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treatment regrets?

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12
(@motherofms)

Posted : 09/28/2017 12:11 pm

Have you had any scar treatments that you regret having (because they didn't help or maybe even made things worse)?

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Guest
0
(@Anonymous)

Posted : 09/28/2017 2:43 pm

Dermarolling cos it made my skin look worse.
:)

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MemberMember
13
(@urbanite)

Posted : 09/28/2017 10:41 pm

This thread dove tails with one I just started about treatment concerns. I think some of the treatments are suspect, particularly the needling variety.

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MemberMember
10
(@sam)

Posted : 09/29/2017 6:31 am

Subcision on its own.

I believe subicision should be combined with other treatments,dermal fillers or suction,to stop it tethering back down.

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MemberMember
12
(@motherofms)

Posted : 09/29/2017 9:05 am

18 hours ago, Quadboy said:

Dermarolling cos it made my skin look worse.
:)

I'm sorry this happened to you.  Thanks for sharing.

2 hours ago, Sam said:

Subcision on its own.

I believe subicision should be combined with other treatments,dermal fillers or suction,to stop it tethering back down. 

  Yes, I think that subcision works better when combined with filler.  

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MemberMember
1750
(@beautifulambition)

Posted : 09/29/2017 11:01 am

Money Money Money - Only treatment regrets I have ever had is trusting doctors who are all about $$$, care little for the patient, do not understand the mechanics of scars. Look at gynecologists now doing procedures and giving advice. Not advocating for progressive treatment (safer and more natural and move to more invasive)and instead pulling out the big guns. Also the push for laser laser laser (quick for them, huge money maker, and it looks flashy - for you very little improvement and $$$$). Laser creates thermal damage. This should be your final option after other things don't work, ... not the first stop by every doctor who pushes this. We all heal differently, naturally our skin is not used to having invasive stuff done to it. But when you have fibrosis and scars you must stimulate the body's ability to regenerate. Thus it's really on your body also to be part of the process.

Microneedling can cause issues if you are a poor healer, or chop up your skin to mince meat (only treat the scars!), or put chemicals / creams that no one injects into their body. Yes it can "show scars" as scarring revision gets worse before better, sometimes the scar pits have dead skin / crud over them. I think microneedling 2.0 s rf microneedling, better than laser, more controllable, protects epidermis (insulation), and small dots of energy not beams of it. PRP has been shown to help with healing of it.

No down time - Like the Infini ... but it pisses me off when doctors say No down time, and clearly any energy device has down time. For several weeks you will have tiny tiny dots that heal, and some redness. Hell even Chinese cupping you have bruises all over your back. I wish they would just be more honest. Can you blame them the manufacturer spews this stuff from marketing. People want "no down time." That just is not realistic in acne scar revision, no pain no gain. You have these perfect (they have no blemish) dolls on Real Self complaining about railroad tracks which do go away with time, yet no one educated them any time you do laser or energy their is down time. You will have to use makeup or laser to avoid the reds.

Acne scar revision = down time.

If it's not broke than do not fix it! Sometimes with these people who have zero to / minimal scarring , or few blemishes, they are opening themselves up for more risks. I don't get it, you don't take a weed wacker to your flower bed when their is one weed, or bomb a big hole into the ground.

There is no magic cure - don't go in expecting 100% improvement. Expect over 3 years (depending on down time) of various treatments you will have 50% improvement. If you have more great. Each procedure you get minimal improvement that is cumulative. There is a point where you body can say that's all I will give you, that the part of the equation, how your body heals and reacts and the healthy or non healthy lifestyle you live to promote healing.

Scar & Revision Mental Health - Are taxing to your mental health, there is lots of ups and downs, sometimes disappointment, sometimes regret. This is why I recommend Talkspace in the USA a smart phone app for personalized counseling 24 hrs a day from your smart phone or a therapist is cheap at colleges even if you do not goto one. Part of being healed from your scars is the mental health aspect, that needs healing as well, it really hurts the psyche. BDD or Body Dysmorphia or Acne Scar Dysmorphia are really things, don't let it consume your life.

@Obi wanThoughts

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1
(@gone)

Posted : 09/29/2017 5:09 pm

There's three treatments I regret for different reasons. The first would be Vbeam which left me housebound for 6 weeks. The doctor went in hard and caused bleeding and purpura so I had purple spots all over my face. Multiple treatments are required but I didn't bother after this and have seen much better results with a vitamin E scar cream. The second one I regret would be scar revision which I had done twice and both times the scar dehisced. My advice would be to never get scar revision done on the nose as the skin is too tight. I wasted 6 months both times as the doctors believed my skin would miraculously begin to heal at the six month mark and seemed to get upset when I said it hadn't worked. I still haven't solved this problem and it's taken a mental toll. The third mistake would be TCA. I actually like TCA and used it many times but I burnt myself the last time I used it which caused a hypopigmentation (white) spot. It's got better with a combination of protopic and vitamin E cream but I'm not going to use acids again.

My next treatment will be subcision which I think is one of the safest methods around.

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MemberMember
12
(@motherofms)

Posted : 09/30/2017 2:34 am

15 hours ago, beautifulambition said:

Money Money Money - Only treatment regrets I have ever had is trusting doctors who are all about $$$, care little for the patient, do not understand the mechanics of scars. Look at gynecologists now doing procedures and giving advice. Not advocating for progressive treatment (safer and more natural and move to more invasive)and instead pulling out the big guns.

Yes, I've spent lots of money on treatments that have not been helpful. And, yes, I agree that it takes a mental toll. I get my hopes up that something will help and then am disappointed when it doesn't. I really think there is a balance between working toward improvement and being able to accept ourselves even with the scarring.

9 hours ago, Shades said:

There's three treatments I regret for different reasons. The first would be Vbeam which left me housebound for 6 weeks. The doctor went in hard and caused bleeding and purpura so I had purple spots all over my face. Multiple treatments are required but I didn't bother after this and have seen much better results with a vitamin E scar cream. The second one I regret would be scar revision which I had done twice and both times the scar dehisced. My advice would be to never get scar revision done on the nose as the skin is too tight. I wasted 6 months both times as the doctors believed my skin would miraculously begin to heal at the six month mark and seemed to get upset when I said it hadn't worked. I still haven't solved this problem and it's taken a mental toll. The third mistake would be TCA. I actually like TCA and used it many times but I burnt myself the last time I used it which caused a hypopigmentation (white) spot. It's got better with a combination of protopic and vitamin E cream but I'm not going to use acids again.

My next treatment will be subcision which I think is one of the safest methods around.

Housebound for 6 weeks? Yikes! Yes, It can be frustrating waiting for that "6 month mark" only to see that nothing/little has changed.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I hope you have a better experience with subcision!

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MemberMember
1
(@gone)

Posted : 09/30/2017 10:57 am

8 hours ago, motherofms said:
Yes, I've spent lots of money on treatments that have not been helpful. And, yes, I agree that it takes a mental toll. I get my hopes up that something will help and then am disappointed when it doesn't. I really think there is a balance between working toward improvement and being able to accept ourselves even with the scarring. Housebound for 6 weeks? Yikes! Yes, It can be frustrating waiting for that "6 month mark" only to see that nothing/little has changed.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I hope you have a better experience with subcision!

Yes I had purple spots all over my face for 6 weeks. I looked like a character out of monsters inc. The purple spots faded to red which took another 6 weeks. It sounds funny but acne and acne treatments have robbed me of many years of my life.

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MemberMember
1750
(@beautifulambition)

Posted : 09/30/2017 11:33 am

@ShadesI am so sorry this happened to you, do not want to discount your trauma or experience it's valuable. Might I suggest the doctor was a idiot and either 1) used the wrong settings without ever doing a test spot and watching how the skin reacts. 2) The old and very outdated V-beam used to cause Purpura. They have since revised it some years back with Perfekta the newer version to avoid such issues of the old machine, like Purpura. Many complained about these side effects and depressions. With the new laser I have seen no issue unless the doctor maxes it out, and that is nuts. I believe @Obi wangave you advice for your white spot of Latisse (bimatoprost) for possible repigmentation of the area. There are other things that work under the faq > skin > hypopigmentation. Again I am sorry this has happend to you and your care was poor. Excel V does not cause such issues, and lower setting IPL is also quite safe.

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MemberMember
424
(@obi-wan)

Posted : 09/30/2017 4:42 pm

I think the biggest regret is not doing scar revision correctly in the first place. Many doctors, many places, empty promises....
Finding a truthful and passionate Specialist from the very beginning is the key. 'Trying' treatments is a regret. Many people end up in a 'step up'
situation. Home remedies, then beauty -aesthetic clinics, then aesthetic doctors who have the good sell, then Plastics or Dermatologist who have the degree but palm off the patients to have the latest 'lasers', then finally sub specialist acne scar dermatologists or plastics. I think this is human nature, but by the time you reach the top, most peoples are physically, emotionally and financially drained, and desponded. They have spent literally thousands of dollars, with little or no results. They have undergone pain, downtime, follow ups, and been told by many sources the ' magic laser or newest device to CURE their scars.' Total BS from day one. There is no easy fix for this, this is not a endorsement to see a sub specialist first, but just one of the many 'regrets' that may occur. I personally think its more common than one thinks, and its OK to have this regret, as its human nature, everyone want the cheapest, best, and we are all prone to people who market themselves or their company well- this resonates from doctors, specialist, laser companies and the entire industry. The regret lies in the ethics of the industry itself.

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MemberMember
204
(@dazzed)

Posted : 10/03/2017 1:35 pm

Scar excision. They nearly always fail.

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MemberMember
13
(@urbanite)

Posted : 10/03/2017 4:33 pm

^Scar excision, not to be confused with subcision, right?

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MemberMember
26
(@keving100)

Posted : 10/04/2017 10:52 am

I did 2 CO2, 3 Profractional, 4 Enerjet and 6 smoothbeam treatments, all worthless, waste of $$ ($15K) and time. At one point I thought laser treatments are the only options because thats what these money hungry careless derms made me believe.

I regret not travelling to other parts of North America to get treatments done. Distance should not dissuade you from getting acne scar treatments from specialists who are passionate about it.

I hate being manipulated by these so called 'derms'. If it waas up to me, i would revoke their license and sue them for malpractice.

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MemberMember
10
(@user624416)

Posted : 10/07/2017 2:02 pm

@keving100, Do you know any good doctors in montreal?

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MemberMember
76
(@childhooddreams)

Posted : 10/08/2017 2:36 pm

On 10/4/2017 at 11:52 AM, keving100 said:

I did 2 CO2, 3 Profractional, 4 Enerjet and 6 smoothbeam treatments, all worthless, waste of $$ ($15K) and time. At one point I thought laser treatments are the only options because thats what these money hungry careless derms made me believe. I live in Toronto, biggest city in Canada and there are no acne scar specialists here. What a shame.

I regret not travelling to other parts of North America to get treatments done. Distance should not dissuade you from getting acne scar treatments from specialists who are passionate about it.

I hate being manipulated by these so called 'derms'. If it waas up to me, i would revoke their license and sue them for malpractice.

There's not one good doctor in all of Toronto/GTA? That's hard to believe.

I am taking a chance with somebody nearby the GTA; he'll be doing subcisions at my request. The question is, why did you not do research before spending the $15,000?

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MemberMember
424
(@obi-wan)

Posted : 10/09/2017 3:18 am

Sorry to hear... my hatred is for the laser and doctors ( INCLUDING specialists) who push for lasers and tech. Going from CO2 to Erbium is going backwards. Sure, if you had the Ultrapulse at 150 mj it may go down to 4 mm but the erbium Profracional only goes to 1.5 mm at most.. besides, its treating the scar type, and not just the energy device.

For a specialist to be good at acne scar revision, this must be the focus of their practice... nothing less. No dabbling, its all or nothing, IMO opinion. They have to be up to date, innovate , refer as needed, work in a team. Sorry to hear dude... it spoils the name of the oath of doctors and the doctrine of Specialists like Plastics and Dermatologists, in addition to putting you out of pocket with little or no results.

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MemberMember
44
(@skyesthelimit)

Posted : 10/19/2017 2:38 am

Scared of anything going into my skin... gives me the chills.. 

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