Any Advice Regarding my Scarring? [pics]

[wake]

Hi, I just joined this forum in hopes of getting some advice about what I can do for my scarring.  I had read about Dermarolling and it interested me the most out of all the other options.  Though I have also had Dermotologists who were not trying to sell me anything tell me that Dermarolling will not help, so it's all kind of confusing and hopefully only because of their lack of experience.

I only found one Doctor that does Dermarolling and I would have to travel about 5 hrs round trip for each treatment.  I would like to avoid this if it would be possible to treat my scars at home.  This Doctor also told me that I would need a treatment every 2-3 weeks, which seems to go against everything else I've read.  Would 4 week intervals be better?

I will include pictures of my acne scarring.  I am red because I just got out of a hot shower, and chose to snap the photos then since I still have some hyperpigmentation so I figured if my whole face is a bit flushed it would give a better idea of the indentations. 

I hope that Dermarolling may be able to help me out, I am a bit worried about getting into all those lasers that the Doctors are recommending.  I am doing PDT to treat my acne and it has shown some very fast and significant results.  I have done 2/3 treatments and have the last one in a few weeks.  Hoping that the results last, how long after my last session can I start Dermarolling?

Thanks so much.
ETA: Sorry about the size of the pictures.  Usually TinyPic resizes them to fit on a forum, but this time they are coming up very big. 





 

[Ayame]

Hi wake,

If dermarolling sounds appealing to you (even more than all the other options out there) and you don't want travel 5 hours to the docter's office for each treatment, then why don't you do it yourself:P? And ofcourse it's possible to do it yourself, that's what every person on this forum does, or almost every person.
You know that you can buy everything you need for ''DIY'' dermarolling on owndoc shop, right? 

The opinions about whether dermarolling works or not... It varies to a great extent. 
Dermarolling is just not as well established as for example Retin A/Laser Resurfacing/ Chemical Peels. There has been done LOTS and LOTS of research to the last three examples... (They have studies dated from let's say 1990, but probably also studies even longer ago)

Unfortunately, this isn't the case with dermarolling. It's because it's relatively new, not very well known yet and it just hasn't been examined as much as the other established things like i called above.
BUT, the studies that have been done to dermarolling have very positive and good outcomes. (Studies from Fernandes,  Fabbrocini, Majid...)
Also, many people improved their skin with dermarolling  and i'm one of them.
I recommend you start a little ''research'' to dermarolling for yourself and try to draw your conclusions. You can find lots of information about this subject on the internet.

It's seems like you scars are still fresh? I think fresh scars respond better to treatments in general than fully matured scars... I'm not sure about this.

It's nice to hear that you're scars are improving because of de PDT!
I think that you can actually start dermarolling a month or two months after your last PDT treatment? Or just when your skin is completely healed and ''equiped'' from the treatment. But i'm not sure about this too. I think Sarah can give you better advice.

[wake]

Hi Ayame,  thanks you very much for your reply.  I am happy for you that you have seen improvement with your scars. 

Sorry if I was not clear, I know that a lot of people do it themselves and have started reading Sarah's site and have been reading other sites before finding this one. I was mostly wondering if DIY is recommended for all type of scars or if in some cases it would be better to go to a Doctor, or that DIY may do more harm than good in some cases.  It would be great if I could get some advice about what size needle to use and stuff, it would save me so much time and money, I've already dropped so much on the PDT.

The PDT didn't really help for scars, it helped for the acne itself.  I wish I would have read about it sooner, I could have saved myself so much grief (and scarring!).  I have had cystic acne for about 3-3.5 years so a lot of the scars are probably older by now.  The ones on my upper right cheek (first photo) are less than 4-5 months old for sure, since I only started breaking out there about 4-5 months ago, don't know if that would be considered young or not.  The technician that did my PDT says that my scars aren't too deep, which I hope she wasen't just saying to make me feel better, lol, and that I have a good shot at getting some improvement.

Actually, the bigger scars don't bother me as much as all the smaller ones.  The small ones cover almost my entire cheeks and look worse (to me) just because there are so many of them that they give an uneven appearance to my whole face rather than looking like I have some scars here and there.  I realize that my skin will likely never go back to how it was before, but I would consider myself very satisfied if I could at least fix all those little holes (and helping the other ones become a bit less obvious in the process would be a bonus too).

The Doctor who does Dermarolling also told me to wait 1 month after my last PDT treatment, I was just wondering if this was accurate considering that she also recommends treatments ever 2-3 weeks. 

Anyways, sorry for being so long winded.     
   

[SarahVaughter]

No worries, we like large photos, the bigger the better, then the details are better visible.

PDT (Photodynamic therapy) selectively destroys tissue. A photosensitizing substance is applied onto the skin. The substance is absorbed in larger quantities by certain cells, such as the sebaceous glands or cancerous cells, which makes them much more sensitive to the applied light. The applied light will cause the release of reactive oxygen species that will injure or destroy the tissue that contains the most of the light sensitizing substance, leaving the surrounding tissue undamaged. In this way, you can reduce the size of sebaceous glands by damaging them and thus reducing the overproduction of sebum, which is the main cause of acne.  So, yes, the results should last. Maybe the sebaceous glands will eventually recover and grow back to their original size (especially if you have high levels of androgen hormones since androgens "encourage" the activity of sebaceous glands) but it will take a long time, hopefully.

Concerning your scars, I recommend you a 0.2 mm regular dermaroller (you can roll ever second day) and a 1.5 mm dermastamp (stamp every three weeks).

You should wait at least three weeks after the PDT therapy.

[wake]

Hi Sarah, thank you so much for your reply and advice, I really appreciate it.

I would just have question regarding your recommendation.  Would the 0.2mm roller be for the scars that are shallow and like small holes and the 1.5mm stamp for the bigger ones?  Or is the 0.2mm only to help cream penetration (which is what I understood from your web store)?  I am just wondering, because as I understand, the stamp is for the larger scars, but I am unsure if the 0.2mm will help the smaller scars at all (the ones all over that look kinda like enlarged pores- for lack of a better comparison), or if I am also supposed to go over those with the 1.5mm stamp (which, if this is the case, why use a stamp and not a roller?)

Thanks so much for your time and sorry if I'm misunderstanding something. 

[SarahVaughter]

It depends whether your scars are real scars or just enlarged pores. Pores are ducts in the skin and there is currently no method that can significantly and permanently make pores smaller. Very many of our customers improved their scars with microneedling but only a few succeeded in reducing their pore size (they used various microneedling approaches so there is no single recommended method).
Some successful stories:
https://http://forums.owndoc.com/dermarolling-microneedling/needling-and-dermastamp


No, in this case a 0.2 mm roller is not intended to enhance the penetration of skin products.

A 0.2 mm, if used long-term, thickens the epidermis and that could theoretically make pores smaller and it usually improves the overall skin texture and tone.

A dermastamp is for your deeper scars but you can try to use it on a small area of your face with "pores" and see what happens.

The reason why your pores dilated may be due to hormonal stimulation (during adolescence) of the sebaceous glands that are inside the pores. If the gland enlarges, the pores usually enlarge as well. The skin becomes oilier then.

The biggest injustice is that as we age, our sebaceous glands are slowly becoming larger but in spite of that they produce less and less oil. So we end up with dry, wrinkly skin with large pores.

[wake]

Thanks again for your reply!

Unfortunately, all the small holes are not just large pores.  I was told that they are scars (maybe scarred pores?).  If I stretch my skin it looks more like the scar tissue from the bigger scars and less lie how one of my pores look when I stretch it.  These small holes are much more shallow than the other scars though.

Should I still use a 1.5" dermastamp, or would a 1.5" roller be better?  Or, should I get both (plus the 0.2" roller)?  Sorry for the questions, I just want to make sure that I get everything I need to start off on the right foot.

Thanks again!

[SarahVaughter]

In your case, get a 0.2 mm dermaroller and a 1.5 mm dermastamp.

[geijutsu12]

Hi Sarah,

I am the one who you referred to this thread when I asked you about my scarred/stretched pores, having seen the pictures, do you think my case is more of an enlarged pores case (hard to fix) or is it more of scars all over my pores that are fixable with a 0.2 roller?

[SarahVaughter]

Sorry for the delayed answer. We were on holidays.

You seem to have several scars (not very deep) and mainly enlarged pores.
Try either a 0.2 mm dermaroller and a 1.5 mm dermastamp or a 0.5 mm dermaroller and a 1 mm dermastamp.