Dermarolling / Microneedling / Newbie questions on rolling
« on: July 01, 2013, 10:30:09 PM »Ok, so I am so sorry firstly to be perhaps annoying with my primitive questions when this forum as well as the website are adorned with information. I read all the instructions, but I became so overwhelmed with the sheer volume of it all that I eventually had forgotten what I had read at first etc. And I am awful with written instructions anyway. Once again, my apologies for that.
Some background. I am 24 years old and my problem are those pesky stretchmarks. I have had my first ones appear on the back of my arms. Not many, and they are now white and maybe about 11 years old. They used to bother me tremendously, but now I would have given anything for those to be the only ones I have. Sadly, I later got more during puberty on my lower back (which I do not mind all that much as it is a very common place for even a lot of men to have them). And also because my breasts seemed to have grown from very small A cup to about a D cup seemingly overnight, I got some on my breasts, which again, never bothered me that much. Oh yes, and some on the backs of my legs. Not very deep, or wide. All of those came from puberty between the ages of maybe... 13-20? And I was never overweight or fluctuated back then.
Recently (in the last 8 months or so) I had gained a lot of weight, about 40 pounds. Not due to any physical condition, more due to depression. And gluttony. And whatever else contributes. So now I got some thin, pink ones on my arms (biceps) and under my armpit, as well as my hips (which don't bother me immensely either) and worst of all.....my stomach. Mainly on the lower part of it where this sort of 'pooch' forms. They are light pink now which I attribute to vigorous exfoliation as they were very red before, and some of them are thin lines and about maybe...4 of them are rather wide and deep in feel/appearance. I am on a good path to weightloss and seeing positive changes already, but want to tackle other side-effect imperfections I gained with the weight at the same time. I know you say that anyone who says you can totally get rid of stretchmarks is probably lying/not educated enough to know what they are talking about, but I truly and deeply believe that most of them can get to the point to where you cannot see them anymore unless you really try hard to find them. I am not delusional, and not expecting such a result even since a 40% reduction or less would make me extremely happy, but I think a positive mental attitude is half the battle with any positive changes you would like to manifest. I intend to post pictures any progress here of my arms specifically, as I think those pictures will be the easiest to take accurately.
Sorry for the essay. Essentially my questions are:
Do we pre-treat the area for a few days first? Is that correct? Before the first session that is.
What would be the best products for the scars I had described? A regular roller and stamp/single needles? I am prepared to get anything that will have a chance of helping.
Besides the creams and ointments you recommend, can we use our own lotions in conjunction as well? I was going to use an MSM lotion and after the rolled skin had healed substantially, to apply DMSO first in form of mist and then apply MSM (since maybe vit A creams would not be best to get into your bloodstream on such a deep level). I know what DMSO is of course, and I am comfortable using it.
Do you think that for a while after rolling, we should abandon any anti-inflammatories? Like vit E etc? Because inflammation is good for skin healing, right? Do you recommend additional collagen supplements or any others? Zinc+copper perhaps?
Lastly, I do not have any wrinkles but due to my past bad diet, my skin is quite uneven looking. I also have large pores and maybe suspected rosacea since my cheeks always seem red. Not offensively so, but red. I am far from having even-toned facial skin. Would the 0.5 roller be of any benefit to someone with my afflictions and of my age? Would I benefit from any of your creams? Since my aim is not to smooth out any wrinkles/acne scars etc?
Again, I am so sorry for the abundance of questions that I could mostly find answers to if I looked around, but I feel like I am in a whirlwind reading all of these wonderful threads. I suppose I should start taking notes!
Whether you reply or not, thank you in advance and thank you for your quality and your integrity.