I am a long-term sufferer of acne, not always severe but definitely have gone through a quite a few cycles of cystic acne breakouts that ranged from moderate to severe in my lifetime. I've had acne for over 1.5 decades now, and still have an issue with breakouts. Over the years though, I've noticed the TEXTURE of my skin change so much due to all the damage. Can someone critique these photos and tell me what exact type of scarring I have - or whether it's a mix of scarring with enlarged pores or "orange peel" skin and how I can go about fixing this issue (if there is any hope)?
wow your scarring looks very similar to mine. can i ask you your current regimen? have you done any chemical peels through out your acne journey? I ask you this because i believe chemical peels + facials from when i was younger is what caused my orange peel texture.. making my skin so thin over time that every pore is visible now along with some icepick scars. i constantly have to deal with keratin plugs too which is the most stressful thing ever. I used to use bha daily which didnt really help and in fact i think that was also just making my skin even more thinner with the constant exfoliation so i stopped. As for treating the scarring I havn't had any time to to fit it in my schedule but i need to soon. The treatment's I think which can benefit texture like ours is needling and tca cross or tca cross + laser but im not too sure about laser because it thins skin aswe but i seen some promising results hoping i can achieve what some have just need to find the reliable dermatoligst which is not easy these days.. Best of luck!
My current regimen is this, but it was free of the vitamin C and AHA up until approximately 1-2 months ago which was when I first started to add in more actives in my routine. Now I'm thinking about needing to take out all the actives because it might be causing the orange-peel texture??
AM Routine:
Wash with Shiseido Miracle Whip foam cleanser, I work it up to a lather with a foaming net first before applying to skin.
Wipe with Silk Naturals 8% AHA toner
Apply Alpha Hydrox 10% AHA Oil Free Formula, wait 20min.
Apply copper peptide serum (I've finished a bottle of MYM Advanced Derma Rolling Copper Peptide with Apple Stem Cell and Argireline, and now am trying JJ Labs Copper Peptide (GHK-Cu) Pro Skin Care Serum with Hyaluronic Acid off Amazon)
Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence
Advanced Skincare Skin Rescue Rx (Anti-Aging-Serum-Cream-Snake-Peptide-Vitamin-B3-b5-E-C-Retinol-DMAE)
6-7 drops jojoba oil and 4-5 drops rosehip seed oil as moisturizer
Currently using EltaMD UV Clear SPF 46 with niacinamide sunscreen
PM Routine:
ROHTO Hadalabo Gokujun Cleansing Oil or Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil
Shiseido Perfect Whip with foaming net + Clarisonic with acne brush
Noble formula zinc pyrithione soap
Advanced Skin Care Vitamin C Serum 20+E Ferulic Acid Skin Brightening Wrinkle (L-Ascorbic Acid ), + wait 20-30min
Curology (1% clindamycin, 4% niacinamide, 4% azelaic acid)
Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence
Advanced Skincare Skin Rescue Rx (Anti-Aging-Serum-Cream-Snake-Peptide-Vitamin-B3-b5-E-C-Retinol-DMAE)
6-7 drops jojoba oil and 4-5 drops rosehip seed oil as moisturizer
Would TCA cross also make the "orange peel" texture of my skin worse?
I also just recently started dermarolling with a 1.0mm dermaroller, only did it once last month and I know they say it may take a couple monthly treatments before seeing any results. I'm a little disappointed to hear that it didn't do much for you though =( Did it seem to make things any worse?
Hello I am glad someone posted this because I had a similar problem with accutane. My pores are bigger than before treatment by a very large amount. It does seem related to over treatment. I have big pores on my sides too sadly. My forehead is a true warzone 
It has not changed much in the 10 months after accutane... There was improvement the first month or so and thats it mostly. My skin looked really crazy at that time.
I have been told it is not scarring by doctors. Even though i expressed its a kind of over exfoliated look maybe and that my skin feels uncomfortable. Anyone every recovered from this?
this is a lot how my skin looks too. its really frustrating. i was on accutane like 5 years ago. i dont think its directly from that, but who knows? i can say that ive been on retin a for the past 6 months and it definitely looks better than it did beforehand. It has kind of made the pores smaller and maybe a bit less raised up. wish i could offer any more help besides that. curious as well to hear what others say.
maybe posting these to realself where you can get a doctors answers would be a good idea? these photos are really well taken so maybe theyll be able to really see what is going on and give some insight/advice. if you do keep us posted!
oh and my derm mentioned something about it looking like a "collagen buildup" when i mentioned it, and she said she hoped a retinoid would help. googling hasnt really explained to me how to treat a collagen build up though... also my skin may be a bit more bumpy than yours, so maybe thats what she was referring to?
On 11/06/2016 at 6:23 AM, mimitran said:My current regimen is this, but it was free of the vitamin C and AHA up until approximately 1-2 months ago which was when I first started to add in more actives in my routine. Now I'm thinking about needing to take out all the actives because it might be causing the orange-peel texture??
AM Routine:
Wash with Shiseido Miracle Whip foam cleanser, I work it up to a lather with a foaming net first before applying to skin.
Wipe with Silk Naturals 8% AHA toner
Apply Alpha Hydrox 10% AHA Oil Free Formula, wait 20min.
Apply copper peptide serum (I've finished a bottle of MYM Advanced Derma Rolling Copper Peptide with Apple Stem Cell and Argireline, and now am trying JJ Labs Copper Peptide (GHK-Cu) Pro Skin Care Serum with Hyaluronic Acid off Amazon)
Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence
Advanced Skincare Skin Rescue Rx (Anti-Aging-Serum-Cream-Snake-Peptide-Vitamin-B3-b5-E-C-Retinol-DMAE)
6-7 drops jojoba oil and 4-5 drops rosehip seed oil as moisturizer
Currently using EltaMD UV Clear SPF 46 with niacinamide sunscreenPM Routine:
ROHTO Hadalabo Gokujun Cleansing Oil or Softymo Deep Cleansing Oil
Shiseido Perfect Whip with foaming net + Clarisonic with acne brush
Noble formula zinc pyrithione soap
Advanced Skin Care Vitamin C Serum 20+E Ferulic Acid Skin Brightening Wrinkle (L-Ascorbic Acid ), + wait 20-30min
Curology (1% clindamycin, 4% niacinamide, 4% azelaic acid)
Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence
Advanced Skincare Skin Rescue Rx (Anti-Aging-Serum-Cream-Snake-Peptide-Vitamin-B3-b5-E-C-Retinol-DMAE)
6-7 drops jojoba oil and 4-5 drops rosehip seed oil as moisturizerWould TCA cross also make the "orange peel" texture of my skin worse?
I also just recently started dermarolling with a 1.0mm dermaroller, only did it once last month and I know they say it may take a couple monthly treatments before seeing any results. I'm a little disappointed to hear that it didn't do much for you though =( Did it seem to make things any worse?
It sounds like you are doing too much?I would never be able to tolerate the routine you are mentioning even when my skin was good.
Sorry for the delayed reply! Yes, my regimen seems a bit ridiculous, since my acne itself had gotten more under control around January I'd been slowly adding products back in...which is what you see above.
That's a good idea, posting it to realself to see....
I uploaded the same pics to Curology /pocketderm and my dermatologist on there recommend adding on a tretinoin at .018%.
Hi everyone, I just wanted to give a little bit of an update and to see if anyone out there with similar skin texture as mine has seen any improvements in their scars and if so, what treatments did you try/do?
I'm uploading updated photos of my skin as well as an updated skincare regimen below:
AM Routine:
Wash with Shiseido Miracle Whip foam cleanser, I work it up to a lather with a foaming net first before applying to skin.
Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence OR CoxRx Galactomyces 95 Whitening Power Essence
Elensilia EGF Renovage youth activating ampoule
asap Super B complex (I was told this is 13% niacinamide)
6-7 drops jojoba oil and 4-5 drops rosehip seed oil as moisturizer
SunKiller SPF 45 PA+++ sunscreen OR Shiseido Senka Aging Care SPF 50 PA++++
PM Routine:
ROHTO Hadalabo Gokujun Cleansing Oil
Shiseido Perfect Whip with foaming net + Clarisonic with acne brush
Noble formula zinc pyrithione soap
Advanced Skin Care Vitamin C Serum 20+E Ferulic Acid Skin Brightening Wrinkle (L-Ascorbic Acid ), + wait 20-30min
Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence
Elensilia EGF Renovage youth activating ampoule
asap Super B complex (I was told this is 13% niacinamide)
Curology (1% clindamycin, 0.018% tretinoin, 8% azelaic acid)
6-7 drops jojoba oil and 4-5 drops rosehip seed oil as moisturizer
I've dermarolled on my own at home with a 1.0mm dermaroller about 2-3 times in the past couple of months (I aim to do it once monthly)..but not sure how long it'll be until I should expect to see results if at all?
omg your skin is not that bad!!! it looks like you could get improvement with medium depth peels and then keep the same skin regimen afterwards or in between treatments!! also it seems you take good care of your skin because there are no wrinkles and sagging. idk how old you are but you look young
I believe there is always hope sometimes it's hard to stop thinking about it but know that people love you and accept you for who you are andwe can not please everyone it's better to start with ourselves not to be vain but as a self respect kind of thing>>> hugs and kisses>>!!! Your doing the best you can now and I'm sure others will have better advice to give you too!! You're in the right place!