Note the original article I wrote it in Chinese and it was very long so I used google translator to translate it. Some of the wordings may not sound very authentic but I think overall the core message is delivered. I will introduce you my acne treatment insights and how to avoid acne scar, which are all tested on my self in real life. Note I™m only talking about atrophic type of scars here.

I have been treating acne for more than 3 years. I have had acne since junior high school, and I™m 30+ now still have acne occasionally, but it has basically stabilized. Back then, before the age of 25, there were no scars or marks left by the acne. But aging is natural. People say that women's body function are declining after 25. Anyway, the collagen synthesis on the face does decrease visibly! Want to ask me how do I know? Because I started to develop acne scars on my face after 25! ! Because of these pits, I once fell into infinite self-blame and depression, my personality became taciturn, and I lost hope for everything. I used to be an active girl, although the skin is not so good, it is a bit dark and oily, but at least it was smooth. Since I started to develop acne scar, I have become less and less self-confident, even affecting my social life. So, one day in 2018, I determined that I should not be so depressed anymore, and I must find a way to treat it! If this goes on, it will only get worse and hopeless! After learning from the pain, I embarked on a long and difficult journey to fight the acne scar, which has been lasted for 3 years. I™m in the United States, and the resources in this country are quite abundant. Whenever search for acne scar removal, the articles and resources blossom everywhere. I did a lot of basic research and even read journal papers. I have learned that several common methods of treating acne are as follows:

1.       Laser. Nowadays, after the laser, it is popular to add the vampire mask PRP, which is to draw your own blood, and then synthesize your own serum and apply it to your face, and it help you get better soon.

2.       The subscission: separate subcutaneously.

3.       Microneedles.

4.       TCA cross. It is to use tca acid to spot into the pit. After the acid corrodes the pit, it will scab and grow flesh again.

5.       Brush acid. Like retinoic acid, alpha hydroxy acids, etc.

6.       LED light. Note that this method is mainly for removing redness and repairing red marks. Not useful for smoothing acne scar.

Let me start with the conclusion. I have tried all of the above. Only 1234 have an effect on acne scars. The significance of the effect is: 1>2>3. 4 I have to take it out separately, because 4 is too dangerous! The effect of 4 is unexpectedly good, but if you did not do it right, you will regret it for life! Friends who are interested to know more about 4 and about my bloody experience with it plz leave comments below. If many people want to know the details about 4, I will add more.

1 is generally used in conjunction with 2. 3 is suitable for the interval between two lasers, the effect is not as significant as 1 and 2, but there are still some. You can think about it this way, only by doing 3 four to five times MAYBE can achieve the effect of doing 1 once. But it's not rigorous to say that, because microneedles and lasers are not comparable. I will explain this way, no matter what method is used to treat acne scar, the principle is the same, which is to damage the skin and rebuild it. Then the more you destroy, the larger the scale of reconstruction. But if you over do it, you will never be able to rebuild it again. So why laser is a technical job, not just any doctor can operate it, it has a lot of parameter settings, it needs an experienced technician to operate, according to the shape of the patient's scar to adapt to local conditions.

Microneedles and lasers, although both are the process of destruction and reconstruction, because microneedles do not cause deep damage, they are relatively floating on the surface compared to lasers. The lasers act on the deep dermis and pass through high-energy beams. To stimulate it, so as to awaken its deep repair mechanism. So every time of laser, just like a snake shed its skin, a layer of skin is removed, and a new tender skin comes out. Your original smaller but deeper pits will become shallower, but they will also become larger. Laser it once, and it changes once, until it grows to the same height as other skins in the end. Of course, this is a very, very slow process, but it's not impossible. It's just that you need to do it many times to get the effect. I have done it 10 times so far. It's called profractional laser, which is almost the same as CO2. Your face is all bloody after the laser. Note: The more bloody your face after laser, the better the effect. For the kind of laser that doesn't make you a bloody face, just slightly red, the effect is not obvious.

It's really no pain no gain. The more severe the damage, the harder it is to repair, but the effect is more significant. There is a three-month interval between lasers. So friends, laser is not a magical elixir, it needs strong perseverance, tenacious fighting spirit, and. . . Enough amount of money~~~ It costs about 600-1000 dollars per laser, not counting other messy nursing expenses, which is quite expensive. . . Medical beauty is really a vampire industry, but according to the current human medical development level, laser may be the only relatively more effective method. After all, time is priceless. We spend more money to gain more significant effect, which saves us more time.

I would also like to say that the newer the acne scar, the easier it can be repaired, so the pit you have just gotten with acne must be repaired as soon as possible as soon as possible! ! So you have to ask, how to fix it? Hey, I found a god-like existence. That is---use collagen dressing! ! ! ! Let me tell you how I discovered this thing. Before discovering this thing, I also found a dressing that is particularly good for wound healing, which is a transparent wound dressing produced by 3M.

So how did I discover this? It was last summer that I had a microneedling, and it turned out to be infected. A very big pustule grew on my right cheek, and it was the kind of big pimple that won™t surface up for several days. I'm afraid it will leave pits as it grows longer and deeper, so I picked it abrubtly. As a result, I got up the next day and found that the entire skin was gone, the bright red flesh inside was exposed, and a large crater was exposed on the face. It was half a centimeter in diameter and about the same depth. My god, this is going to leave a big pit I was screaming! ! What a pitty. I was paralyzed for one day, and found that it was still that way the next day. I can't sit still like this. I must find a way to help it heal perfectly! Hopelessly, I went to the Internet to search for knowledge about wound care. There is a lot of information on the Internet. After screening, I intuitively felt that this transparent material might be useful. Here I want to talk about the principle of wound healing, because in effect, when our acne is broken out, it is a wound. If we master the method of caring for the wound, then we have largely mastered the method of caring for acne without leaving scars! ! ! note! ! ! Here is the point! ! ! The translation is, next I want to talk about how to avoid scarring if you have acne, especially pustule acne, if it breaks out! ! !

Many people's misunderstanding of wound care is to keep the wound dry and wait for it to scab. It was so simple and rude to deal with your wound when your knee broke. You can't treat the flesh on your face this rough like your knee. The true scientific principle should be to keep the wound moist and airtight at all times. Create an environment similar to that with epidermal protection, so that cells can proliferate, divide and grow normally. And what do cells rely on for these activities? It is water and nutrients. What are the main ingredients of the skin? It is water and collagen. Specifically, you can find a lot of information on the Internet that discuss that wound healing in a moist environment is better than that in a dry environment. A paragraph on wikihow:

œExposure to air does not interfere with healing but it also does not help with scar prevention. In fact, you may be more likely to develop a scar if you leave the injury uncovered and unprotected.

œOnce you see that new skin has grown together in a healthy manner, which may take as many as seven to 10 days, you can extend the time between your dressing changes to several days as long as you keep the area moist. Discontinue your treatments once the area is fully healed.

https://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-Scarring

Here are some of the other recources I have read, but it™s in Chinese, I translate for you the most important parts below. You can search for articles about wound caring and learn how important it is to keep the wound moist and airtight to heal perfect.

œA long time ago, we did think that a dry surface could avoid bacteria and help wounds heal. Until 1963, a comparative experiment conducted by Dr. Winter of the British Department found that moist wounds would heal within 2 weeks, while dry wounds would take 25-30 days to heal. The moist environment meets the physiological state required for wound healing, promotes cell division and growth, and allows wounds to heal as quickly as possible.

Scab is actually a self-protection phenomenon. When the wound is exposed, it can provide a protective layer. But it also builds a barrier for the new tissue cells, affecting the connection of collagen fibers to the new cells, making wound healing take more time, collagen is also easy to deposit around it, easy to leave scars!

The dressing can provide a moist environment for the tissue during the process of wound healing and speed up the healing process. In addition, they can prevent our wounds from being exposed and provide a low-oxygen environment, thereby inhibiting the growth of bacteria and preventing infection. In addition, the dressing will also provide gentle and continuous pressure, which can effectively prevent scars. At present, the more reliable scar removal products on the market are these silicone or silicone dressings (posts or pastes).



https://www.zhihu.com/question/34439078

œ"For general small wounds, note that "wounds slightly moist" is the best healing environment.

The wound will heal well in a stable temperature and humidity, so try not to let the wound blow directly, such as an electric fan or air-conditioning vent; or close to a place that is too hot, such as a gas stove or an electric heater. Wait, in normal times, try not to move the wound to avoid affecting the healing.

First of all, it is necessary to supplement enough nutrition, then to avoid irritation, and finally to moderately pressurize the wound.

"Supplementing adequate nutrition is very important. Wounds heal quickly, and of course scars are not easy to grow. Therefore, daily intake of high protein, high calories, and high vitamin C can help the wound heal. Calories are the energy that the body must expend to start the repair work. Protein is the material needed to repair wounds, and vitamin C can activate the anti-oxidant effect, so that the inflammatory response ends sooner. 

https://heho.com.tw/archives/53374?utm_source=»¶¼¸–±®&utm_medium=heho&utm_campaign=click

The above are all related popular science articles I found. There are many more, including medical literature, I have read, but I won™t list them all. You can find that there are two key points for wound healing, one is to keep it moist, and the other is to provide adequate nutrition.

So according to these theories, I took the nexcare tegaderm transparent dressing to seal the wound of my pustule, so it became a closed and humid environment, because this dressing is breathable, and it is one-way permeable. The air can only penetrate from the inside, but the outside cannot enter, so bathing or anything will not affect it, and it is waterproof. This dressing is simply an artifact. I applied it for about 4 days, I took vitamin C and collagen together and paid attention to rest and nutrition. The results of it? Surprisingly good! No scars at all! ! ! Not even a red mark! ! ! See below the wound photo and the wound with the dressing. After 4 days, the skin was fully healed without any mark left!

This is really the gospel of the majority of acne friends! Next time, as long as your acne is broken and there are open wounds, PLEASE try this! Take care to avoid direct sunlight, rest regularly, and supplement nutrients and water. With the aid of dressings and nutrition, your skin will grow as good as ever!

Based on this unexpected harvest, I have a further whim, if I apply the collagen dressing directly on the wound, will the pit grow smoothier? So I started my experiment again! The collagen dressing can be used in conjunction with one thing, which will enhance the power of this thing, that is, microneedling! Everyone is no stranger to microneedling. After microneedling is finished, there will be slight bleeding. In fact, the superficial layer of the epidermis and dermis is destroyed. So in fact, if the skin wants to repair at this time, it needs a lot of collagen, so at this time, apply a collagen dressing and a transparent dressing, which will make the skin repair faster, and the quality of the repair will be better, because It does not need to rely on its own to produce a large amount of collagen, and it may not have the ability to produce so much, so it can directly borrow the dressing from our lovely cow and chicken friends. This is effective in my personal test. I bought this collagen dressing, it is bovine collagen, available on Amazon (Be careful if you are allergic to animal collagen, do not use it!):

Fibracol Plus Wound Dressing 2" X 2" 12/Bx:

You can buy egf solution, first soak the collagen dressing with egf solution, apply it on the skin after the microneedles, and then add a layer of transparent dressing. It will be almost two days. The wounds of the microneedles are relatively shallow so it will almost heal in two days.

I also bought collagen powder and collagen hydrogel wound dressing from different vendors. Including:

·         Stimulen powder

·         Triple Helix powder

·         Nuvagen powder

·         Hycol powder

·         Coloplast hydrogel dressing

They are all good products. I mainly use them after microneedling. They are so great! I definitely see a significant improvements compared to in the past that I did not use the collagen powder. I also used it immediately after my laser treatment. So for my laser treatment, my routine is: subscicion “ laser “ PRP “ go back home “ apply collagen powder disolved in coloplast hydrogel dressing, and keep applying it everytime after washing my bloody face until it™s fully healed. I notcied the improvement of my laser treatment with the collagen powder addon is much significant than without it.

Note! This method is also applicable to newly formed acne pits. I happened to have acne on my chin one time, leaving a small pit, it is very new. I tried to use micro-needles to rub the pit to bleeding, and then apply collagen dressing and transparent dressing, and take it off after about 3-4 days. A miracle happened! The acne pit is gone! ! ! I was really happy at the time! ! ! I think if I knew this method a few years earlier, it wouldn't be so much hardship to spend so much money and time to treat old acne pits. New acne pits can be cured in this way, cheap and effective, and they can be cured by themselves. I just thought, I must share this knowledge, so that more people who are troubled by acne can see it, I™m happy to see so many people's sorrow and pain can be reduced! ! !

I basically don't have acne anymore, and I am not afraid of it occasionally. I will use acne patch to suck its pus. Generally does not leave scars. If unfortunately a big pustule grows and it breaks into an open wound, I use tegaderm's transparent dressing. If it's really unfortunate, it still leaves scars, it doesn't matter! New scars are easy to eliminate, that is, microneedles combined with collagen dressings and transparent dressings will repair the pits by themselves.

I hope that all friends who have read my sharing can harvest these methods and benefit from them, and I am satisfied.

If you have any doubts, please leave a message. If you find something wrong, please let me know, thank you!

Disclaimer: The above are all based on my personal practical experience. I am not a professional dermatologist, so should there were any improper points, Please refer to it according to your own circumstances.

PS: Please feel free to share this if you like, there is no copyright. My only wish is more ppl can be benefited from knowing these methods to treat acne scar and wound. I wish all ppl who are suffering from acne scars can live in a happy life!

I saw the comments. Folks think I'm selling sth. and they call me "He". First, I'm a female, second, I'm not selling anything. They also mentioned about before and after photos. I was hesitant to post them here in the public because of my privacy preference. While I gave a second thought on it. The purpose of my posting is to help more ppl, so I should be responsible to provide facts of evidence. So here it is:

My before right face in 2018:

My after right face in 2021:

My before left face in 2018:

My after left face in 2021: 

This is when I applied the collagen dressing with tegaderm dressing after microneedling:

As I progressed along this acne scar removal journey, what I have learned is, acne scar is very difficult to be fully removed 100%, while the more you treated it the more improvement you will gain. Also, the later you wait to treat it the harder it can be reversed. So plz stop mourning, take action, and treat yourself well, exercise regularly, take good food and drink. Treat this as a way of training yourself to be more self-disciplined and persistent. I was cursing and blaming everything in the beginning and could not understand why this happened to me? But after years of fighting against it, I finally realized that this might not be a bad experience as this "bad thing" has totally changed myself and I become more calm and receptive to any type of accidents that could bring negative impact to my life. I learned how to deal with some very difficult situations in my life. I also learned that no one else can save you but yourself. I started to take meditation and learned theories in Buddhism. All of these "good things" were brought by the acne scar. Sometimes misfortune is a blessing in disguise. Life is a practice, fighting to the death!

PPS:

Dear friends, when you put on the collagen dressing after microneedling, plz make sure the dressing is always 100% moisturized! Whenever you find it's getting drier, plz either add more egf serum or coloplast dressing, or any type of liquid serum you use for wound care. When necessary, change the collagen dressing with new one. Usually in 2 days, it will get smelly as it is organic and has been sealed inside the tegaderm dressing for too long. Then I will replace with new collagen dressing. You can't be stingy if you want to achieve the best results.

I also use Alastin Serum below, which is quite pricy so I did not mention it. It was recommended by my laser treatment clinic. It is claimed to heal the wound faster. I have no complaint about it but I can't claim it's very useful either. It's more like a assistant but not a major player.