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Microneedling and Bellafill Results

MemberMember
4
(@cjsxx77yahoo-com)

Posted : 08/17/2020 10:57 pm

Hi everyone. I'm 43 and have been struggling with acne scars for over 20 years. I wanted to share some before and after pictures for the Microneedling and Bellafill that I had recently. I finally have something good to report, specifically about the Bellafill.

Background: In my 20's, I tried many different treatments (including Microdermabrasion, Cool Touch Laser, Dermabrasion, Microneedling, and Fraxel Laser) with disappointing results on all of them. After giving up for a good decade, I decided to see if any newer treatments looked promising and decided to try Microneedling again, this time with the Derminator 2 at-home kit and TNS Recovery Complex as the serum (used day and night for 5 days after each treatment). I thought maybe the technology/serums would be better as many people have had good things to say about Microneedling lately. Unfortunately, after 10 treatments spaced a month apart (using a needle depth of up to 2 mm on the fleshy areas), I didn't notice any improvement. So I decided to have Bellafill done on my larger scars. And I'm extremely happy with those results. I wish this filler had been around when I was younger! My before and after pictures are below.

Left (worst) side before Microneedling:

619405647_BeforeMicroneedling.jpg.36287caadd9dadcae251ddea5f9be11f.jpg

After Microneedling (Yes, the lighting is harsher than in my before picture but the scars certainly did not get any worse):

848755642_AfterMicroneedling.jpg.fc127e48006bad0f3b10fcdf95eea7d4.jpg

After Microneedling with my worst scars labeled in order of depth. Note that these scars were caused by a botched subcision done by Dr. James Swinehart here in Denver, CO in 2003. He showed no sympathy when I came back to him, and this was a devastating setback that I regretted for 17 years:

861651784_AfterMicroneedling-Numbered.jpg.c948eeb5558d2b6a1da75cc9320a64c2.jpg

4 months after Bellafill:

91591393_4monthsafterBellafill.jpg.7a5a9b4bff13752f31c2e97c226593f5.jpg

As you can see, scars 1, 2, and 3 are all basically gone. The subcision scars were the worst ones, but I also had a couple deep ones on my lower jaw, which are also gone now too. I even had some shallower boxcar type scars that I didn't think were candidates for a filler, but those improved with Bellafill injections as well. Now, all I have left are shallow scars, and I feel like I can live with those. I'm extremely happy that I had Bellafill done and found a good practitioner (Sarah Kurts at Adore Aesthetix) to do it. All it took was about 1.5 cc's and I finally feel okay about my skin after all these years. I had it done in January and the results are holding up. Interestingly, I never experienced any temporary loss of volume as some people report between the time the bovine collagen carrier wears off and your own collagen growth occurs around the PMMA microspheres.

I hope this posting is helpful to anyone considering these treatments. I'll check back here tomorrow if anyone has any questions.

Cameron

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MemberMember
195
(@gynoscar)

Posted : 08/17/2020 11:02 pm

If you don't mind, how much did the bellafill cost?

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MemberMember
4
(@cjsxx77yahoo-com)

Posted : 08/18/2020 10:25 am

Sure. The Bellafill was $700 per cc.

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MemberMember
735
(@amanda-hall)

Posted : 08/20/2020 10:19 am

On 8/18/2020 at 8:25 AM, Cameron77 said:

Sure. The Bellafill was $700 per cc.

Cameron, thank you so much for sharing! It's important that members to realize the benefits (and risks) of Bellafill. I'm glad everything went well for you and your results look pretty good.

I had one syringe of Bellafill and it cost $1,000. I didn't see your type of results but my scars were more shallow boxcars.

Another doctor told me Bellafill can migrate but if it does in years down the road, I might not even be on this forum. If anything bad happens, Cameron, please report back!

 

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MemberMember
6
(@i-mad)

Posted : 08/22/2020 8:14 am

curious to know hwo long this last?

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MemberMember
5
(@sdps)

Posted : 08/23/2020 1:36 pm

I understand you didnt get real results with the microneedling for scarring but do you know if it improved skin quality at all?

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MemberMember
4
(@cjsxx77yahoo-com)

Posted : 03/15/2021 3:52 pm

Thanks Amanda. I hadn't heard of Bellafill migrating, only that it could cause infection which could be a real mess. That's why it's a good idea to get the test injection somewhere off your face first. Over a year later, my results are holding up.

I MAD, I think Bellafill can only claim that their results last 5 years because that's what was clinically proven, but the understanding is that it lasts forever because those PMMA microspheres stay under your skin along with the collagen growth they cause around them.

sdps, no I didn't notice any improvement to my skin quality after microneedling.

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