I just did a 80% tca cross with a toothpick 2 days ago. . Made it really thin then dipped it into the tca and pushed it down to the bottom of the scar. I didn't want to hit the good skin. . I saw that video before & there are other doctorsthat use the needle which I do have because I'm now trying saline injections too but I wouldn't use the needle because you can let too much come out at a time & it can drip unless your lying down. If your doing it yourself then use a toothpick. Only a doctor who has you laying down should use a needle but even then Iwould be afraid of too much going in or hittingthe good skin aroundthe scar.Then keep it moist for the next few days, I've been putting Neosporin on or you can use Vaseline. It looks worse the next couple days til it starts to heal. I'll let you know how it goes. I did it before on one and it did help it a lotso I just decided to try it again. Good luckOh if you try the saline injections get the 30g needles you want thin ones. I get the 30g 5/16with thesaline.

Thanks for the reply @sts54! That's a great point about using a needle DIY and too much coming out/dripping. I've been thinking about this for a while and didn't even think of that! Thank you for informing me. I'll use a toothpick. Good call on that one! I'm also looking into the different needles for subcision but may end up having to go to the dermatologist for that one. Best healing wishes to you! Waiting during the initial stages is the hardest part. Good luck! Fingers crossed for more improvement. I'll be sure to update with my results once I receive the TCA and can get started.

By the way, (apologies if this is a completely obvious answer haha) how did you thin the toothpick?

I just took a blade and thinned it down a bit, took pieces off til it was the thinnest I could get it The first couple days I was scared cause they looked dark, I haven't scabbed either. Today they look better, a bit smaller. I hate waiting. I did the ones on the side of my nose & they were deep. i'll let you know how they look the next week or so. I know i'll have to do it again but if they come up a bit each time i'll be happy but you have to wait a few weeks to do it again.. I used the needles that I use for thethe saline to break up some scar tissue too, before I injected the saline I moved the needle around under the scar a bit then injected it. I did that a week ago and I'm still a bit red, I hope looks ok in a week or two. I hate waiting. Makes me so nervous.Scars are so dam depressing. I've been using dermafladgebut that's hard to get it right, so I figuredI would try the saline since I had heard it helps. You can find info on it on Sarah Vaughter site and Dr Sires. Good luck and can't wait to hear how you turn out too.

sts54 i want to try TCA cross too for my scarred pores but they are very small like 1mm wide so im not sure its a good idea..Are you treating scarred pores too or just ice pick scars?

I've performed TCA cross on myself with 100%. Definitely wouldn't use a needle; it's just the wrong tool. You don't want to inject anything! A sharpened wooden applicator is the way to go. Looking at the video that guy would have taken about 4 weeks to heal from the amount they used!

Right now I'm treating ice pick scars on the side ofmy nose.Their deep and bigger than apore & I tried it on a pock mark.. I did use it on a large pore and got good results, I don't see it now but for now I just want the big ones gone.If you canblur the pore with a primer then don't worry about using tca. You don't want to take a chance of it getting bigger if it's that small.

I've done tca cross 6 weeks ago and after scabs fell off the skin underneath was very red. It remains red, I started using some hydrocortisone. Any advice to get rid of redness? Anything that could be done at home? Thanks

Please Don't Triple Post ... etc, the answer to your question is under the below faq skin: reds The reds are because it's a wound, are you putting triple antibiotic cream on it to avoid scars. Wet wounds are happy wounds. Also please use makeup until it heals. You can pat it nightly with vinegar diluted with water to sanitize the wound.

Dear Doctors,

Hope you are well. 6 month ago TCA Cross was performed on me buy using needle. My skin was numbed, but I experienced agonising pain at every appliance although Dr sad it was performed only with mild 30% concentration and was only lightly injected/scratched on top layer of the skin. It was healing for next few months and now I have left with much deeper and wider scaring and very uneven skin all over my cheeks. Can someone please explain what went wrong and what was a cause of complications I have experienced.

Ive done TCA CROSSdiy years ago. I can say without any doubt that permanent improvement has occurred and it seems to continue as I age. What I did was use a sharpened toothpick. Generally I actually pierced the skin a bit creating a tiny hole with the TCA damp toothpick. The method seems to micro disintegratethe already damaged skin. The wound readily closes up resulting in a smallerscar. This can be repeated over time further reducing the area of the scar. I believe the method can detach some of the tethers as well for rolling scars. I watch the videos and it seems the newer docs dont get it. They seem to treat it as if it were just a micro peel. The white spotsare too large. Im sure hypopigmentation is more common that way. In general Id say go deeper leaving smaller frosted spots. Another thing that seems important is to keep each jab at least 1/8 apart. That way the intact skin nearby can lend a hand in supplying the needed regenerative material. Currently going to do more to repair some of the slit type scars caused by diy subcision with a nokor needle.

Vaulters, your type of scars are perfect candidates for TCA cross. Help is on the way.

On 10/24/2015 at 12:53 PM, Ommmmmm said:

Has anyone tried this method of TCA cross? Think this works better than other methods (ex. using a toothpick)? For the DIYs what method do you use?

Syringe is pretty difficult to control when you are doing TCA on yourself. You don't need a whole lot of pressure to make an unintentional splash across your face. Be very careful. This is probably the reason why Lim (in the above video) is no longer using a syringe.

I would not recommend doing a DIY TCA Cross Treatment. From results that I've seen before 80% they have bad results because they don't know how to do it and are not experienced. I would recommend going with a proffesional.