Had Rullans trio package a few months ago. I dont think the CROSS did much for my quasi boxscars. I call them quasi because the edges arent super defined, but they arent icepicks or rolling either, so boxscars are the closest thing to what I have.
My question is - what other treatments should I try next? I dont want to try TCA/phenol CROSS again. I actually think phenol widened my scars a teeny bit. Should I try some laser or some kind of needling? Im quite risk averse now after CROSS and want to limit my options tothe safest, well studiedmethods.
Thanks yall. Happy to answer any questions re treatments Ive received as well.
Sorry to hear that, but you need to understand that 1 treatment is rarely enough. In fact, 2 treatments aren't enough. From my own experience, you need at least 3 treatments to see any meaningful change, especially if your scars are quite noticeable. This isn't only limited to TCA or Phenol. It also applies to subcision, laser, Infini, etc. Don't expect a miracle with just one treatment.
3 hours ago, Sirius Lee said:Sorry to hear that, but you need to understand that 1 treatment is rarely enough. In fact, 2 treatments aren't enough. From my own experience, you need at least 3 treatments to see any meaningful change, especially if your scars are quite noticeable. This isn't only limited to TCA or Phenol. It also applies to subcision, laser, Infini, etc. Don't expect a miracle with just one treatment.
Are you suggesting that I give phenol another try? I just dont want to risk widening my scars again...
also is1-2mm considered deep/noticeable? If thats the caseI probably gave the wrong number. I meant the doctor said I justneed treatment thatpenetrates 1-2mm into my skin, as opposed to microneedling that goes up to 3mm.
14 minutes ago, walkietalkie said:Are you suggesting that I give phenol another try? I just don™t want to risk widening my scars again...
also is1-2mm considered deep/noticeable? If that™s the case I probably gave the wrong number. I meant the doctor said I just need treatment that penetrates 1-2mm into my skin, as opposed to microneedling that goes up to 3mm.
It's not up to me to decide what you should do. All I'm saying is in order to see improvement, you will need to get more than 1 treatment, whether that's chemical peel or other treatment modalities.
Unlike microneedling, which is classified by the needle depth, chemical peels are usually labeled by the depth of the skin layer like superficial, medium and deep. A medium depth peel like 50% TCA can typically penetrate up to 0.5 mm. With that in mind, you can see that 2.0 mm sits somewhere way down in the deep reticular layer. You probably don't want to remove that much cushion. Consider the following for reference.
Figure 1: The penetration of a superficial, medium and deep peels
I've gotten 2 phenol cross treatments from Rullan and another 2 from a local DR and I've seen slight improvement each time, I agree with Sirius Lee that 1 treatment of anything isn't going to show much if any improvement. I'm probably planning on doing another 3-4 phenol cross treatments with the doctor near me. If you are hesitant on doing cross again I would try RF needling I think crossand RF needling are the best for boxcars, I personally have not tried RF because I've read some horror stories regarding fat loss in the face after RF.