Sorry to hear you having such a hard time with scars, they really do suck. Any way, just make sure that you are completely clear before embarking on any new treatments, the last thing you want to do is backtrack on your success and irritate your skin. Have you looked into derma rolling?, you can buy the derma rollers on ebay, and they are comparitevely less expensive to other treatments. Have a look into it. Best of luck

Sorry to hear you having such a hard time with scars, they really do suck. Any way, just make sure that you are completely clear before embarking on any new treatments, the last thing you want to do is backtrack on your success and irritate your skin. Have you looked into derma rolling?, you can buy the derma rollers on ebay, and they are comparitevely less expensive to other treatments. Have a look into it. Best of luck

Thank you! I will give that a try... if you look in my gallery there are pictures of my skin there... thanks for your help. I will look into derma-rollers x

hey,

to be honest ur scarring doesnt look bad at all look like large pores. I have rolling scars.

Hey you should try this stuff called skinagain photone. I just ordered mine and am waiting on it. I found on Trisha's YouTube where she talked about it helping her scar. This stuff can apparently help with scarring, cellulite and stretch marks. I will let you know how it works for me. If you order it on their site you can get 50% off with the code iPad or Trisha I think but it's back ordered so you can also order it off bt site for full price that's what I did. So yeah just a suggestion I have high hopes for it

The sun is damaging to our skin! Whatever you do do not budge from the darkness of your house until you're wearing sunscreen. Even 5 minutes of direct sun exposure is enough to cause collagen breakdown thus leading to our scars looking much worse. Trust me on this!

Others have suggested at home skin needling. I would never attempt to do this myself but if you truly plan on it please don't just jump into it. I can give you information about professional Dermarolling treatments (as I have had 5 and absolutely love it) if you're interested in knowing more about how it works. Please consider leaving the actual treating of your scarring to professionals though.

xx

Quirky Fox- Did you see much results with derma rolling at all?

If your skin can handle it try a face brush. It will help your skin produce collagen which will soften the edges of indented scars. Just massage as gently as possible, even super soft toothbrushes made for babies works. Make sure your skin has a slippery layer of cleanser. oh and limit to only a few titimes a week. Lactic acid may fade the dark spots too, if you're not opposed to using it.

If your scars are anywhere but the nose, they should respond well to needling. Not sure why one poster advised against home needling; educate yourself and at-home needling is precisely the same as clinic needling, there's very little skill to it in the actual application. I suggest you visit the owndoc forums and get advise from Sarah Vaughter, she is excellent, and although she's by no means the advocate of needling, I find her the most honest and she's not afraid to tell you when a product will not work even at expense to her own business interests.

I personally have bad acne scars but unfortunately they fall on my nose primarily, which is the worst and most difficult spot to treat scars on. Needling is patchy here, and few experts or business people alike, Sarah Vaughter included, advise needling or aggressive treatment on the nose.

I have tried at home needling on my nose, to little progress, but equally, have tried it on scars on other parts of my body, and found it incredibly effective.

As an afterthough, I have viewed your gallery pictures, and to me as a normal individual, whilst I wouldn't patronize you by pretending your pigmentation or scarring doesn't exist, I can genuinely say that it does not affect your beauty and appeal.

Good luck whatever you choose!

TerrorFirmer- I agree with your post, i have heard that at home needling should not be of any risk if you know what you are doing....Just wondering however the down time in skin needling? Is there any at all? What does your skin look like the next day? (For example if you use the small, less intrusive needles)

Cheers

Hi Nairai,

I know exactly how you feel, hiding your face from the light that would make your scars more noticeable. I have the same obsession. And overall I find your story quite similar to mine. Even though I don't break out any more, I still occasionally get some spot or cyst that leaves me with scar (my skin is super sensitive to scarring after Accutane) and it makes me go crazy! Unfortunately this is the thing we have to deal with .

As you probably know already, there is no such miracle that would give you your old perfect skin back, but there are several ways (that other people before me already mentioned) to make your scars look less visible. As others, I would as well recommend you needling as your fist option. It's not that painful, there is no deep injury of the skin, I personally recovered in one day and results can be really really good! Some people do it at home, which is a lot cheaper than doing it professionally, but I'm too afraid of doing something wrong with those long needles and causing even more damage to my skin. I had 3 treatments so far, twice with 1.5mm and the last one with 2.0mm. I definitely see some improvement, my scars are not so indent any more, but they are still there and they are still visible. I will do some more episodes in fall, because summer is not the best time for any type of scar treatment.

About the sun exposure: protect your skin with SPF 30+ and stay away from the strong sun but you don't need to exaggerate. As long as your skin is protected with sunscreen you should be fine!

If you have any more question feel free to ask and good luck!

Quirky Fox- Did you see much results with derma rolling at all?

Did I?! Yes, I am so thrilled with my results that I broke down in tears when I was telling my esthetician about what she has done for me. I still have some scarring to treat but it is significantly less noticeable than before I started. The treatments were not cheap but it was the best thing I could have done for my skin!

Hi Nairai,

I know exactly how you feel, hiding your face from the light that would make your scars more noticeable. I have the same obsession. And overall I find your story quite similar to mine. Even though I don't break out any more, I still occasionally get some spot or cyst that leaves me with scar (my skin is super sensitive to scarring after Accutane) and it makes me go crazy! Unfortunately this is the thing we have to deal with .

As you probably know already, there is no such miracle that would give you your old perfect skin back, but there are several ways (that other people before me already mentioned) to make your scars look less visible. As others, I would as well recommend you needling as your fist option. It's not that painful, there is no deep injury of the skin, I personally recovered in one day and results can be really really good! Some people do it at home, which is a lot cheaper than doing it professionally, but I'm too afraid of doing something wrong with those long needles and causing even more damage to my skin. I had 3 treatments so far, twice with 1.5mm and the last one with 2.0mm. I definitely see some improvement, my scars are not so indent any more, but they are still there and they are still visible. I will do some more episodes in fall, because summer is not the best time for any type of scar treatment.

About the sun exposure: protect your skin with SPF 30+ and stay away from the strong sun but you don't need to exaggerate. As long as your skin is protected with sunscreen you should be fine!

If you have any more question feel free to ask and good luck!

Tamaara, lovely to meet another Dermaroller fanatic! So happy that you also had the professional treatments and that you are happy with them. It's also great that I am not the only one trying to convince people to see a professional instead of attempting at home treatments. I wish you all the very best! xx

Tamaara, lovely to meet another Dermaroller fanatic! So happy that you also had the professional treatments and that you are happy with them. It's also great that I am not the only one trying to convince people to see a professional instead of attempting at home treatments. I wish you all the very best! xx

Thanks Quirky Fox ! It's true, I'm a huge dermaroller fan. Can't wait to do new sessions in October and see even more improvement. I agree with you, all this procedures are delicate for your skin and there is a good reason why original dermaroller doesn't sell long needles for home use! If you want original, you can only get it done professionally.

I had 3 treatments so far. My dermatologist actually told me 3 is maximum, since they believe this is all you need and your skin isn't getting any better with higher number of treatments. What is your experience? I can see you did it 5 times. Is there a big difference between 3 and 5?

Thanks a lot

Hey Quirky Fox,

I am interested in knowing more about your dermarolling treatments. I am in New Zealand and am wondering how to find a good practitioner. Do you know what training your person has, and what length needles she uses? Could you describe what a treatment involves- like how many times she rolls each part of the face, does she go both horizontal and vertical with the roller etc? Did she come recommended to you or did you just find her by chance? Thanks!

Tamaara, lovely to meet another Dermaroller fanatic! So happy that you also had the professional treatments and that you are happy with them. It's also great that I am not the only one trying to convince people to see a professional instead of attempting at home treatments. I wish you all the very best! xx

Thanks Quirky Fox ! It's true, I'm a huge dermaroller fan. Can't wait to do new sessions in October and see even more improvement. I agree with you, all this procedures are delicate for your skin and there is a good reason why original dermaroller doesn't sell long needles for home use! If you want original, you can only get it done professionally.

I had 3 treatments so far. My dermatologist actually told me 3 is maximum, since they believe this is all you need and your skin isn't getting any better with higher number of treatments. What is your experience? I can see you did it 5 times. Is there a big difference between 3 and 5?

Thanks a lot

Interesting that they told you 3 was max. For me it was a maximum of 6 but to take it to at least 5 to see what the outcome was then. I didn't see much in the way of improvements after two sessions and was feeling like I'd made the wrong choice. But after the 3rd, 4th and 5th sessions I was amazed. It took time to really see the results. I am still seeing improvements even now and have decided to wait until the end of Winter to gauge my final results before I think about whether I need to do any other kind of treatment.

Hey Quirky Fox,

I am interested in knowing more about your dermarolling treatments. I am in New Zealand and am wondering how to find a good practitioner. Do you know what training your person has, and what length needles she uses? Could you describe what a treatment involves- like how many times she rolls each part of the face, does she go both horizontal and vertical with the roller etc? Did she come recommended to you or did you just find her by chance? Thanks!

Hey Antipodean!

The fantastic thing about original, genuine Dermaroller treatments is that all practitioners are trained to a specific "code of use" so for argument's sake you could say that they all do the treatments the same way. They are almost like a cult, lol, only a good one. The original Dermaroller (www.dermaroller.de) is the only device here in Australia that is registered as an approved medical device. No other rollers are. All you have to remember is to look for the original German made Dermaroller and you'll be sweet.

The treatment is awesome. They clean and numb your face prior to treatment and then commence rolling. I believe, from guesswork, she rolled each part of my skin horizontally and vertically four times, but don't quote me as I could be wrong. There is a little pain but it's bearable; it was mostly near my nose and sides of my lips that were a little ouchy but it's nothing terrible. I didn't feel anything on my cheeks and forehead. There will be blood, but this is a good sign. It's called "spot bleeding" and stops completely within 20 mins or so. I never left the clinic with blood on my face. It wasn't really until my 3rd to 5th treatments that there was really any blood anyway as these treatments were more aggressive. They step you into the process, so the first few treatments are lighter, then they work your way up to the most aggressive stage of rolling.

The needle length is 1.5mm and there are exactly 192 needles on the roller. I believe that they do make a 2.00mm but this is reserved for burn victims I think. Anyway, 1.5mm is the absolute max! Lengths less than this will still promote collagen formation but they will not break up scar tissue.

As for the clinic I was super picky. I knew that all the practitioners were fully trained but I wanted someone who wasn't just in it for the money. I wanted someone who took my concerns seriously. So I emailed and called lots of clinics in the area and basically judged them by their responses. The lady I see now was the only one who actually called me and spoke to me for a whole hour without making me feel like I was just part of her job. She didn't get paid for that hour! I then decided to see her and I haven't looked back.

Call Dermaroller in New Zealand! The number is 0508 799 709 or, find a clinic on their website (same one as the Aussie site). xx

Thanks so much Quirky Fox!! There is a place in my small city that offers the genuine Dermaroller treatment so I will try them and see how it goes Did you have any enlarged pores/tiny icepicks? Just wondering if they respond to Dermarolling. My problem areas are my cheeks which have some shallow indentations and also these tiny icepicks.

Thanks so much Quirky Fox!! There is a place in my small city that offers the genuine Dermaroller treatment so I will try them and see how it goes Did you have any enlarged pores/tiny icepicks? Just wondering if they respond to Dermarolling. My problem areas are my cheeks which have some shallow indentations and also these tiny icepicks.

Hi Antipodean, I'm in NZ too. There's a few places that are offering treatment with the Dermapen, have you thought about trying that? I think it's a few hundred dollars per session (which is much cheaper than Fraxel at about $1,500 per treatment) and the nurses etc who administer it are usually trained by the Dermapen people I think. I tried self needling a few indiviual scars with single needles that I brought online. I didn't see any improvement and it may have made one scar a little wider so I don't think needling is for me. I'm going to look at subscision and fillers but is so hard to find a derm / plastic surgeon in this country who specializes in acne scar treatments.

Hey Hiddy Cheeks,

I have read about Dermapen and I went as far as making enquiries at a place in Auckland that offers it, but I think I feel a bit safer with Dermarolling as I have come across some people online who have had their skin really damaged by over enthusiastic use of the Dermapen. I am a bit worried about any form of needling because my skin heals so badly and I wonder if more trauma will make things worse, but I think I will give it a try anyway.

Have you investigated a dermatologist called Dr Kevin McKerrow? This website won't let me link to his website (skinspecialistcentre). I haven't heard anything about him but he seems pretty well qualified and does subcision and fillers. I might make an appointment with him if the Dermarolling doesn't work for me.

Tamaara, lovely to meet another Dermaroller fanatic! So happy that you also had the professional treatments and that you are happy with them. It's also great that I am not the only one trying to convince people to see a professional instead of attempting at home treatments. I wish you all the very best! xx

Thanks Quirky Fox ! It's true, I'm a huge dermaroller fan. Can't wait to do new sessions in October and see even more improvement. I agree with you, all this procedures are delicate for your skin and there is a good reason why original dermaroller doesn't sell long needles for home use! If you want original, you can only get it done professionally.

I had 3 treatments so far. My dermatologist actually told me 3 is maximum, since they believe this is all you need and your skin isn't getting any better with higher number of treatments. What is your experience? I can see you did it 5 times. Is there a big difference between 3 and 5?

Thanks a lot

Interesting that they told you 3 was max. For me it was a maximum of 6 but to take it to at least 5 to see what the outcome was then. I didn't see much in the way of improvements after two sessions and was feeling like I'd made the wrong choice. But after the 3rd, 4th and 5th sessions I was amazed. It took time to really see the results. I am still seeing improvements even now and have decided to wait until the end of Winter to gauge my final results before I think about whether I need to do any other kind of treatment.

Now I definitely need to convince my derm to do few more sessions ! Do you think it is important that you do them all together with 6-8 week breaks or is it okay to have half a year gap in between? I have to wait for summer to be over now and I just gained new hope that I can achieve even better results

Hey Hiddy Cheeks,

I have read about Dermapen and I went as far as making enquiries at a place in Auckland that offers it, but I think I feel a bit safer with Dermarolling as I have come across some people online who have had their skin really damaged by over enthusiastic use of the Dermapen. I am a bit worried about any form of needling because my skin heals so badly and I wonder if more trauma will make things worse, but I think I will give it a try anyway.

Have you investigated a dermatologist called Dr Kevin McKerrow? This website won't let me link to his website (skinspecialistcentre). I haven't heard anything about him but he seems pretty well qualified and does subcision and fillers. I might make an appointment with him if the Dermarolling doesn't work for me.

That's interesting about the Dermapen, I didn't realise people were experiencing problems with it.

Yes, I've met Kevin, he prescribed me some accutane a while ago. I did ask him about my scars but he only seemed interested in Fraxel or fillers, at least in my case. That doesn't really suit me as I'm wanting to combine fillers with subscision and maybe look at excision as well.

There's a guy in Christchurch called Matthew Ludgate who is about the only derm in NZ who advertises himself as someone who specialises in the treatment of acne scars, he might be ok. He also says he participated in acne scar research when he worked in the States. I might check him out though I live in the North Island so will be a bit of a mission. Good luck with the rolling!

The sun is damaging to our skin! Whatever you do do not budge from the darkness of your house until you're wearing sunscreen. Even 5 minutes of direct sun exposure is enough to cause collagen breakdown thus leading to our scars looking much worse. Trust me on this!

Partially Wrong. We cant absorb the sun due to toxins in our lymph system.

If you manage to make your body capable to absorb the sun,then sun is pure food for skin and mind.

Big pores, yes but no to ice-pick scarring. I have heard from others that the Dermaroller isn't so crash hot with ice-pick scarring but I can't really comment personally, sorry. But my pores do look so much better.

 

Tamaara, lovely to meet another Dermaroller fanatic! So happy that you also had the professional treatments and that you are happy with them. It's also great that I am not the only one trying to convince people to see a professional instead of attempting at home treatments. I wish you all the very best! xx

Thanks Quirky Fox ! It's true, I'm a huge dermaroller fan. Can't wait to do new sessions in October and see even more improvement. I agree with you, all this procedures are delicate for your skin and there is a good reason why original dermaroller doesn't sell long needles for home use! If you want original, you can only get it done professionally.

I had 3 treatments so far. My dermatologist actually told me 3 is maximum, since they believe this is all you need and your skin isn't getting any better with higher number of treatments. What is your experience? I can see you did it 5 times. Is there a big difference between 3 and 5?

Thanks a lot

Interesting that they told you 3 was max. For me it was a maximum of 6 but to take it to at least 5 to see what the outcome was then. I didn't see much in the way of improvements after two sessions and was feeling like I'd made the wrong choice. But after the 3rd, 4th and 5th sessions I was amazed. It took time to really see the results. I am still seeing improvements even now and have decided to wait until the end of Winter to gauge my final results before I think about whether I need to do any other kind of treatment.

^^ Sun is food. There were used to be cliniques with just using sun as their treatment.

We cant absob the sun due to toxins.When you walk in the city the sun goes into you,but all

those metals and toxins in the air from cars etc make sun to trap into your body and cause damage,.

Also deficiency in organic sulphur makes the cells not elastic thus sun damages them.

Sun is good we cant absorb sun unless we become again clean.

Coconut oil is the best sun screen in the world.But i believe it is just the coconuts oil nature that

make your face capable of absorbing the sun,

Yeah I wouldn't take that chance. I think wearing sunscreen is very important to keep skin looking healthy.

Just go look at my outdoor furniture after sitting in the sun for a year! It has been destroyed from the uv's

^^ Sun is food. There were used to be cliniques with just using sun as their treatment.

We cant absob the sun due to toxins.When you walk in the city the sun goes into you,but all

those metals and toxins in the air from cars etc make sun to trap into your body and cause damage,.

Also deficiency in organic sulphur makes the cells not elastic thus sun damages them.

Sun is good we cant absorb sun unless we become again clean.

Coconut oil is the best sun screen in the world.But i believe it is just the coconuts oil nature that

make your face capable of absorbing the sun,

Mumbo jumbo ahoy! I give up trying to explain the facts here.

Yeah I wouldn't take that chance. I think wearing sunscreen is very important to keep skin looking healthy.

Just go look at my outdoor furniture after sitting in the sun for a year! It has been destroyed from the uv's

I know, scary isn't it! My plastic chairs are murdered by the sun every Summer. Luckily that won't be happening to our faces!