acne.org (thank you, Mr Matt!) and some other avenues, I found a doctor who performs subcision and went for a consultation two weeks ago. He said that subcision would only be effective on some of my scarring and that he would suggest PRP as well. I've been duped out of money by Dr's before, so I did some quick research for PRP at home, and then stuck with my initial request for subcision only.
I got the procedure done yesterday afternoon. The nurse put numbing cream on my face, wrapped it up in cling film like I were yesterdays left-over turkey sandwich and left it for one hour, after which the Dr did the local anaesthetic injections. One of the worst parts of the procedure was the injections, and not because of the pain, but rather the way the numbing effects of my forehead made it's way to my eyelids. While waiting for the anaesthetic to kick in, I tried to text my ride home, but it proved difficult with my right eye rolling back while I couldn't seem to keep the other eyelid open. I felt much like one of those dolls whose eyes wink, blink and flicker haphazardly, which I have to admit, took much of my focus off of the upcoming procedure. Needless to say, I decided to just try to keep my eyes closed.
The Dr used a sheet over my face (the ones that have a hole showing only the site of surgery), which I was very thankful for, as it forced me into a darkness while the eye that had kept rolling back was now creeping open no matter how hard I tried to keep it shut - I was trying to zone out and focus on my music, so I didn't want to see anything going on out there in the real world.
My forehead was the first site of entry and it was definitely the worst. I thought it was because there's not as much flesh to cushion the feeling of a nokor needle being fanned around in there, but the Dr later said that it's usually the most comfortable area, but it was likely not so for me because it had the least amount of time for the anaesthetic to kick in. Regardless, I was quite happy for him to move on to the cheeks until he moved the surgery sheet to the new site and now I could feel the blood soaked paper over my eye (och - my poor eyes!!). I don't remember at which point it was exactly, but at some point I could feel the blood streaming out of my face and down to my ears and up my hairline, and that challenged my ability to meditate and ignore the situation. Even with my music in my ears, I could definitely hear the popping sound that everyone has mentioned (sounds a bit like quickly unbuttoning a shirt with metal snaps...maybe an Israel Kamakawiwo-ole shirt that takes an hour to unbutton...), but there was a possibly morbid part of me that was interested to hear it without the music. That was, of course, until the Dr repositioned my head to get another angle, accidentally knocked the earbud out of my ear, a stream of blood streaked across my cheek bone, and everything was suddenly a little too real. Look - the reality is, it's not THAT bad - the thought of what is happening is way worse than the reality of it, but I haven't the stomach for these things, and I want to be as realistically graphic as possible so that nobody goes in with thoughts of an easy/glamorous/spit spot procedure. I digress - luckily that was the last of it and I only had to deal with the one scar without music. It wasn't too bad, but I definitely felt tugged at, to say the least. At one point the Dr left the room to get something and I took that opportunity to take a quick photo - didn't look as bad as I had anticipated. Tell that to the folks on the bus, the sea bus, the sky train and the ferry who all looked at me with horrified faces, turned to face away from me, or stared in regular human fashion. Unluckily, I had a four hour journey from the Dr's office to home, all on public transit. If you can get a ride home, that's best 
The Dr had charged me for 30 minutes to do the scars he thought would get results, but he ended up spending 55 minutes in total (thankfully he didn't charge extra) to do my entire face. He missed one part that he didn't see until the end, and though he attempted to do it, it was in an area he hadn't injected and being that I could feel it all, we (read: I) decided that it would 'add character' anyways. The worst part (aside from the flickering eyelids and lazy eyeballs), was the transition from being numb to feeling everything. Within a couple of hours, my face felt fine and only 24 hours after the fact, it's easy for me to forget I even had the procedure done until I catch myself in the mirror and see a chipmunk staring back at me.
My face is QUITE swollen. It only hurts when my head has to go below waist level (to pick something up or take off my shoes), when I laugh/smile, and when I eat. And even so, I can't say it's an unbearable pain, but rather a discomfort. I'm taking arnica montana to help with the swelling and bruising, as the swelling is already much more extensive than the photos others have posted and I'm anticipating a colourful masterpiece of hematoma to splash across my face starting within the next few days - especially since I will be suctioning. I don't know if it will help, but I am also going to start taking a collagen supplement in hopes that it will help - can't hurt, right?
The Dr suggested I not really ice, and to take aspirin to help with the blood flow to the areas, but I think I'm going to hold off on the aspirin for at least a couple of days. Otherwise, I am not taking any painkillers and don't need them. My biggest thing right now is that I don't know whether or not I'll be ready for work by Monday.
Oh! And as I'm sure you are all still wondering, my eyes went back to normal by the end of the procedure - no worries
I will post some before photos, but I'm having some issues connecting my phone to my compute right now, so in the meantime, here are the afters. This first photo was approximately 5 or 6 hours post-procedure, the second is not quite 24 hours later - note the massive cheeks.
That's awesome, I just had my first subcision done yesterday and the procedure went down just as you described it. Its funny how I was also robbed by my first dermatologist into getting fraxel restore. But yeah I hope we get some actual improvements this time. And I don't think you mentioned it, but people here strongly recommends to do suction after subcision. Theres a lot of people that have good testimonies with this method so I'm definitely going to try it out.
That's awesome, I just had my first subcision done yesterday and the procedure went down just as you described it. Its funny how I was also robbed by my first dermatologist into getting fraxel restore. But yeah I hope we get some actual improvements this time. And I don't think you mentioned it, but people here strongly recommends to do suction after subcision. Theres a lot of people that have good testimonies with this method so I'm definitely going to try it out.
Hey, good on you! How are you feeling so far? Are you anywhere as swollen as this mug is? What are you doing now that the procedure is over? Did your Dr give you any directions? I thought it was a bit weird that mine didn't give me any antibiotics...might go to the local doctor and pick some up tomorrow.
I'm definitely going to suction. I bought the device from Owndoc a few weeks back in hopes it would give me a push to finally book the appointments, and it did.
I forgot to mention that I made very sure to sleep on my back all last night (such a heard feat for a side-sleeper!). I wasn't sure if it would make a difference, but I wanted to make sure that blood didn't pool in one side more than another.
I've created an album to give some before, during and after photos and will be sure to update as time goes on.
This was very exciting to read. Not only are you a very pretty lady, but you seem quite intellectual human being that is heading the right way in lfie I digress 
If you have time check out my Main Topic I have created, as I will be going in for subcision this March. I will be following 2 protocols that I have linked on my thread:
Curious as to what your doctor though about Suctioning?
And i'll join your bandwagon no problemo!
Hey, good on you! How are you feeling so far? Are you anywhere as swollen as this mug is?
What are you doing now that the procedure is over? Did your Dr give you any directions? I thought it was a bit weird that mine didn't give me any antibiotics...might go to the local doctor and pick some up tomorrow.
I'm definitely going to suction. I bought the device from Owndoc a few weeks back in hopes it would give me a push to finally book the appointments, and it did.
I forgot to mention that I made very sure to sleep on my back all last night (such a heard feat for a side-sleeper!). I wasn't sure if it would make a difference, but I wanted to make sure that blood didn't pool in one side more than another.
I've created an album to give some before, during and after photos and will be sure to update as time goes on.
Yeah my cheek looked like a chipmunk's, just like yours. My doctor just recommended me to keep the wounds always moisturized to speed up the healing process. Im just hoping my face stays like this since all my horrible rolling scars seem to have vanished, but I know they might still be there... But good idea about sleeping on your back, I never thought about that. And Robertitoo, my doctor knew a lot about the suction method when I asked him about it, and he totally approved of it
Two days post procedure:
I really want to keep an up-to-date journal of this business, since documentation (especially photographic) was fairly scarce for me to research prior to my procedure.
My parents seem to think that the swelling has gone down some. I don't know if it's really gone down, or if the swelling has just evened out on both cheeks. I do know for certain that the area around my brow and the bridge of my nose are more swollen than previously, and it appears I may be getting a bit of a black eye on my left side. I've been trying to ice a bit more often in that area, and have taken an acetaminophen for fear that my eyes will be likened to a guppy's by tomorrow morning.
I definitely underestimated the amount of obvious that would be displayed on my face post-op, as I had planned to go back to work tomorrow. I'm not so certain that will be happening at this rate (more so for ego/presentation than for inability, although the acetaminophen was partially for headache, which may or may not be related).
I clean my face with a saline solution and sterile gauze a few times a day, and apply Polysporin, as per the Dr's direction. During cleansing today, I noticed that there is an area on my left side that already has a hard lump under the bruise. It's not noticeable with the swelling, though it will be interesting to see what it's like once the swelling goes down. If anyone has any experience with such a thing, if they want to let me know what they did, that would be greatly appreciated.
Day 3:
Last night I slept with my head propped up on a stack of pillows, and the window slightly open to provide some cool air (as even on normal days, I sometimes puff up overnight just from the amount of heat in the room).
I had planned to start suctioning today, although I think I will do it selectively, as the swelling has become quite significant. I was a little worried about the amount of swelling getting progressively worse around my eyes, so I went to a walk-in clinic doctor to see about antibiotics to stave off infection, and to see if there was anything she could recommend for the amount of swelling. I know some swelling is inevitable and even favourable, but of all of the pictures I've seen of people post-subcision, no one has had this amount of a Cabbage Patch Kid likeness.
The doctor was probably the least helpful - when I told her what caused this, she went into a whirl, asking more about this procedure, asking me how to spell subcision so she could google it later, demanding the performing Dr's name, asking if he was foreign, if he was a registered physician, etc etc and finally suggesting a dermatologist for laser treatment (for future remedy of scarring). She said that the treatment sounded whacky and that she'd never heard of it before. This and her inability to spell it on her own gave me a good idea that I should take anything she said with a grain of salt. She wouldn't give me antibiotics because she didn't want to lower my immune system for when it really needs antibiotics. While it wasn't the answer I was looking for, I'm grateful for this, actually. I don't usually take antibiotics, and I despise how often doctors freely give them out for naught. Nevertheless, her other answers were of no help, as she just said that the doctor has caused significant trauma to the face (I explained to her that some trauma is necessary for results, but without her having ever heard of the procedure, it was falling on deaf ears). She told me to take Benadryl and ice it, and that was that. She did explain, however, that the blood from my forehead had settled below my eyes (hence the black eyes) and that the blood from my cheeks had settled in my jowls - just a side effect of our good friend, gravity.
I spoke to a pharmacist before purchasing the Benadryl, finding it an odd solution. He said he had never heard of Benadryl for swelling in trauma sites and just sent me on my way with some ibuprofen to take a few times a day. Useless walk-in doctor - should have saved myself the time and went to the pharmacist right away. I also bought some arnica topical gel to see if it helps. I really don't mind the swelling in the areas that have been worked on, and the bruising, likewise, is not an issue, but the swelling of my face in its entirety is a bit much, so I will focus the arnica gel in those innocent areas in hopes that it brings it down a little.
I will tell you one thing - this has all been a very humbling experience. There are people who have large and unescapable deformities on their faces for all to see, and they have to live with it each day. Having only been in public twice since this all went down, I had only a small sampling of what it must be like for those people - the staring, the terrified looks, people turning away from you or moving seats away from you. It's been pretty intense and eye-opening (figuratively, since literally-speaking, the swelling is actually sealing them up quite nicely). As hard as it is, I do appreciate the opportunity for my ego to be taken down a few notches, to be grateful with what I had before this experience and that this is just temporary, and lastly, for the opportunity to build on my compassion.
Lastly, I was stressing last night about how I'm going to explain to my coworkers what has happened to my face, and my friend had the best reply ever:
"tell them you aren't allowed to discuss it because the first rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club"
Done and done!
This was very exciting to read. Not only are you a very pretty lady, but you seem quite intellectual human being that is heading the right way in lfie I digress
If you have time check out my Main Topic I have created, as I will be going in for subcision this March. I will be following 2 protocols that I have linked on my thread:
Curious as to what your doctor though about Suctioning?
And i'll join your bandwagon no problemo!
Oops! Sorry Robertitoo - I forgot to address your question. I told my doctor that I was going to suction at home. He said that he usually does fillers after subcision, but didn't have anything to say, positively or negatively, about suctioning - just that aspirin after the procedure would help blood to the area. I think if you have a small site done, aspirin would be fine, but since he did my whole face, that could be one of the reasons that my face has swell up so much so. I took only one extra strength aspirin (it's all I had) the night of my procedure - maybe about 5 or or so hours afterwards, just before bed. I decided that I would stop taking it, as the swelling didn't need the extra help, and I'm glad that I came to that conclusion.
I'll be sure to follow your thread, and good luck on your journey!
Haha yeah I could relate. Im trying my best to avoid looking at anyone in the face since I have to show up to school and work looking like a monster. But your right about being humble. Not just this short period, but I feel like experiencing severe acne/scars in general has caused most if not all of us to be more humble and understanding. I used to complain about dumb things like oh why's my head so big or i hate my big legs. But now I do not give a hell about anything but to be a normal human being again(with clear skin of course).
Haha yeah I could relate. Im trying my best to avoid looking at anyone in the face since I have to show up to school and work looking like a monster. But your right about being humble. Not just this short period, but I feel like experiencing severe acne/scars in general has caused most if not all of us to be more humble and understanding. I used to complain about dumb things like oh why's my head so big or i hate my big legs. But now I do not give a hell about anything but to be a normal human being again(with clear skin of course).
Well for what it's worth, I think you're a gorgeous human being with a beautiful smile! x
are you seeing good results? be careful with that suction device ...don't use to much suction
It's so hard to tell whether I'm getting results or not just yet - the swelling is still quite bad. I felt like I was seeing a rolling appearance again, but I believe it may be the hard lumps under my skin more so, rather than indents.
If I remember correctly Rob, were you trying subcision on yourself? Did you suction? What was your method, and what would be the worry about suctioning too hard?
Thank you for posting your journey and sharing it with us. I have looked at subscion a couple of times but a bit nervous about the procedure, some of the before an after pictures on the net are so unreliable so it's great to follow real persons journey and honest opinion on the procedure. I think 3 days is still fairly earlier, it will probably be the best part of a week before any swelling should noticeably reduce, stay strong and keep doing what your doing. I would add any other treatments like suction in at the moment, let your skin heal from the subscision first. Remember that healing collagen formation can take time, months even so you may see your results getting better over time. You're very pretty and seem like a lovely person, wishing you all the best
Day 4:
I used hot compresses all last night, but they didn't seem to do much. I don't care for the swelling to go away in my cheeks (where the scarring is), but around my eyes and jowls, it feels very heavy and looks it as well. I put some epsom salt in the centre of a cloth, folded it into a small square to enclose the salt, wet it, wrung it, popped it in the microwave for 20 seconds or so and placed it over the eye (repeat for second eye, of course). The swelling in the ocular area has gone done immensely now, but still has a way to go. I'm not sure about the jowls, but I'm continuing to do 20 minutes on/20 minutes off with a warm magic bag, so we will see.
Swelling is more obvious in the morning, likely due to the lower elevation of my head while I'm sleeping(although I do prop my head up on stacks upon stacks of pillows).
The biggest downside to this is that I'm realising how much I miss the fat in my face (something that seemed to dissipate after my course of accutane). I feel like I look much healthier (aside from the bruising) with this extra cheek One thing at a time though!
are you seeing good results? be careful with that suction device ...don't use to much suction
It's so hard to tell whether I'm getting results or not just yet - the swelling is still quite bad. I felt like I was seeing a rolling appearance again, but I believe it may be the hard lumps under my skin more so, rather than indents.
If I remember correctly Rob, were you trying subcision on yourself? Did you suction? What was your method, and what would be the worry about suctioning too hard?
It's Important to note that full complete results wont be noticeable for at least 6 months. But there are cases where good final results were shown after 3 months. There's always a possibility that, just like any other treatment, will require another round of subcision or 2..
But I personally wouldn't worry until 3-6 months go by
Curious to know what Dr you went to? And what are the benefits of taking baby aspirin prior to subcision?
are you seeing good results? be careful with that suction device ...don't use to much suction
It's so hard to tell whether I'm getting results or not just yet - the swelling is still quite bad. I felt like I was seeing a rolling appearance again, but I believe it may be the hard lumps under my skin more so, rather than indents.
If I remember correctly Rob, were you trying subcision on yourself? Did you suction? What was your method, and what would be the worry about suctioning too hard?
It's Important to note that full complete results wont be noticeable for at least 6 months. But there are cases where good final results were shown after 3 months. There's always a possibility that, just like any other treatment, will require another round of subcision or 2..
But I personally wouldn't worry until 3-6 months go by
Curious to know what Dr you went to? And what are the benefits of taking baby aspirin prior to subcision?
Oh yes I'm definitely aware that I will need to be patient for full results. I suppose I'm just letting people know what I'm seeing so that they can know what to expect. I'm not too worried at this point in time.
I went to Dr Choi in Vancouver. I read something about him on this website before and someone seemed quite excited about it all - since he was the closest to me, I went for it. He actually told me to take regular aspirin rather than baby aspirin, and he said it would help to see good results. My guess is that it stops the blood from clotting and therefore would increase the amount of swelling at the site. I don't think he nor I could have anticipated the amount of swelling I have experienced, but I'm rather glad that I decided to forego that option.
are you seeing good results? be careful with that suction device ...don't use to much suction
It's so hard to tell whether I'm getting results or not just yet - the swelling is still quite bad. I felt like I was seeing a rolling appearance again, but I believe it may be the hard lumps under my skin more so, rather than indents.
If I remember correctly Rob, were you trying subcision on yourself? Did you suction? What was your method, and what would be the worry about suctioning too hard?
It's Important to note that full complete results wont be noticeable for at least 6 months. But there are cases where good final results were shown after 3 months. There's always a possibility that, just like any other treatment, will require another round of subcision or 2..
But I personally wouldn't worry until 3-6 months go by
Curious to know what Dr you went to? And what are the benefits of taking baby aspirin prior to subcision?
Oh yes
I went to Dr Choi in Vancouver. I read something about him on this website before and someone seemed quite excited about it all - since he was the closest to me, I went for it. He actually told me to take regular aspirin rather than baby aspirin, and he said it would help to see good results. My guess is that it stops the blood from clotting and therefore would increase the amount of swelling at the site. I don't think he nor I could have anticipated the amount of swelling I have experienced, but I'm rather glad that I decided to forego that option.
If that's the case I would consider doing yoga and some how find a way to hang upside down, lol. Not entirely sure the body works that way .. I'll look into it.
I really hope this works out for. Most people get noticeable results from subcision. Can I ask what type of pitted scars you had?
Hey Missamua,
I have a mixture of scars, but the only ones I really care about right now are the rolling scars. The rest (icepick, mostly) are just small and you don't see them as much in the unflattering lights. I hope this works out for me too
So just a little something that I would share with y'all. I had been using the suction device (from owndoc) by placing over one area, pumping a number of times in the same place, and then moving on to the next area to do the same. I found that this was leaving rounded indents where the edge of the suction cup had been, and while it may not matter in the long run, I didn't want to risk anything pushing the skin in to any degree. I just realised tonight (and maybe the rest of you already knew this) that if you get a good suction on your skin and then just drag it down across the cheek (or whatever area) without breaking the suction, it will work much more like a vacuum. No imprints of the suction cup and I felt that I got a much better pull from it
So just a little something that I would share with y'all. I had been using the suction device (from owndoc) by placing over one area, pumping a number of times in the same place, and then moving on to the next area to do the same. I found that this was leaving rounded indents where the edge of the suction cup had been, and while it may not matter in the long run, I didn't want to risk anything pushing the skin in to any degree. I just realised tonight (and maybe the rest of you already knew this) that if you get a good suction on your skin and then just drag it down across the cheek (or whatever area) without breaking the suction, it will work much more like a vacuum. No imprints of the suction cup and I felt that I got a much better pull from it
beats having to pump it @ every scar location..that would get quite annoying..the protocol calls for 8, 4-5 second intervals on each scar. any longer will most likely cause bruising which isn't necessarily a bad thing from what I've read
Good luck and hope you get the results you wanted. I wish more people would post updates (especially about subcision and suction - it seems interesting.)
Just wanted to add that when I had my subcision (and other treatments) done - I had that level of swelling and black eyes as well, it lasted for about a week. The thing that helped most (and this is more for next time) is that some doctors have a cooling mask ( http://www.aqueductmedical.com/products.html ) - it takes super chilled water and like pumps it through the mask. My PS was able to give this to me for free, so might be something to look into if you do it again, it helped quite a bit vs the time I didn't use it.
You're so pretty! You have a great attitude while going through this too, it's encouraging to hear. Can I ask how much you paid for the procedure? Another member jsut mentioned paying only $300, which I was a litte surprised by. I didn't know treatment could potentially be affordable. I hope it turns out well! You're chances of a good outcome are good, it's a solid procedure.
I'm so sad to hear that about peanut butter! I love peanut butter lol. Testosterone levels are my issue, so I am glad to know now.
You're so pretty! You have a great attitude while going through this too, it's encouraging to hear. Can I ask how much you paid for the procedure? Another member jsut mentioned paying only $300, which I was a litte surprised by. I didn't know treatment could potentially be affordable. I hope it turns out well! You're chances of a good outcome are good, it's a solid procedure.
I'm so sad to hear that about peanut butter! I love peanut butter lol. Testosterone levels are my issue, so I am glad to know now.
Hello Darling,
I'm glad that people are finding this account of subcision helpful - it's most important to me that other people who are on the fence about or unaware of the procedure have something that they can follow more closely than a before and (months and months) after photo. I'm trying to be as honest about the nitty gritty as I can be, because it's not all glitz and glam, to say the least 
I paid $420 for my procedure. The consultation is $90 and then they deduct that from any procedures that you carry forward with after, so I paid $90 for the consultation and then $330 for the subcision. That being said, I had only paid for 30 minutes and got an hour of work done instead. I'm guessing he underestimated how many scars there were, and couldn't just leave me half done, nor can you really charge someone more when they only asked for 30 minutes of work in the first place. Either way, I definitely came out the victor!
I'm usually a really cheap person, so $420 in one go sounded like an outrageous amount, but if you consider it an investment in your happiness and self-esteem, what is $420 for the betterment of the rest of your life time? Most people probably spend much more than that on a fancy coffee each day for a year.
And yes, I was so sad about the peanut butter too 
I was hoping it wasn't so, but here we are.