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Dermarolling / Microneedling / Journey Through Dermastampting/Suctioning Combining Silicone Scar Sheets
« on: June 24, 2013, 01:11:38 AM »
I'm new to posting on this forum but have been reading about some of your own progress stories for some time.
Let me first tell you a little about my own journey with acne and then now with my resulting scar therapy. I am 30 years old, and I used to have perfect beautiful skin. In fact, I was once a conceited young girl. About 3 or 4 years ago, my skin changed. Suddenly I had extremely bumpy skin all over my cheeks. I attribute my skin bumpiness to getting off birth control, though I can never be sure exactly what changed. But suddenly, out of the blue, I had bumpy skin and the beginning of extreme acne. I then did something stupid, I began to obsessively pick at my skin, which made it worse and worse, and over the course of 3 years, I ruined my face. I had created huge cysts, and to combat those I did crazy things such as aspirin masks every day to dry my skin up, burned my skin with fresh lemon, used a derma roller I bought off eBay incorrectly (think on top of active acne) slept in makeup as I didn't want my boyfriend at the time to see. Sigh. Years went by of me wearing band aids at night all over my face in hopes of preventing scarring and healing pimples that kept coming up. The conceited young girl I once was became someone extremely self conscious, who would avoid daytime social situations, and who wouldnt go to class or other places where I knew there was bad lighting. I hated the feeling of people staring at my broken out skin. I finally decided I couldnt live like that anymore and did a ton of online research about skin care. I began taking really good care of my skin. I started washing my face 3 times a day, and took care about washing my pillowcases frequently. I was turned on to evening primrose oil capsules which prevented my face from scarring more than it already had scarred. I got on retin a, which completely stopped the breakouts (except for the occasional period pimple) and has made my skin better than it has been in the last few years. People say a lot of things about retin a and the "initial breakout" but for me, it was all worth it. After 6 months of being on retin a my skin looks great. Except, for the 4-5 boxcars, and maybe 10 ice pick scars, as a reminder of my "dark days" of acne. I have now been working on softening and treating my scars. My worst ones are on my left cheek near my nose, and also on the left side of my chin. I have a couple shallow ones I can live with but the deep ones I would do just about anything to make less visible. I have tried a few things that didn't really work, TCA 12% left me with very irritated skin that was hardly changed after the 4 different times I tried it. Copper peptides (which weren't as scary as people said they were) didn't seem to do much for my skin either, though I might try them again someday. I then read about single-needling scars and began trying that method which seemed to help a tiny bit. Then while researching scar therapy and considering plastic surgery, I found that many doctors online said that dermarolling could be one of the most effective forms of therapy. When looking into the best dermarollers in the world, I was happy to find Sarah Vaughters knowledgable site and was thrilled to also find this forum.
So now I have decided to turn to Demastamping and suctioning, with a combination of silicone scar sheets which has so far made the most progress out of all the things in the past that I have tried. After reading Sarah Vaughters info on needle shape, I have come to the conclusion that the derma roller I used in the past (bought off eBay) was not a good roller at all to use. Also the single-needling I was trying was with lancets, which Sarah also mentions has the wrong shape. About a 2 months ago I bought Sarah's 1.5 and 2.0 derma stamps, and also the suction pump. I have used them 2 times in the last 2 months, and after reading everything I could find about the suction method I have been following it as exactly as I can. I also wear silicone scar sheets pretty much every night and my scars look soooo much better when I take them off. I've read online that scar sheets don't do much for boxcar scars but they actually do make my mine look less deep and softer. They are helping the jagged edges of my boxcar scars for sure. My theory is that suctioning the skin makes it swell, therefore allowing the scar sheet to sit deeper in the recess of the scar than it normally would sit. I also bought a "silicone gel massager" which doesn't do as much for my scars as what the sheets do, but I think a combination of things is best. My method now is to massage roll after everything (after washing my face, after stamping and after suctioning too) and at night I put on retin a after massaging and then the silicone sheets cut into pieces to go on top of my worst scars. I will continue to stamp once a month with the 2.0 mm, and then suction for the 2 weeks following the derma stamp session. Things are already looking better, and I will be posting pictures soon. When I first received my new derma stamp I did take before pictures for this site, but I want to have some "after" pics to go along side with the "befores". I am determined to continue this process for at least a year, and see what improvements I can make. Just an FYI, my deepest scars are a little over two years old.
If anything, my own battle with acne and scars has given true compassion for others with skin issues.
I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts or ideas on combining silicone sheets with the rolling/stamping method, and am glad I have this forum to discuss not only my own progress in but to read about other's as well.
Let me first tell you a little about my own journey with acne and then now with my resulting scar therapy. I am 30 years old, and I used to have perfect beautiful skin. In fact, I was once a conceited young girl. About 3 or 4 years ago, my skin changed. Suddenly I had extremely bumpy skin all over my cheeks. I attribute my skin bumpiness to getting off birth control, though I can never be sure exactly what changed. But suddenly, out of the blue, I had bumpy skin and the beginning of extreme acne. I then did something stupid, I began to obsessively pick at my skin, which made it worse and worse, and over the course of 3 years, I ruined my face. I had created huge cysts, and to combat those I did crazy things such as aspirin masks every day to dry my skin up, burned my skin with fresh lemon, used a derma roller I bought off eBay incorrectly (think on top of active acne) slept in makeup as I didn't want my boyfriend at the time to see. Sigh. Years went by of me wearing band aids at night all over my face in hopes of preventing scarring and healing pimples that kept coming up. The conceited young girl I once was became someone extremely self conscious, who would avoid daytime social situations, and who wouldnt go to class or other places where I knew there was bad lighting. I hated the feeling of people staring at my broken out skin. I finally decided I couldnt live like that anymore and did a ton of online research about skin care. I began taking really good care of my skin. I started washing my face 3 times a day, and took care about washing my pillowcases frequently. I was turned on to evening primrose oil capsules which prevented my face from scarring more than it already had scarred. I got on retin a, which completely stopped the breakouts (except for the occasional period pimple) and has made my skin better than it has been in the last few years. People say a lot of things about retin a and the "initial breakout" but for me, it was all worth it. After 6 months of being on retin a my skin looks great. Except, for the 4-5 boxcars, and maybe 10 ice pick scars, as a reminder of my "dark days" of acne. I have now been working on softening and treating my scars. My worst ones are on my left cheek near my nose, and also on the left side of my chin. I have a couple shallow ones I can live with but the deep ones I would do just about anything to make less visible. I have tried a few things that didn't really work, TCA 12% left me with very irritated skin that was hardly changed after the 4 different times I tried it. Copper peptides (which weren't as scary as people said they were) didn't seem to do much for my skin either, though I might try them again someday. I then read about single-needling scars and began trying that method which seemed to help a tiny bit. Then while researching scar therapy and considering plastic surgery, I found that many doctors online said that dermarolling could be one of the most effective forms of therapy. When looking into the best dermarollers in the world, I was happy to find Sarah Vaughters knowledgable site and was thrilled to also find this forum.
So now I have decided to turn to Demastamping and suctioning, with a combination of silicone scar sheets which has so far made the most progress out of all the things in the past that I have tried. After reading Sarah Vaughters info on needle shape, I have come to the conclusion that the derma roller I used in the past (bought off eBay) was not a good roller at all to use. Also the single-needling I was trying was with lancets, which Sarah also mentions has the wrong shape. About a 2 months ago I bought Sarah's 1.5 and 2.0 derma stamps, and also the suction pump. I have used them 2 times in the last 2 months, and after reading everything I could find about the suction method I have been following it as exactly as I can. I also wear silicone scar sheets pretty much every night and my scars look soooo much better when I take them off. I've read online that scar sheets don't do much for boxcar scars but they actually do make my mine look less deep and softer. They are helping the jagged edges of my boxcar scars for sure. My theory is that suctioning the skin makes it swell, therefore allowing the scar sheet to sit deeper in the recess of the scar than it normally would sit. I also bought a "silicone gel massager" which doesn't do as much for my scars as what the sheets do, but I think a combination of things is best. My method now is to massage roll after everything (after washing my face, after stamping and after suctioning too) and at night I put on retin a after massaging and then the silicone sheets cut into pieces to go on top of my worst scars. I will continue to stamp once a month with the 2.0 mm, and then suction for the 2 weeks following the derma stamp session. Things are already looking better, and I will be posting pictures soon. When I first received my new derma stamp I did take before pictures for this site, but I want to have some "after" pics to go along side with the "befores". I am determined to continue this process for at least a year, and see what improvements I can make. Just an FYI, my deepest scars are a little over two years old.
If anything, my own battle with acne and scars has given true compassion for others with skin issues.
I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts or ideas on combining silicone sheets with the rolling/stamping method, and am glad I have this forum to discuss not only my own progress in but to read about other's as well.
