The Start of my Dermarolling/Stamping Journey, Pre-sales questions

[stephh]

Hello
wow. where to start. I have been lurking this site for a couple months now and am finally ready to order products and start the process!

I am 22 years old and have dealt with skin issues for most of my life. Finally rid of acne, I thought I was in the clear and could for ONCE not worry about my skin. However, now I see all the scarring and damage that years of acne has had on my skin. This has caused more depression/anxiety than I really care to talk about. This is affecting my quality of life and I see that now...it is time to DO something about it.

I have been following Mila's posts, as well as Cesmadicctaol's...and have done a ton of reading on forums and through the instructions. Wanted to order without having to post, but I have done so much research that I'm overwhelmed!

My skin:
-Both cheeks: Shallow pitting/Rolling scars on both cheeks (Can't really be seen from straight on, but very noticeable at an angle and HORRIBLE texture in sunlight and fluorescent lighting)
-Both sides of chin: Shallow scarring/wavy looking skin on both sides of chin.
-Forehead- A few pits, and light fine lines. Just looks..damaged/textured.
-Left side of mouth, in smile line, the deepest scar I have and most noticeable/tethered...looks like a wrinkle when I smile.
 -Since I don't have a picture to post today, for a mental image: my scarred AREAS are very similar to Mila's scarred areas. Just shallower scars.


Definitely purchasing:
-Chloramine T to disinfect
-Vitamin C powder/glass bottle
-Suction pump

My question:
Per my research, I will be rolling, then stamping specific areas.
Just trying to decide on the lengths to purchase of each....1mm does not seem aggressive enough. 2mm may be too deep to start?

Also, I hope to keep this simple as possible, won't be ordering topicals other than Vitamin C because EVERYTHING breaks me out. Do you think this will negatively affect my results?

I wish I had a picture to post today- but once I order products and start this process I promise to take BEFORE pictures and document my progress!

*Sarah, I apologize for being longwinded but since I intend to document my progress I wanted to get this info into one post so it could be referenced in future posts instead of explaining my history with each update.*

Thank you so much for reading and for your wonderful, informative site.

[NoMoScars]

Hi Stephh,

Obviously I'm not Sarah but I've came across your post a couple of  times while I was as you call it "lurking" on this forum as well. LoL. Just like you,  I've started to take serious steps to improve the scarring that was left from my many years of acne. I've been left with some mild to moderate scars on my upper cheeks that sounds like they could be similar to yours. Straight on the scars aren't that noticeable but at an angle and in certain lighting...OMG! It also has negatively affected so many areas of my life  anyway no need to feel sorry for ourselves let's do something about this right?!

From other posts that I've read, Sarah usually recommends 1.5mm dermastamp and 1.5 dermaroller for scars (acne scarring). 1mm treats shallow scarring but it still may be a good starting place just until you know how your skin reacts to needling. She has also recommended the single needles to some but don't make the mistake I've made and use the diabetic lancets. I've made a couple of my scars wider (but shallower too..if that makes any sense) She also has advised others to get the .05mm dermaroller for overall texture improvement.

Since you are interested in keeping things simple, how about the 1mm dermastamp and if all goes well add the 1mm dermaroller and go from there. The dermastamp is actually an awesome tool if you have localized scars like me that are shallow to moderately deep. You may not need the 1.5 stamp/roller after all if your skin responds well to the 1mm. I have the 1mm dermastamp and recently ordered the 1.5mm dermaroller and 1.5 dermastamp because I feel some of my scars just need more aggressive treatment. I like Sarah's advice to treat the skin for 3 nites with the Vit C serum before needling. I've  used the infoladan ointment after rolling/stamping for a few days and surprisingly, the ointment didn't break out my acne prone skin. Actually, it made my skin really soft and gave it a nice glow. Aside from the needling, I'm also making sure that my diet is good enough to help my skin heal. Needling is only half the battle. I must still help my body to help itself. Avoid a lot of sugar, fat, and salt. So a lot of fruits and veggies. Get my protein. Drink ALOT of water daily. Take my vitamins (especially C, E, and Zinc) and some exercise can only help the cause. Doing all of this, I feel like I'm actually forcing some positive results.

Sorry for writing you a book. As you can see I am pretty passionate about skin care. Best of luck with whatever regimen that you decide to use and keep researching when you have the time. There's always so much to learn Hope I helped at least a little bit!

Take care!

[SarahVaughter]

Stephh, I have replied to your forum posting on April 24 but for some reason it did not get posted or I somehow accidently deleted it again. I am sorry. Here it is again:

BTW everyone´s skin looks terrible in certain strong lights.

I agree that a 1 mm size is not long enough for serious scars and 2 mm size is not suitable for beginners and probably not necessary. Buy a regular 1.5 mm dermaroller and a 1.5 mm dermastamp with 35 needles.

You can roll and stamp during the same session. First stamp the scars, and then roll the entire area. If you have many scars, do not treat your entire face in one go. Do one cheek (thoroughly) when it heals do the other etc.

If you have the rolling type of acne scars, trying the suction pump is a good idea.

If you do not get satisfactory results in many months, you can try applying our Tretinoin cream right after your sessions. I only recommend it in case of stubborn acne scars or hardened collagen scars (surgical, stretch marks etc.) and our customer has good experience with it:

https://http://forums.owndoc.com/dermarolling-microneedling/evenly-spread-acne-scars/

You do not have to use topicals. Tretinoin cream is however indicated (apart from other things) for acne so it should not break you out. Initially, it can sometimes make acne worse before it gets better.

From our forum:

"Sarah, in response to your post above..... last week I received my order with your 0.025% Ret LOTION in a little jar, and it is working WONDERS on my adult acne after only 1 week. I see it is suddenly no longer on your website, are you replacing it with a CREAM version then? I want to order it right away when it becomes available so I don't run out, I have never had such an immediate result in improving my acne! I am waiting for my acne to clear before I use a dermaroller for the first time. Thank you!"


https://http://forums.owndoc.com/dermarolling-microneedling/retin-a-micro-gel/

Keep the skin moisturized after your sessions. Use a cream that you know does not break you out.

If you can document your experience, that would be great.