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Dermarolling / Microneedling / Re: 1 year dermarolling acne scars (15 sessions) - no improvement
« on: December 30, 2012, 11:44:50 AM »
Hi Dermaboy,
I have had mixed results from derma rolling over the last 2.5 years... I started with a professional derma rolling treatment (2 sessions, 6 weeks apart). They used a very aggressive technique, very fast (both directions) and much more than the 8 rolls in each direction! My skin was very bloody afterwards, and scabby in places. They gave me chiroxy cream to help with healing, and the results were very good. Skin tone improved, scars softened, and some had gone. But some came back a few months later. Overall, if I had kept shelling out the £350 a time every 6 weeks, then I am sure my results would be very good after 2.5 years! But I tried to replicate at home, and really have struggled to get similar results.
I think at home, people can fear 'over doing it' and therefore lighter rolls more frequently seem to be easier to deal with, (plus over the counter numbing cream is no where near as good as what the professionals use!). I have 'grinned and bared it' and used lots of numbing cream, and 2.0 - 2.5mm rollers... sometimes rolling frequently (every 3-4 weeks) and sometimes going 2-3months without... I have tried Vit C (obagi do a good one) and chiroxy cream, and have tried without... I think they help, but its very hard to judge.
I noticed your comment about 'creating scars' I think this is just older scars which have not made their way to the surface... Based on my experience from the professional treatment, you have to go some way to 'scar' the skin with a derma roller... The 192 needle types can probably do 30plus rolls in one area without scaring.
Here are my thoughts on why dermarolling on its own can take a while to reduce scarring..
1) Some scars are still in the 'pipe line'... and therefore it is a battle for a while improving old scars and uncovering newer scars...
2) The hit rate on a scar from the derma roller is not very high. You can end up 'tracking' where the needles stab the same or very close to last zone every roll, and miss large areas of skin which have most of the scar tissue...
3) The surrounding skin is improved also, and therefore the difference in height between scar and normal skin remains similar...
4) Reduction in scar depth by 20% can look like 0%... as in the scar is still there, the eye is still drawn to it... (scanning of skin would be interesting, but obviously out of our range... )
5) The scar is lower than the surrounding skin, and therefore the needle penetrates less into the scar (depth wise)...
So what am I going to do? Well, I have found this site for a start, and bought the suction pump (used it yesterday) and a derma stamp (2.0) and used couple of days ago (using vit c only at the moment). I also have copper peptides, tretinon and chiroxy cream on order. I have targeted 5 scars only, and will wait week, then do the others... as i want to see how long it takes for redness to go down, to make sure I have the 'intensity' right. I did 'feel' like the stamp was attacking the scars much better... I heard/felt a crunching sound, and the swelling/tightening looks much better than after any roll... (i know this subsides and the scar returns) but at least it looks like something is happening! The suction pump (i think I over did this), but the redness is going down, I am using lots of hylauronic cream (has vit e and oils) and have some emu oil...
I have a 1.0mm derma roller, which I will use a week before another stamping session and will wait for 4-5 weeks after stamping...
I feel your frustration with what seemed like an arduous derma roller campaign, and to see little/no results is not good. However, the comfort I take, is that derma rolling is good for general skin thickness, fine lines, wrinkles etc, so even if it does not cure scars on its own, i will continue to roll to help skin stay in good condition... What I can say is that there is hope, because the professional treatment did produce some very good results, most of which stayed... And as my home roller regime has been similar (maybe slightly longer and deeper) to yours, there is hope for you also.
I will keep you posted with my results.
Good luck to you, and I hope you post any news on this thread.
Jim
I have had mixed results from derma rolling over the last 2.5 years... I started with a professional derma rolling treatment (2 sessions, 6 weeks apart). They used a very aggressive technique, very fast (both directions) and much more than the 8 rolls in each direction! My skin was very bloody afterwards, and scabby in places. They gave me chiroxy cream to help with healing, and the results were very good. Skin tone improved, scars softened, and some had gone. But some came back a few months later. Overall, if I had kept shelling out the £350 a time every 6 weeks, then I am sure my results would be very good after 2.5 years! But I tried to replicate at home, and really have struggled to get similar results.
I think at home, people can fear 'over doing it' and therefore lighter rolls more frequently seem to be easier to deal with, (plus over the counter numbing cream is no where near as good as what the professionals use!). I have 'grinned and bared it' and used lots of numbing cream, and 2.0 - 2.5mm rollers... sometimes rolling frequently (every 3-4 weeks) and sometimes going 2-3months without... I have tried Vit C (obagi do a good one) and chiroxy cream, and have tried without... I think they help, but its very hard to judge.
I noticed your comment about 'creating scars' I think this is just older scars which have not made their way to the surface... Based on my experience from the professional treatment, you have to go some way to 'scar' the skin with a derma roller... The 192 needle types can probably do 30plus rolls in one area without scaring.
Here are my thoughts on why dermarolling on its own can take a while to reduce scarring..
1) Some scars are still in the 'pipe line'... and therefore it is a battle for a while improving old scars and uncovering newer scars...
2) The hit rate on a scar from the derma roller is not very high. You can end up 'tracking' where the needles stab the same or very close to last zone every roll, and miss large areas of skin which have most of the scar tissue...
3) The surrounding skin is improved also, and therefore the difference in height between scar and normal skin remains similar...
4) Reduction in scar depth by 20% can look like 0%... as in the scar is still there, the eye is still drawn to it... (scanning of skin would be interesting, but obviously out of our range... )
5) The scar is lower than the surrounding skin, and therefore the needle penetrates less into the scar (depth wise)...
So what am I going to do? Well, I have found this site for a start, and bought the suction pump (used it yesterday) and a derma stamp (2.0) and used couple of days ago (using vit c only at the moment). I also have copper peptides, tretinon and chiroxy cream on order. I have targeted 5 scars only, and will wait week, then do the others... as i want to see how long it takes for redness to go down, to make sure I have the 'intensity' right. I did 'feel' like the stamp was attacking the scars much better... I heard/felt a crunching sound, and the swelling/tightening looks much better than after any roll... (i know this subsides and the scar returns) but at least it looks like something is happening! The suction pump (i think I over did this), but the redness is going down, I am using lots of hylauronic cream (has vit e and oils) and have some emu oil...
I have a 1.0mm derma roller, which I will use a week before another stamping session and will wait for 4-5 weeks after stamping...
I feel your frustration with what seemed like an arduous derma roller campaign, and to see little/no results is not good. However, the comfort I take, is that derma rolling is good for general skin thickness, fine lines, wrinkles etc, so even if it does not cure scars on its own, i will continue to roll to help skin stay in good condition... What I can say is that there is hope, because the professional treatment did produce some very good results, most of which stayed... And as my home roller regime has been similar (maybe slightly longer and deeper) to yours, there is hope for you also.
I will keep you posted with my results.
Good luck to you, and I hope you post any news on this thread.
Jim
