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Okay, I actually have another question, if you, Cherry, or anyone else can answer. I heard that scars can't have hair follicles or pores for that matter. Yet- in shining a light over my most recent scar, the one on my forehead that I've been obsessing over for the sixth months I've had it, I've noticed that I can see little hairs in it.
Does that still make it a scar?
Also there has been little pimples pop up in my scar... can this or has this happened to anyone else. Because from what I know scars don't have pores, and no pores mean no zit .-.
It's quite confusing .-.
Happy Halloween, by the way! C:
I'm not sure where you heard that scars don't have pores or hair follicles, but some of my scars have tiny hairs that grow out of them. Also, some of my scars still get small whiteheads inside them from time to time, or comedones.
Does that answer your question sufficiently?
By the way, have you thought about starting your own thread here on Acne.org? It might help you in that more people could possibly check it out, and answer your questions.
Happy Halloween to you, too. My favorite holiday. 
Hello All,
Even though I began taking spiro nearly 3 weeks ago, I decided to proceed with the session of punch grafts I had scheduled for my cosmetic derm on Tuesday, November 6th. My skin seems to be responding well to spiro. Fortunately, the inital breakout I had read about only lasted 2 weeks, and so far there is nary a cyst in sight.
I decided to do another round of punch grafts because it seemed pointless to spend thousands on laser right now. The grafts that my cosmetic derm performed 8 months ago during my 3rd session with her look great. They've settled in to become even with the rest of the skin on my cheeks, whereas for a long time they looked somewhat puffy and swollen.
Here are the After pics taken on November 9th, 3 days after my procedure;
Hopefully, these pics will serve as a decent reference for those interested in such a procedure. I'll do my best to take some photos in the next couple of weeks after the bandages have been off awhile, and the areas that were grafted aren't quite so red.
Enjoy!
Good luck, Cherry, and please keep us updated! You look sweet even with bandages on your face. 
I'd be very interested to know about punch floats or punch grafts. Even if they're not available in my area, but perhaps in the future. How long is the downtime? What kinds of scars have you treated?
Good luck, Cherry, and please keep us updated! You look sweet even with bandages on your face.
I'd be very interested to know about punch floats or punch grafts. Even if they're not available in my area, but perhaps in the future. How long is the downtime? What kinds of scars have you treated?
Thanks so much!
The downtime is a week for punch grafts, and I had the grafting done over ice pick scarring.
Good luck healing!
Do punch grafts involve taking skin from behind your ear and layering it over punched out ice pick scars? I'm still not clear on what's involved with punch grafts.
Why do you feel laser treatment would be pointless at this time? Are you still planning to do it in the future?
Wow you really do have fantastic skin!!! If you never had anything else done I would still think your skin is beautiful. I feel a little jealous! Please do keep us updated with some after pics since I am considering this for myself:)
BTW...r u taking the spiro for hormonal reasons? I took it myself a while back but could not continue because it messed up my cycles, R u by chance suffering with pcos???
Good luck healing!
Do punch grafts involve taking skin from behind your ear and layering it over punched out ice pick scars? I'm still not clear on what's involved with punch grafts.
Why do you feel laser treatment would be pointless at this time? Are you still planning to do it in the future?
Hate to sound like a major cheapskate, but it's the money that prevents me from getting laser right now. If I weren't still taking meds for the occasional cystic lesions that occur on my face once a month, then I'd be on board for laser. However, I just do not want to spend thousands right now when I am still worrying about yet another cyst cropping up.
My cosmetic derm felt like there was still more work to be done surgically, too. So I suppose both of those reasons are why it seems a bit senseless to undergo laser treatment.
And yes, I had tissue taken from behind my ear to fill the depressed areas on my cheeks. Pretty cool. They were placed over ice pick scars that were still depressed, and weren't responding as well as my cosmetic derm and I liked to the other surgical methods she had used. Actually, I have pictures of the site behind my ear that the grafts came from on the latest post on my blog. They were too big to post on this thread, which is why I didn't include them.
Until I'm completely satisfied with the surgical treatment and blue peels as a means of reducing my acne scarring, I'm sure lasering will always be something I'll consider doing in the future. Just not in the near future.
Wow you really do have fantastic skin!!! If you never had anything else done I would still think your skin is beautiful. I feel a little jealous! Please do keep us updated with some after pics since I am considering this for myself:)
BTW...r u taking the spiro for hormonal reasons? I took it myself a while back but could not continue because it messed up my cycles, R u by chance suffering with pcos???
Awww...you make me blush! That's so sweet of you to say. I will absolutely continue to keep this thread updated.
Yes, I am taking the spiro for hormonal reasons. The types of birth control I tried were not helpful to me. Quite the opposite, in fact. No, I'm not suffering from PCOS, but that's a very valid question. I was tested for it a little over a year and a half ago, and the ultrasound did not reveal any indications of the condition.
Have you had issues with PCOS?
The drs at first thought I might have pcos but I had the ultrasound performed with no indications and normal menstrual cycles. I do know that for whatever reason my testoserone is on the higher side.
I'm curious as to how you found that out in regard to your testosterone being on the higher side. My doctor seems to suspect that about me, and I would love to be able to know that with certainty about myself. However, I don't really have the time or money (no insurance) to see an endocrinologist at this point. Someday!
Do you mind sharing with me how you discovered that about yourself?
Also, in case you're interested in reading about my experiences taking spiro, here's a link to my log here on the 'Org; http://www.acne.org/...<br /><br />Probably not the most riveting read in the world, but since you are someone who was also suspected by her doctor as possibly having PCOS and has higher levels of testosterone , perhaps you might find it useful information.
For me it was when I noticed at 16 I was growing hair in strange places. I asked the dr to check and see if my tes. was high. Simple blood test. It was on the high side for a female but within the normal range for a girl. Thats when I visited an endo to start doing more tests. No tests came back that I did or that I did not have pcos so they suggested spiro. But after a few weeks on it my period never ended so they took me off and that was that:(
For me it was when I noticed at 16 I was growing hair in strange places. I asked the dr to check and see if my tes. was high. Simple blood test. It was on the high side for a female but within the normal range for a girl. Thats when I visited an endo to start doing more tests. No tests came back that I did or that I did not have pcos so they suggested spiro. But after a few weeks on it my period never ended so they took me off and that was that:(
I gotcha. Thanks so much for sharing that information with me. Also, did you find out your testosterone was high by doing a simple blood test at your general practitioner's?
Update- The bandages from my punch grafts came off on Tuesday, November 13th. My derm thinks they look great, and so do I. So exciting! 
Like I stated earlier, I will try my best to post some photos of the grafts around the two week, post-op mark. That'll be during finals week for me, so please bear with me if they're a bit late.
Right now, the grafts look red and scabby, so I just have to wait for them to fade. The site behind my ear still has stitches in it, and after a few more showers they'll be completely dissolved.
Thanks so much for reading.
How has your healing been with the grafts, Cherry? Everything well, I hope? 
I meant to ask this before, but I forgot. I've read that with punch floats, one would get a residual circle-shaped indent and a dot in the middle of it from the tool used, which then usually would be fixed with dermabrasion some time after the floats. How has it been for you, did you get those circles after your floats and did they look noticeable enough that they should be treated somehow? Follow-up dermabrasion is the only thing I don't like about the punch float technique, otherwise it seems great and if the circles are fairly unnoticeable, I wouldn't mind just leaving them.
How has your healing been with the grafts, Cherry? Everything well, I hope?
I meant to ask this before, but I forgot. I've read that with punch floats, one would get a residual circle-shaped indent and a dot in the middle of it from the tool used, which then usually would be fixed with dermabrasion some time after the floats. How has it been for you, did you get those circles after your floats and did they look noticeable enough that they should be treated somehow? Follow-up dermabrasion is the only thing I don't like about the punch float technique, otherwise it seems great and if the circles are fairly unnoticeable, I wouldn't mind just leaving them.
I haven't had a follow-up dermabrasion for any of my punch floats. Perhaps it smoothes the circle-shaped indent a little more quickly, but I've noticed that the "ring-scars", as some call them, generally fade right into the skin on their own around 8 months after the initial procedure.
Also, I'm sure that the TCA peel I had in July has helped the floats and grafts blend into the unscarred skin a little better, as well. Does this make sense? Hope so.
Thanks so much for taking the time to ask for an update. We must have been on the same wavelength; just as I was logging on, I thought about updating this thread to let those following know that I'm still really busy with finals, but hope to update my scarring thread with pics at some point this week. I'm just under alot of pressure with trying to keep my GPA high, so hang in there.
Thanks so much!
Cherry
Yeah, I can understand being stressed and busy with school work. At least the holidays are just around the corner. Looking forward to hearing about your grafts when you have the time.
And I'm very happy to hear that that those ring scars actually fade away on their own! I would never want to have dermabrasion because of the risks, so that is great news. If I get the chance, I would love to have punch floats on some of my scars.
Thanks for the reply and good luck with your work.
Post Punch Grafts Update- As promised, here are my post-punch graft pictures. These pictures were taken exactly 6 weeks after my procedure on November, 6th.
Left Cheek:
Don't be alarmed by the obvious ring scar, and puffiness of the grafts on this cheek. There's still quite a bit of microswelling going on there. They most certainly are pretty obvious, and look a little like warts. Eventually, the grafts do "deflate". Another graft that I had done in April took about 8 months to die down, and blend in with the rest of the skin on my left cheek. It just takes time and patience if you decide to go the punch grafts route. My derm tells me that if the largest graft continues to stay swollen for too long, she'll scrape off the very top of it to make it level with the rest of my skin. She's done that with a few of my grafts in the past, and it doesn't hurt a bit.
Right Cheek:
Yes, I know. Those are some pretty big comedones. The bleaching cream that I've been using before my second Blue Peel seems to encourage blackhead production. Yet I have had to use it, because apparently it's the only one of its kind. My derm performed an extraction on the day of the peel, though.
Full Face:
Sorry about the rather grumpy facial expression. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and I'm not much of a morning person, anyway. 
That's it for my update. There will be more to come, of course. I just had my second Obagi Blue Peel applied yesterday morning, and am in the process of taking pics of it this week. So, in about a week, you guys will get to see pics of my face throughout the time that the Blue Peel is on it. Or, you can follow along in my blog, as I'm going to write a post about my experiences with the Blue Peel. I usually put pictures up on my blog before I publish them anywhere else.
Thanks so much to those who've been following this thread and providing me with support and encouragement. Y'all are awesome.
Bye for now!
Thank you for the update! Your skin seems to be healing well. And I didn't notice any comedones until you pointed them out. I suffer from them too at the moment (far worse than you, in fact), and yes, it's a very irritating problem. I've been trying salicylic acid on my bigger ones, but it's too early to tell if it helps.
I have to say, I'd love to look into punch grafts or punch floats, they seem to be fairly well suited for my type of scarring and you've had such good results as well. My only concerns are finding anyone in Europe who'd be experienced and then the possible risks, which I haven't properly looked into yet. It does seem like an effective treatment though, and if I ever get the chance of having it done, I probably will.
Happy holidays and happy healing! x
Thank you for the update! Your skin seems to be healing well.
I have to say, I'd love to look into punch grafts or punch floats, they seem to be fairly well suited for my type of scarring and you've had such good results as well.
Happy holidays and happy healing! x
I think the puch grafts and punch floats have been very effective solutions for scarring, and thanks so much, austra!
Happy Holidays to you, as well.
Hey Cherry! Your blog is super cute! I was wondering if you have seen any improvement to your scars since your peel?
The full post of the aftercare was very informative and now I'm intrigued!
Hey! Thanks so much. That's so sweet of you.
I have seen some improvement, and my skin is looking smoother these days, but the last time I got the Obagi Blue Peel, I didn't start noticing real improvement until 6 weeks after getting the peel. I'm still around the 4-week mark.
I'll try to take some photos of my skin around the 6-week mark, which will be February 11th.
Hope you found that helpful.
Oh you're welcome. 
I hate to ask you to be more specific but is the improvement just from better skin tone and tightening or have the actual scars filled in some/the edges smoothed out?
I am not very dark skinned but I am part African American and have been told by two doctors now that laser is not an option for me.
But my scars are not very deep so I'm hoping maybe a few series of peels over a year or two will help smooth things out as peels are at least safe for my skin tone.
And thank you for updating. I'll be sure to check back in February!
Oh you're welcome.
I hate to ask you to be more specific but is the improvement just from better skin tone and tightening or have the actual scars filled in some/the edges smoothed out?
I am not very dark skinned but I am part African American and have been told by two doctors now that laser is not an option for me.
But my scars are not very deep so I'm hoping maybe a few series of peels over a year or two will help smooth things out as peels are at least safe for my skin tone.
And thank you for updating. I'll be sure to check back in February!
No, don't worry about asking more specific questions. I'm happy to answer them.
My skin tone isn't as even as I wish it were after this second peel, TBH. Perhaps that will improve after 6 or 8 weeks, or maybe more. Only time can tell.
However, I've noticed already that my skin is tighter. Which is awesome. This certainly has helped minimize the appearance of scarring.
The only thing that has helped "fill in" the icepick scars, though, are the punch grafts and floats I've had.
It's hard to find the right words to describe how my skin appears after the Blue Peel. The best words I can come up with are "newer" (if that makes any sense at all..LOL) and "smoother".
Have you ever considered punch floats/grafts as an option?
I really considered punch techniques when I first began researching. However, most things I read made it sound like they are reserved for deeper scars and most of mine are pretty wide and shallow, yet they all have sharp edges. Both of the doctors I've seen, while discouraging laser, have promoted dermabrasion and I assume it is because they think resurfacing would shave down my scars enough to give significant improvement. But I am not willing to go through that, especially with my skin color!
My scars are actually very similar to what your before pictures look like. Not deep at all. And obviously punch grafts/floats have worked beautifully for you. Have any scars been removed by the floats? Does it leave a new circle shaped scar? I'm afraid the inside will level out but the circular border will remain indented? Thank you so much for all of your feedback, Cherry! You are truly a sweetheart!
I really considered punch techniques when I first began researching. However, most things I read made it sound like they are reserved for deeper scars and most of mine are pretty wide and shallow, yet they all have sharp edges. Both of the doctors I've seen, while discouraging laser, have promoted dermabrasion and I assume it is because they think resurfacing would shave down my scars enough to give significant improvement. But I am not willing to go through that, especially with my skin color!
My scars are actually very similar to what your before pictures look like. Not deep at all. And obviously punch grafts/floats have worked beautifully for you. Have any scars been removed by the floats? Does it leave a new circle shaped scar? I'm afraid the inside will level out but the circular border will remain indented? Thank you so much for all of your feedback, Cherry! You are truly a sweetheart!
D'awww! Thank you so much. That was really sweet to hear.
I think you are right in deciding to go against dermabrasion. That is such a risky procedure. And, I thought that the possibility of permanent hyperpigmentation (a real concern, in your case) was still high even with dermabrasion. Is this not so?
Yes. I've had several scars (icepick scars) almost completely erased by the punch floats. The scars that were grafted were a bit deeper, so there is still evidence of past scarring on those particular sites, however they look light years better than they did before.
Some of the areas that were grafted did leave circle-scars, yes. However, those seem to eventually fade out over the course of about 8 month's time. Not too bad, if you ask me! I've not yet had an issue with a circular border remaining indented, like you expressed concern over, but that's why I plan on maintaining this thread for at least another 6 months or so.
Hope you found that info helpful.