i think i have these kind of scars too, but im not sure.

take a look:

ignore the stretch marks and red hypertrophic scars.

i don't care about my stretch marks and the hypertrophic scars can be flattened.

The white raised dots drive me crazy. They appear on my chest, shoulders and back.

i had no idea what they are called until now.

It is called follicular elastolysis= follicular macular atrophy, tiny soft white bumps that are caused by loss of elasticity at the acne spots, located mostly on the chest and the back.

I happen to know this condition because I had it too and at the beginning I was very frustrated because didn't have a clue what it is and nothing seemed to help until I turned to the right dermatologist.

You should know that neither chemical peels nor some kind of lasers can do much for this type of scarring. Only the conventional ablative CO2 Laser can help, but lasers are generally not applied on the back because the skin there is lacking the necessary firmness.

If you are young (under 20-25) there is a good chance that they disappear by themselves with time(after 6 months to a year). You can also try applying Rosehip Seed Oil. It helped me.

If they don't go away you can try Hyfricator treatment. Basically the tiny bumps get burned with high voltage current and fall down as scabs after 7 to 10 days. This is what I went for and I am satisfied with the results, the lesions now are visible only with a magnifying glass.

@sesvcl Yes You can inject them with cortison, but this has to be done very carefully. Cortison, if applied incorrectly, can cause atrophy and make the raised scar an intended one.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, this helps a little.

I first noticed them in year 2009, after my first iso-treatment. I was 18 years old.They stayed the same till now.

So i haven't any hope left that they fade away with time.

In one month im done with my second iso-treatment. Have to wait 6 months before i can test around with different treatments.

I thought that ablative co2 laser ( like you said ) would be a good idea, or dermabrasion. Maybe one of them combined with recell treatment.

the scars on my shoulders/back are little white bumps.

But on my chest i don't know. They are flat. But i can feel them too. My skin is rough there.

I never heard about Hyfrecator treatment before.

I try to inform myself about it but google search results are really bad.

Hopefully i find a good dermatogolist soon.

I had it done by Prof Chu. This is the device that he used:

I have read more than once that the CO2 laser/Recell is not very suitable for acne scars other than on the face. Beware of that!! It is best to do your own research regardless of what dermatologists say.

Hope you get good improvement!

Prof Chu ? I need every information i can get. Is he in London ? ( That's what i found through google )

co2laser/recell was just an idea by myself. Never read any negative things about it. From what i know only 2 dermatogolists here in Germany offers it. So i planned to go to both of them soon. Maybe they have the hyfrecator too.

I need a dermatogolist who knows what he's doing and if i have to get multiple treatments preferably in Germany due to travel costs.

Recell for the whole area where the white spots are would also be a little bit too expensive at the moment. My calculations were above 20k .

These scars are so disgusting. My whole upper back/down to mid , my shoulders and chest. It's so much.

I can imagine that it would be pretty pricy if you go with laser and recell. As I said it is questionable if you can have the laser done on the back ,but it would work for this type of scars, that is what Prof Chu told me. Can you tell me the names of the derms that offer this combination and if you are convinced in their competence after you see them? I would appreciate it!

Dr Chu is in London yes. I fly over there to have a combo-treatment for my atrophic scars and also get the Hyfricator for the elastolysis. It is costly, I admit, but his prices are very reasonable and If I am to have the same treatment here in Germany I would have to pay even more than the whole expenses including the travel costs. Imagine this! I am lucky there is a cheap flight connection to London

I searched and searched for a doctor who performs the Hyfricator in Germany, both online and at the university clinics, but I couldn't find any unfortunately. If you are luckier than me, please tell!

Anna Di I sent you a private message.

Anna. Thanks so much for the reply. I have lots of these like TigerClaw, I think I may have Had more at one point even and some of them seem to have flattened but a lot still remain.

This is the only thing that has given me hope! It sounds relatively simple and quick too which is amazing to me!

I live in the USA. A hyfrecator seems like a relatively inexpensive machine that most derms should have for removing skin tags, moles, spots, etc.

I am curious as to why the long search and travel? Is it because someone needs to be experienced removing these spots with it OR is it just not a popular thing in Germany?

Also, how many can be done in one session? Is it invasive enough that they can only do a section OR??

Since it isn't even resurfacing I am wondering if accutane needs to be stopped even to do this.

Thanks soooo much for the response. Their literally is 0 info out there on treatment despite many posts by sufferers.

You are welcome! I know how frustrating this condition can be, searching for the right treatment. I was misdiagnosed twice and also had tried TCA peeling with no results before I found a derm who really knows what he is doing.

I personally chose Dr. Chu because he has experience with the device and I also fly over to get other scars corrected anyway. I have done 3 sessions, because the lumps have to be ablated carefully so that you don't end up with intended scarring. I had bad experience with Erbium laser and since then I am very careful as to whom I trust from now on.The last thing I want is make anything worse! But I think that as you said the procedure is relatively simple and every dermatologist should be able to perform it.

Because it is relatively risk free and I didn't want to wait 3-4. months for the next treatment (if I can get the improvement sooner, why not ) I thought I could search for a dermatologist in my area, but I wasn't lucky.

Germany, unfortunately, is lagging far behind the USA or the UK, as far as scar correction is concerned, at least for my type of scarring. Dermatologists offer mostly chemical peels, lasers, eventually dermarolling. Even if someone happens to offer other kinds of treatment they charge twice as much as I would pay in the UK and are not so experienced.

I am glad I could help with information. Good luck in finding a good dermatologist who is willing to perform the Hyfricator for you! This does work, I have seen results.

The lumps get burned and the scabs that develop on the 3 day fall off after a week or so and the skin need to heal during this time and afterwards. So I think you should be off Accunate for at least 6 months.

Hi I also have this issue, and I'm looking for a solution. I've been using Head and Shoulders to try to peel the skin away. It seems to be working slowly on my chest, but my back skins seems like it's too tough. Anyone know anything capable of drying up back skin? Also do most derms have hyfricator's in their office? I googled this and can't seem to find a great deal about it.

Hey Anna. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

Any other tips on how to find a derm who has experience with these scars? No one I talk to has even heard the term.

My derm I use now has the machine but they are clueless. She told me that accutane will help the scars and that they look like a type of keloids. This basically translates to me not wanting treatment from her or her office.

Thanks!!

Hey Anna. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

Any other tips on how to find a derm who has experience with these scars? No one I talk to has even heard the term.

My derm I use now has the machine but they are clueless. She told me that accutane will help the scars and that they look like a type of keloids. This basically translates to me not wanting treatment from her or her office.

Thanks!!

You are so lucky your dermatologist has the device! I would say you are half way there.

If you are generally satisfied with the doctor, I would go to her one more time and explain, maybe with printed info and pictures that it is a condition that has nothing to do with keloids. Not every raised scar is automatically a keloid. These lumps develop because of loss of elastin fibres that hold the skin down and are not the result of collagen proliferation as in keloids.

I suppose she is reluctant to do anything, especially a procedure that she has never heard of before on what she thinks are keloid scars, as they tend to come back larger than before and hence are very problematic to treat.

You or better yet your derm could contact the device's manufacturer and ask for best settings for the treatment. It is a simple procedure like subcision and a good dermatologist should be able to do it safely and with good results.

Hey Anna.. Have you ever heard of the skin classic machine?

It is used to treat sebaceous hyperplasia which has a similar appearance to our scars. I am wondering if it would work. Seems pretty un invasive but not sure it would work.

Also, were some of your spots harder than others? Are the hard ones considered the same condition or something else? Did the treatment work on those?

Thanks!

Hi there!

No I had not heard of this machine, but I googled it and from the video I saw I can tell it is exactly the treatment that I received. Are you going to for this treatment with yours or with another derm?

My lumps were all soft to touch, white coloured and raised. I don't think it was sebaceous hyperplasia. Here is what I found about it and mine definately didn't look like that [Edited link out] But I guess they are similar conditions(raised lesions)that are treated in a similar way.

Hey Anna.. Thanks Again so much for responding.

Yeah I guess my scars don't look like those either but they are raised marks that look like they would be harder to treat.

Upon further inspection I guess all mine are pretty much soft too, some are just wrinklier than others. But some are also skin color.

Anyways, yeah there is an esthetician in my area who has a lot of experience treating the hyperplasia whith the skin classic machine. I almost feel better about her doing me than my derm since my derm seems a little clueless to be honest. She is pretty well known for skn cancer treatments and such but I am not sure on the acne and scarring though.

Although I would feel better about a doctor doing the procedure, I think experience might be better than a MD.

What do you think? I might have the esthetician try a couple. Still not sure.

Thanks!

Hi Sesvcl,

you can give it a try on a couple of spots, why not. The only concern being here maybe Accutane, but if the derms say it is ok cause it is a basic procedure, they should know better. Also it is a good idea to ablate the bigger spots gradually in 2 or 3 sessions so that you don't end up with indentations.

Honestly I would prefer an experienced beautician to a MD who does hyfrication once in a while. As a matter of fact, I am having Restylane by my beautician today just under one atrophic scar. It was only her skills and huge experience that convinced me to try fillers, I don't think I would have this done by my derm. She promises 80 % immediate improvement,so I am eager to see the results!

I am glad I could help and hope the hyfrication works well for you, too! Keep us updated

Thanks!

As far as having injections and other simple procedures done on accutane the derms I talked to were more concerned with actual resurfacing. Even with resurfacing it seems its not guaranteed you will get problems but there have been a few disasters apparently.

I am not too worried about it but I am definitely going to have them do a few test spots in less conspicuous places to start.

Good luck with the Restylane! Hope it goes great for you!

Thanks!

As far as having injections and other simple procedures done on accutane the derms I talked to were more concerned with actual resurfacing. Even with resurfacing it seems its not guaranteed you will get problems but there have been a few disasters apparently.

I am not too worried about it but I am definitely going to have them do a few test spots in less conspicuous places to start.

Good luck with the Restylane! Hope it goes great for you!

hey if you are going to try this procedure i would definitley try it somewhere that you arent too concerned about first. i went to a reputable place to get this done on my chin last year and it left holes in my chin. i was devastated and cried for weeks and lost tons of weight. it almost pushed me over the edge. its been over a year since the procedure and most of the holes have filled in but i would never do it again. i have a few more bumps that i am going to get co2 laser for to try and get rid of them and i am praying i dont get left with any holes in my skin. this time i am going to a plastic surgeon though i dont trust too many people with my face anymore.

Yes the procedure is not without risks. That is why I emphasized a couple of times not to treat the more extensive spots in one session, but to get them removed step by step after assessing the results from the previous session. I also had mine on the chin, but thank God no indentations!

A tip I forgot. Rosehip Seed oil seemed to improve my spots making them flatter and more skin coloured before and after the hyfrication.

Thanks for the well wishes! It looks like the result is gonna be good. If no immune reaction occurs in the next 3-4 months, I think I might be getting fillers at some point later.

Thanks for the responses..

Based on what you girls are saying I think I am also going to request a low setting to start with just in case..

I will try that rosehip seed oil too.. Thanks for the tip.

I have quite a few of the white spots although some are only noticeable when I wrinkle my skin I really want to have most of them shrunk then get a dermabrasion done or something after I am off the accutane for a while.

Thanks again!

Glad the filler went well anna.

Hello everyone I have the exactly same problems with my sholders. I used to have bad acne but now it is kind of gone and I can see how that white small bumps becoimng from my sholders, so I just have question should I start treat it badly or it is better to wait a bit. Is it possible that it will dissapear soon ? Also, I dont have it much on my back and chast and I don't care about that parts. but i care about my shoulders cause there it is a lot.

Sorry if I have some mistakes cause I'm just studying English and I'm living in Canada right now.

I would wait until your acne is 100 percent gone. I originally went to a clinic to treat my scarring and realized I was still was breaking out sometimes so I went on accutane. I am still getting a few breakouts but once they stop I am planning on treating it aggressively.

According to the derm Anna saw they may subside in their own if you're between 20-25.

Good luck. I know they really suck. I am covered in the little bastards and am going to probably have a long road ahead if I want to look better. My guess is I have at least 200 of them.

I would wait until your acne is 100 percent gone. I originally went to a clinic to treat my scarring and realized I was still was breaking out sometimes so I went on accutane. I am still getting a few breakouts but once they stop I am planning on treating it aggressively.

According to the derm Anna saw they may subside in their own if you're between 20-25.

Good luck. I know they really suck. I am covered in the little bastards and am going to probably have a long road ahead if I want to look better. My guess is I have at least 200 of them.

well thank you for answering. Alos, I'm 19 right now so I hope it will subside soon but I also find that some of them after some time becoming red and keep staying red so now I woride only if all of them will become red cause it looks even worse than lust white spots. However, it is mostly in my shoulders and looks soo bad and I dont really now what I have to do