I got fillers long time ago and I got little white lumps. They did never fade away. It did not work at all, maybe because I also needed subsicion.
There are people with great results on that forum. There is always a way to make progress. You won't get your skin from before back, but you can achieve some results, maybe enough to feel good in your own skin.
Sorry english is not my native language. But please, don't get desperate, and don't make people loose hope either...
Plus, people that actually are happy with their results mostly don't take time to post reviews.
30 minutes ago, Kixhikari said:I got fillers long time ago and I got little white lumps. They did never fade away. It did not work at all, maybe because I also needed subsicion.
There are people with great results on that forum. There is always a way to make progress. You won't get your skin from before back, but you can achieve some results, maybe enough to feel good in your own skin.
Sorry english is not my native language. But please, don't get desperate, and don't make people loose hope either...
Plus, people that actually are happy with their results mostly don't take time to post reviews.
sorry i really don't want to make people feel bad but every result thread i read was complaining and hopelessness. if there's no cure everyone would be relieved to be honest. i'm sick of it im sick of scammers which call them docs. as i said if there's successfull review it somehow has the name of a doctor who operated the procedure it's really shady and untrustworthy. i hate grow hair and beard to cover my scars but that's just my destiny i guess
1 hour ago, obsessedwithscars said:sorry i really don't want to make people feel bad but every result thread i read was complaining and hopelessness. if there's no cure everyone would be relieved to be honest. i'm sick of it im sick of scammers which call them docs. as i said if there's successfull review it somehow has the name of a doctor who operated the procedure it's really shady and untrustworthy. i hate grow hair and beard to cover my scars but that's just my destiny i guess
Lol at least your can grow your hair to cover it even a little bit. I'm a girl so that's sadly not even an option for me.
I've read thread where ppl have "cured" their scars themselves (needling, TCA, etc) and doesn't promote any doctors.
I've myself found great results in the past soften the scars by using gentle peelings. It needs a lot of consistency, efforts, time and patience but acne scars can be improved by different ways I believe.
It depends on a lot of factors.
Unfortunately now I have some kind of auto immune problem so scars appears on my face without any acne nor reason and my ability of healing is nearly 0% so I can't try any treatments.
If you have the possibility to try treatments, why would you not try ? I mean, why you are defeated already ? Every skin is different, and some skins respond really well to treatments. Ask BA and others veterans here, they know a lot.
25 minutes ago, Kixhikari said:Unfortunately now I have some kind of auto immune problem so scars appears on my face without any acne nor reason and my ability of healing is nearly 0% so I can't try any treatments.
wait i have this problem too. i got scars out of nowhere why is that happens?
You're actually right, I totally agree.
At the moment there is no cure for medium to severe acne scars even though dermatologists love to propose expensive treatments to get easy money out of desperate people.
Nothing really works for severe scarring, the improvement you can get is futile because it won't change the slightest bit your self esteem (and I get angry when some people say it's not true).
When it comes to a flaw like acne scars, you either get a very good improvement (at least 70-80%) or your life and self esteem will stay the same, it's money wasted.
It's like a balding guy that pass from a NW7 to a NW4, some non ethical and non honest people would say "look at you....you improved so much!" but in real life, his life will stay the same and, in doing treatment, he only emptied his wallet.
When it comes to scars it's the same.
Only people with minor scarring get good results with the treatments available at the moment, others don't.
That being said, there are some new treatments being developed right now that may be able to help people with severe acne scarring to change their life and finally gain their self esteem.
Of course the main one is SkinTE.
Scarless healing or not, if it can improve severe scarring (not just in the face) by roughly 80% it will be a big thing.
But, as time passes, I'm worried we're years away before SkinTE will be used for acne scars (and this in the best case scenario, which is it works for acne scars....we still don't know it).
15 hours ago, SimpleMutton said:You're actually right, I totally agree.
At the moment there is no cure for medium to severe acne scars even though dermatologists love to propose expensive treatments to get easy money out of desperate people.
Nothing really works for severe scarring, the improvement you can get is futile because it won't change the slightest bit your self esteem (and I get angry when some people say it's not true).
When it comes to a flaw like acne scars, you either get a very good improvement (at least 70-80%) or your life and self esteem will stay the same, it's money wasted.
It's like a balding guy that pass from a NW7 to a NW4, some non ethical and non honest people would say "look at you....you improved so much!" but in real life, his life will stay the same and, in doing treatment, he only emptied his wallet.When it comes to scars it's the same.
Only people with minor scarring get good results with the treatments available at the moment, others don't.That being said, there are some new treatments being developed right now that may be able to help people with severe acne scarring to change their life and finally gain their self esteem.
Of course the main one is SkinTE.
Scarless healing or not, if it can improve severe scarring (not just in the face) by roughly 80% it will be a big thing.
But, as time passes, I'm worried we're years away before SkinTE will be used for acne scars (and this in the best case scenario, which is it works for acne scars....we still don't know it).
I thought you were happy with the subcision done by Dr Chu?
I avoid these concern posts every few months but because I have been contacted a few times I will address the topic here. Firstly I need a definition of what LEGIT treatments are. This is a nebulous term with many meanings.
- Scars do have treatments currently, they take time and work, many do not want to put out the effort, $$$$, or have the down time. Are we comparing severe scarring, body scarring, light scarring, those who cannot heal properly, those who want to complain, those who want perfection or nothing else, or those who have other health issues happening. We have had many success stories here, the ones who are not don't heal right, do treatments wrong, have doctors who take advantage of them for bogus treatments, or who do nothing and are debilitated by their own issues and thinking - finding it easier to complain.
- There are MANY mental issues on this forum, that would be better addressed with a therapist. Ie. Body Dysmorphia and perfectionism.
- We are comparing apples and oranges. Body scars and facial acne scars, also people's ability to heal or not heal, their propensity for bad experience.
- Everything we offer as treatment customized is not that expensive with the exception of rf needling. You can skip anything you wish and get less results or wait for magical unicorns like Skin Te. The DIY stuff like derminator and tca peels/cross is extremely cheap. Subcision is pretty cheap without filler.
- Body scars you can flatten but often because of differences in physiology/vascularity you will not get the percentage of perfect skin texture, color, and quality. The face is a different thing. There is always medical tattooing for loss of pigment, but the texture will still be there, co2 can be done with steroid drip but not for full improvement.
- Skin Te might be the best bet for someone with body scars, It does not have to look pretty like the face after all and can be cut out all over your body to apply. Please keep these discussions there, right now ...what if's or fantasy thinking for many. The average burn victim spends over 20K$+ (for the first treatment) so Skin Te won't be cheap, but anything is better than the 10% improvement a burn victim gets and his body dis-formed and not able to move for life. That is what this is for some % of improvement.
- Sure if you do one session of anything like laser your not going to get what you want, or even all of it your not going to get perfection, or you just want to do DIY at home and not spend a cent that will give you some improvement but not fix everything. You have to go in with realistic expectations and know yourself very well. This is not a instant thing, different things work for different people.
- Often there is hidden data that is not shared. For example One person Keloids, the other does not heal well after a cut, the other has taken hard drugs, some smoke and don't heal right, a few cases of PICOS and nutritional / gut issues, some fungal infections and constant acne,some are stressed and worry all the time which effects healing, others do mega sessions all at once and Dr. E in Hollywood has scarred them for life while draining their bank accounts - this isn't how the body naturally heals. Every situation is not the same. This is not relative.
- Where I agree with the OP is if you expect perfection STOP NOW, a therapist and anti-depressants might be more helpful than treatment. Just be aware the medications side effects might be more scars. It's possibly not healthy for a person in this mindset to be on this forum as they want everyone else to suffer with them while doing nothing about it. Yes I get it, you have had shitty treatments, drs, luck in life, or expectations. I REALLY do get it, we all have had this, it's what you choose to do about it.
- A older person who needs aesthetic treatmentsdoes not say, they will not take away my wrinkles completely and make my skin perfect so I will not get a Deep peel, or filler, or a face lift. The patient is happy for improvement, or avoids them completely and get's into the accepting phase.
- Filler is extremely legit, it fixes aging faces for many. Yes it's expensive but so many of you are going on trips, getting massages, coffees, clothes, doing fun activities, getting your hair cut, going to the dentist... But you don't want to get filler because it's not permanent. Acne scars cause pre-mature aging of skin, ... what is the cure for pre-mature aging of skin, fat loss, bone loss, collagen loss .... ding ding ding "Filler." Over time the cost will come down and become longer lasting. This is the game changer.
Some have asked for some tips to deal with scars, BDD, and treatments not working. I don't have the bandwidth to deal with both the emotional and scar cases, nor do I feel I could do the full justice and attention everyone needs (I mean this in the nicest way). This is where Therapy really does help support one through the process. I think far to many are dealing with their own issues here and this is where you get a heaviness or compounding, and it starts to weigh on posters here. Hence why I suggest get a game plan, do what's best for you, and disconnect or take a break when needed.Here is a generalized list of some ideas.
*Therapy, ... few here can offer this level of understanding and depth to see what the cause of the BDD is and deal with it. This is a very important step. There is a Smart Phone App Called Talkspace which is great for therapy (text, video, call). Also colleges offer reduced rates even if your not a student. Friends while great cannot fill this space. When you plateau on results or it becomes unbearable this is what helps as well. Stress and worry can cause worse skin issues, and this deals with that.
*Gym, Endorphin's are a great way to get you into a happy space. I have seen many guys and gals become happy with their appearance and somehow that helped with everything else (weather they fixed their issue or not). They became more self confident and healthy.
*Naturapathic / Herbalist / Homeopathic /Holistic / Chinese Herbal - Eastern Medicine / Ayurveda / Integrated Health- Sometimes the issue is the gut and it manifests in the skin. These practitioners can work on this part of you where many doctors throw antibiotics which can make things worse. It's more than taking a supplement, it's a lifestyle. Clean living, healthy diet / food (is a big one), understanding what is bad for us out there and good. Even someone with a scientific based mind can find help in some of this in conjunction with western medicine. Cleanses of the liver, kidneys, and intestines. Stay clear of the hucksters who have a magical solution or charge high prices for a cure. If it does not work in a few months, stop doing it.
*Self Improvement- Improve other parts of your life, so you can get courage and success.
*Helping Others / Volunteering- Often the Scar Suffer or those with BDD are stuck seeing only what is wrong with themselves instead of seeing that the world around them is not perfect. Help others, it's very gratifying and gives back many benefits. The focus becomes not about yourself but a servants heart. It's a good way to distract.
*Religion- Focusing on something more than yourself. Working on what's inside rather than the outside. Finding purpose.
*Take a Walk- Get some fresh air and sunshine. If you live in a place with fog most of the year you may have Seasonal Disorder and need a sun lamp. Many are trapped inside and hiding from their issue. This is not healthy both physically and psychologically.
*Do something you love.
*Anti - Depressants or Natural Anti Depressants- Many need help coping, consult a Dr. Always look at the side effects and how they effect the skin.
*Hangout with the Friends or Do something Nice for your Family- Support
*Improve Yourself( School, work/career improvement, classes, hobbies, learn new things, read books). Improve the things you can improve, and don't focus on the ones you cannot.
*Makeup / Skincare- "Makeup Addiction" and "Skincare Addiction" are both excellent subs on reddit.com , learn as much as you can. Many more members than here. Some scientists and professionals post there. Repositories of Knowledge.
*Sleep- many don't get enough of this.
*Disconnect / Avoid Certain Media- Did the Buddhist Monks know something we don't or the Amish. Society wants to tell you your ugly (so they can feel better about themselves), that you should look like photos, or buy new treatments and products. What if this was not a constant message marketing, sales, media, and society was sending us, would be easier right. Obsessing on Facebook and Hollywood tabloids will not help you in the long run. So many on Youtube are using filters to give fake makeup results, special lighting, Photoshop, plastic surgery, makeup, special photographers. Those with good genes are not perfect but have far to many ways to hide their imperfections and obsess on the ego Infecting others around them to also be narcissistic - centered on superficial.
*Get rid of friends who are not beneficial to your health and well being- the choice is yours, we are the company we keep.
*Beauty Blogs / Acne / Skincare- Will tell you there is something wrong with you, that is the focus and the goal, to find something else to fix. This isn't reality, it's fake.
*Set Goals and Bucketlists Outside of the Superficial- Achieve Greatness. This could be as simple as finishing a few things on a honey - to - do list.
*Make yourself interesting in other ways besides how you look -We all get old, regret for many is off things they did not do, or chances they did not take, not off how they looked as they get old and naturally age. Perhaps beauty is for the young & vain, and transcendence is for the old and wise (are the the vessel you cultivate inside).
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen.
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Most of the time, a treatment does not work because of the doctor, not the actual treatment. Most dermatologists and most doctors in fact, have zero aesthetic sense and so their results often are lackluster. Even worse, some doctors are not motivated by the desire to help the patient but to pile on treatments to get as much money as possible.
In my personal experience, the things that will cause failure of treatments is
1) Not doing test spots - everyone's skin is different and you MUST ALWAYS do a test spot before jumping in head first. I found out lasers were not compatible with my skin at all, and I'm glad I did not allow a doctor to talk me into doing a full face treatment.
2) Not doing the right treatment for the right scar
3) Doing too many treatments all at once - you need to stop and reassess after each treatment
4) Not researching the doctor
5) Being suckered into "package" deals
6) Not targeting the actual scars - don't ever allow a doctor to unnecessarily treat good skin. Target the actual scars.
Scare-mongering by making sweeping and scientifically false statements is not helpful. Fillers can get infected, but that's from the technique not the material. Fillers are made sterile before they leave the plant. The chances of infection are extremely small if you do it under aseptic techniques. LIke others have said, if you cannot accept improvement, than it's best to log off because perfection doesn't exist in acne scar revision.
But yes, sometimes the damage is so extensive that current technology will not be able to do much. For the vast majority of scar sufferers though, it is possible for improvement (sometimes significant).
I actually have a different opinionwhen it comes to this. and I have a question for BA. in most of the posts you advise people to do:
3 sessions of subcision with fillers, 3 to 4 rf needling ,tca cross 3 to 4 times, a few peels and a laser and finally some fillers to top up. Let us be realistic here.
we are talking about how many thousands here?? how much downtime? risks? who will do all of this?
it is very simple, if I do subcision2 times with no results, it means it doesnt work, nothing is magical about the third time. right? if I laser my face a few times and I just get hyperpigmentation with no change in the scarring it means it doesnt work. simple.
(The definition of insanity is doing thesame thingover and over again, butexpecting different results) " Albert Einstein"
google "infini goes wrong", you will find people with actual true pics of side effects. Fillers goes wrong , tca cross goes wrong and so on. Now googleinfinebefore and after, or fillers before and after. you will just find photoshoppedpics.
you guys keep telling people to try more and more, in one of the forums a guy said he tried everthing from infini to laser to all, and what is the advice? try 100% face peel. why? why to take this risk if there is no proof it works?
I want a single case of someone who did this list (4 infini, 3 subcision with fillers, tca cross, ...) who got results, a single case is enough.
Another issue, acne scars in Australiaare covered by the health insurance right? Davin Lim is one of the Drs that you always advise people to visit them. I watched his videos on Instagram and youtube, and to be honest not a single case of deep scarring is solved. if a good doctor like him cant provide a single case of a successfulcase. then it does not exists, I dont buy all the change in lighting he does, or taking a viedo right after subcision when the face is swollen. I actually feel very insulted when he changes the lighting and then asks the paintents if he changed the lighting and the paintenst says no. Ok we have acne sars but we are not blind.
Other than that, I went to a few doctors and when I ask for before and after, they either dont have or they have the internet photoshoped ones. Now search the review about the same doctors, you will find all the great reviews. OK , you decide to risk it and take a treatment, mmm, afew months later you realis that you just wasted your money and nothing it doesnt working.
So a simple question where did the great reviews come from? Another question what prevents the one who made these fake reviews from posting the same fake review in a website like this??? who is benefting from all of this? Why would companies find a cure for acne scaring if they can suck all your money and make you run after hopes?
Scars Hope, in regards to why doctors get all great reviews and where do these great reviews cone from, I'll actually flip this way of thinking to the other side of the coin.
If someone like Lim or another highly rated doctor has lots of botched jobs or scar treatment procedures that didnt work, then where are all the bad reviews online?
Do you honestly think someone who has spent thousands on a dud treatment that didn't work is just going to go home and forget all about it? They will be mighty pissed off! They will vent and leave a bad review with the doctor. In fact, people who have good results are less likely to post a review, as they will more than likely move on and live their life.
I'm skeptical with scar treatments, but I do believe you can get improvement. A lot of people are unsatisfied with 50% improvement, that is going to be human nature with something as deeply upsetting as acne scarring.
Some of you guys just don't really look hard enough. Doing one google search without actually drilling down and doing your due diligence. For the lazy people here you go... check out this girl's results.
She will tell you it's not perfect, but her results are visible and real. I've messaged her and we've talked about her treatments. She's pretty cool and more than generous to put herself out there for the world to judge and examine.
If you're the type of person who rejects her results as "not good enough", log off. Delete your account. You have to find what works for you. There is no substitute for educating yourself. You can't abdicate that responsibility.
I do get where scars_hope is coming from to an extent...
This is my take on acne scar treatment from all the research ive done over the past few years...
To put it simply and be completely honest... there ARE some people who could have every damn treatment available by the best acne scar specialist in the WORLD and still only see 5-10% improvement after 15+k treating each and every individual scar carefully...For some people, the sad truth is.. there is little to no hope...the technology isnt advanced enough to see visible improvement, and this is for a number of reasons, genetics, skin type, disorders, healing abilities etc. BUT there are people who achieve 50-80% improvement. For one reason or another they respond well to treatments... Dazzed shared a link to that one girl on youtube ( ive watched her many times too lol ) and you can see her results are not fake and quite noticeable. QuanHenry had very similar scarring to mine and hes definitely had very good improvement. His pics show harsh lighting too. You can see what i call 'improvement that was worth the effort'.. Now, do i think i will have the same improvement as him just because we had similar scarring? Absolutely not lol. I dont heal well enough to achieve those results. I think my best luck will be from several fillers( if anything will work on me)instead of damaging my skin. It SUCKS but some people will have great outcomes while others will see little to no improvement even with every treatment available (and hopefully without additional scarring). Throughout this very unfortunate journey, ive learned Its not as simple as saying scar treatments WORK/DONT WORK. Every single case is different. I think its best to study your own skin well before jumping into any type of treatment.
@seattlegal90 I would agree. You can't make a blanket statement either way - "treatments don't work!" , "treatment works!". It totally depends. I think the issue is that there are people here who take THEIR experience and extrapolate it to the world. Like I wrote above, you MUST have an understanding of your skin and unfortunately it will take some trial and error. That is why you never go all-in on your first scar treatment. Do not get the Emer special and do 8 procedures in one sitting. It's insane to push your skin to it's limit like that. I can't tell you how many times I was told to treat my whole face with lasers. If I did that my skin would be destroyed. My skin reacted badly to fractional co2, and I thank god I did not go through with a full face treatment.
I totally agree that there are some people with scarring that is just too far gone to get an appreciable improvement. For those unfortunate few, biotechnology may be the only real answer, but who knows when that will materialize.
@dazzedI completely agree. I am also extremely glad i did not have full face laser treatment. When i was put on accutane my dr had already started planning my laser treatment "6 months after accutane" She told me, "you have really fair skin too, so we can kick those settings up to the max!" I am so so glad i paid close attention to how my skin was healing after i was finished with the medication. It would have disfigured my entire face. I remember 6 months post accutane i tried just using that at home PMD, and even that made my skin texture noticeably worse. My skin was so fragile at the time. As unlucky as this situation may be, im extremely thankful as well that l i didnt blindly do what i was told like many other innocent people..
Youre spot on, you definitely need to have a GOOD understanding of how your skin reacts, heals, etc. That is one reason ( aside from issues clearing up acne) i have not firmly decided which approach to take first, and have chosen to keep studying this site and others while i determine what i think will be best for MY skin . And then as you mentioned earlier, do TEST spots first. Doing any treatment over your entire face because you want improvements NOW ( or because a dr is pressuring it) is foolish..Scar treatment is a LONG process, you need to treat it as one, dont rush it, use extreme caution, and take it one step at a time.
@Sirius LeeAlthough that may be very true for some people, for most of the people on this site, its caused by taking accutane, its an awful and permanent side effect. Ive tried every diet, increasedwater intake, herbs, vitamins, etc etc.. Accutane has permanently screwed up how my body heals. It sucksss lol. Wish i had done more research on the drug before taking it. Personally I didnt have any concerns going on it ( other than starting between breakouts to avoid scarring) as my sister had taken it 10 years before i did, and the only thing she suffered was short term depression.
Well, in my opinion, the safest thing that DOES work to varying degrees is fillers. Excluding permanent ones, fillers are pretty much safe and do work. Where I see them failing all the time is due to piss poor technique - sloppy, rushed doctors not using angled light, or using them on inappropriate scars. I know for me they absolutely worked, not perfectly, but it's the only thing that has made a dramatic difference. And fillers absolutely won't make your scars worse. If you hate it, you can dissolve or let it go away naturally.
@dazzedDid you have subcission done with it? Im strongly considering it as my first treatment plan because as you said it wont make scarring worse, you can have it dissolved if they mess up. Im just not sure my skin can handle subcission beforehand, but ive also heard the donut effect is pretty common if you dont do it. Do you mind my asking what type of scars it worked well on for you personally? I have mostly shallow boxcars and rolling scars, luckily 80% of them show improvement when i stretch the skin. Also what filler did you decide to use?
I have had subcision, but personally I don't think they did much for me because the issue for me was volume loss and deep rolling scars. I never had subcision and filler at the same time. I had deep rolling scars and sunken cheeks due to years of cystic acne.
The fillers only worked on rolling scars and to re-volumize the parts of my face that were sunken. I also have a moderate amount of icepicks but obviously it doesn't work at all on those scars.
As for fillers I've tried them all. The first one I did was Radiesse which I do not recommend at all for superficial scars because it will feel hard and look bumpy if not done precisely. Unfortunately, the Radiesse was injected poorly and I had visible lumps for a long time. After that I had Restylane, Restylane Lyft (used to be called Perlane at the time), Voluma, and Belotero. Yeah, I've done them all. I think for superficial scars, Restylane and Belotero are fine, but now you have Restylane silk. For volume loss, Voluma is good, but very expensive. I think Restylane Lyft hits a happy medium between price, efficacy, and longevity so I would recommend that over Voluma for deep scars or volume loss. In general, I feel like the hyaluronic acid fillers are like Coke and Pepsi, they are very similar and achieve the same result.
I personally have not done Sculptra and I would not. That's because Sculptra works by causing your body to create what is essentially scar tissue to encapsulate the powder material. I know that my body has an aggressive healing response, so Sculptra could cause too much volume or potentially granulomas.
For your first time, stick to hyaluronic acid fillers.
28 minutes ago, dazzed said:I have had subcision, but personally I don't think they did much for me because the issue for me was volume loss and deep rolling scars. I never had subcision and filler at the same time. I had deep rolling scars and sunken cheeks due to years of cystic acne.
The fillers only worked on rolling scars and to re-volumize the parts of my face that were sunken. I also have a moderate amount of icepicks but obviously it doesn't work at all on those scars.
As for fillers I've tried them all. The first one I did was Radiesse which I do not recommend at all for superficial scars because it will feel hard and look bumpy if not done precisely. Unfortunately, the Radiesse was injected poorly and I had visible lumps for a long time. After that I had Restylane, Restylane Lyft (used to be called Perlane at the time), Voluma, and Belotero. Yeah, I've done them all. I think for superficial scars, Restylane and Belotero are fine, but now you have Restylane silk. For volume loss, Voluma is good, but very expensive. I think Restylane Lyft hits a happy medium between price, efficacy, and longevity so I would recommend that over Voluma for deep scars or volume loss. In general, I feel like the hyaluronic acid fillers are like Coke and Pepsi, they are very similar and achieve the same result.
I personally have not done Sculptra and I would not. That's because Sculptra works by causing your body to create what is essentially scar tissue to encapsulate the powder material. I know that my body has an aggressive healing response, so Sculptra could cause too much volume or potentially granulomas.
For your first time, stick to hyaluronic acid fillers.
Have you noticed improvement in your scars now because of all your filler use?
Also how many ml do you need?