TCA cross sounds like a good idea. Which doctor?

Dr. Ort in Colorado.  
 

As I™m looking at the progress (I™m down to green/brown bruising), I™m worried that there may not have been any improvement at all.  Or maybe I™m just hoping for a miracle, knowing there are none on this journey.   

Might just be the swelling but the linear sharpness seems diminished in certain areas, but I doubt subcision/filler alone will correct that because there's various things going on at once. You likely would benefit if you heal well from some sort of resurfacing but I think the subcision first is probably a decent idea in certain areas, I just hope the doc is experienced at it in general.

The resurfacing you might benefit could range from many things. Maybe a aggressive lasers, maybe even dermabrasion in areas, maybe even phenol peel.

Wish you the best. The subcision and/or filler could be pushing around some things so it's very hard to tell until it's settled. Basically the filler pushes out or around the superficial (surface layer) icepicks or marks maybe as well making them more pronounced.

When it settles down though it would be easier to see what needs to be pursued. But with cases with a lot going on both surface and underneath fat gaps here or there, it's usually best to see an expert because the more complicated the need the more procedures experienced plastic surgeons have at their disposal and can adapt.

Keep us updated though and best of luck improving.

You have widespread volume loss, I think sculptra would work well on your scars

1 hour ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

Might just be the swelling but the linear sharpness seems diminished in certain areas, but I doubt subcision/filler alone will correct that because there's various things going on at once. You likely would benefit if you heal well from some sort of resurfacing but I think the subcision first is probably a decent idea in certain areas, I just hope the doc is experienced at it in general.

The resurfacing you might benefit could range from many things. Maybe a aggressive lasers, maybe even dermabrasion in areas, maybe even phenol peel.

Wish you the best. The subcision and/or filler could be pushing around some things so it's very hard to tell until it's settled. Basically the filler pushes out or around the superficial (surface layer) icepicks or marks maybe as well making them more pronounced.

When it settles down though it would be easier to see what needs to be pursued. But with cases with a lot going on both surface and underneath fat gaps here or there, it's usually best to see an expert because the more complicated the need the more procedures experienced plastic surgeons have at their disposal and can adapt.

Keep us updated though and best of luck improving.

Thank you for your response. Does this type of bruising seem normal? Everything I read kept saying subcision was a minimal procedure with no down time. Trying to get a feel if its normal, or an indication of the doctors knowledge.

I know that I had a lot of damage. Im not young, so Im trying to battle the scarring along with aging. But, Im also discouraged. Not sure if this was worth it.

19 minutes ago, Wij611 said:

You have widespread volume loss, I think sculptra would work well on your scars

 

Thank you for posting your journey. Your improvement looks great! Are you continuing with any treatment moving forward?

20 hours ago, SteamboatWillie said:

Thank you for your response. Does this type of bruising seem normal? Everything I read kept saying subcision was a minimal procedure with no down time. Trying to get a feel if its normal, or an indication of the doctors knowledge.

I know that I had a lot of damage. Im not young, so Im trying to battle the scarring along with aging. But, Im also discouraged. Not sure if this was worth it.

I definitely think you need an expert just because someone like Lim would probably pull out 4-5 things out of his tool chest and see if he can simultaneously work on things that have different textures, needs, and so on. That's just my impression. I don't think an ordinary plastic surgeon is geared enough for complicated cases. The subcision might push out some other scars you want less noticeable too so idk I think you need various things or a good plan.

Now as far as I know bruising happens but it's unclear whether you'll have a good or bad response or no response until it sort of calms down. I think for some people it's minimal others have more irritation from it. Might be technique/doctor too.

I totally get it with aging/scars.Let the activity calm down, eat well and so on to help (vitamins etc can't hurt if you have them) and see what improved, what didn't or got worse then reassess.

1 hour ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

I definitely think you need an expert just because someone like Lim would probably pull out 4-5 things out of his tool chest and see if he can simultaneously work on things that have different textures, needs, and so on. That's just my impression. I don't think an ordinary plastic surgeon is geared enough for complicated cases. The subcision might push out some other scars you want less noticeable too so idk I think you need various things or a good plan.

Now as far as I know bruising happens but it's unclear whether you'll have a good or bad response or no response until it sort of calms down. I think for some people it's minimal others have more irritation from it. Might be technique/doctor too.

I totally get it with aging/scars.Let the activity calm down, eat well and so on to help (vitamins etc can't hurt if you have them) and see what improved, what didn't or got worse then reassess.

Thank you!!! Im sure you can relate about being impatient. Is it true that it can take up to 6 months to really see the full affect? Im just curious if I do TCA cross, or any other procedures for texture, etc.how long I should wait. It seems from other threads in here, that the general consensus is to space out the procedures to give your skin time to heal and build up collagen.

Thoughts?

17 hours ago, SteamboatWillie said:

Thank you!!! Im sure you can relate about being impatient. Is it true that it can take up to 6 months to really see the full affect? Im just curious if I do TCA cross, or any other procedures for texture, etc.how long I should wait. It seems from other threads in here, that the general consensus is to space out the procedures to give your skin time to heal and build up collagen.

Thoughts?

I personally would try to space it out as healing is complicated especially as we age, but I'm not a huge fan of TCA cross at all. Mainly because I saw it widen/enlarge someone in person and also the reviews on this board are ambiguous, some great some awful. I tend to see more neutral or negative but if it works it does seem to work really well but usually in concert with other procedures.

I really think you gotta go straight to a really experienced doc. You gotta go to someone with a tool-kit like Lim that can just take out 3 to 4 things and work on it.

I don't want to overhype certain doctors because in the past that has led to glorification and undeserving hero status to doctors that turned out to be more wet noodles or botox docs. But from what I read on here I think Rullan is a decent choice that tries his best and knows his stuff, maybe Mark Taylor Utah has 25 years experience, maybe Salazar in CA, obviously Lim in Australia probably knows cases well I guess, and so on.

This is exactly one week after procedure.  Swelling and bruising is down quite a bit.  There is still some soreness right along my cheekbone under my eye.  I feel like there was no improvement in scarring.   

First picture is before treatment, other two are taken today.  

Scarring doesnt improve in one week unless you physically shaved the entire area. It takes time to see results. Set your treatment frequency every 2 to 3 months and wait at least, first it immediately heals the area. Healing goal is to first make it in a workable condition and after that slowly slowly results sets in.

Unless it's just swelling, bruising left over, it looks a lot better to me, or is it just me? It's shocking how the redness in an earlier pic highlights all the pore scars and they run invisible when it's not red. That's how it is, but still the highlighting of it always stuns me, myself included sometimes when redness brings mine out.

If you can make progress with more subcision or whatever else, you should probably ablate the area to blend it better, resurface basically. But you're correct at least in my opinion to try to improve the underlying issues before any resurfacing or blending attempts.

Anyway, wishing you the best of luck.

Thanks guys. I will try to be patient. Lol