Scars on the nose

[Iwontweight]

Hello everyone! I have been lurking this forum for sometime. It's extremely helpful. Thank you.

I tried to search the forum for this problem. I hope I haven't overlooked it.

I will do my first needling session this weekend. I'm very excited, but I do have a problem. I have several "bumps" on my nose. I think they are scars. I've used both glycolic peels and Retin A on these things and they never go away. I have another one forming as I write this.

The only way I got "rid" of one was by applying extreme pressure to it with something relatively the same size of the bump (the hard end of a pen or the eraser of a pencil). I would move it around a bit with the thought that I was breaking the scar tissue forming under there. I must have been onto something because it never got bigger and eventually disappeared. It was sooooo painful. The bumps I didn't do this to are still on my nose and have been for over two years.

I want to know if needling these bumps with a single needle will do the trick or should I go back to my "procedure" perhaps applying Sarah's numbing cream to make it less painful. The skin on the nose is so thick and seem so different than the skin on the rest of my face. I don't want to risk scarring or/and hyperpigmentation.

Sorry so long, I just wanted to explain as well as I could to get proper help.

Thanks.

[healingtoday]

Hi iwontweight,

It sounds like what you may have is hypertrophic scarring.

 I've dealt with hypertrophic scarring as well as with pitted scars.  I've found that the best treatment for the hypertrophic scars is a using silicone sheets (esp. Cica Care brand), glycolic acid, copper peptides and acupucture, and single needling.

For the sheets, you have to wear them long periods of the day and the best time to wear them is when the scars are new or haven't formed.  They add pressure and moisture to the scar and somehow push the scar down. Glycolic acid also helps as does copper peptides.  You do have to be patient with these methods though and you will have to wear them for a long time and either sleep with them on or right when you get home.  But, you will see progress.

Acupuncture and single needling also helps though when you read on other sites, it may say to not needle hypertrophic scars since they are filled with an overabundance of collagen.  I can only speak for my experience but needling does seem to also breakdown these scars.  I'm very careful to only single needle these scars a little bit (compared to the pitted scars) because I get a bit afraid of them growing bigger but it does seem to actually bring them down (maybe it breaks down scar tissue and brings in more blood flow).

I would say the most cautious approach (you have to be very patient though) is silicone patches (they are also expensive).

What you did with the pencil eraser is like a deep massage which is also good for these type of scars.  If you massage with certain type of essential oils, it can be helpful.  I would recommend that you be very careful with this type of method though as I massaged one scar too hard and the underlying structure didn't hold up and created a new scar.  Because I used essential oils and manuka honey, the new scar was minimized, however, it is there.

When you do needle, I would suggest you use infandolan (sold on this site) or copper peptides rather than Retin-A.  Retin-A can be too harsh when you roll or needle yourself.

Best of luck with everything!

[Iwontweight]

Thank you, healingtoday!!

I have put off doing the needling until I receive Infandolan. I don't know why I didn't order it when I order the rollers. Very silly of me.

I have heard of the silicone sheets before and considered using it for my scars a long time ago, but I went another route (Glycolic Acid). I have used CP before and because it was going to take a while (and I wasn't sure it was going to work), I got very discouraged and stopped. I'll look into CP again. Maybe it will help with the rough texture of my skin also. I hope so.

I will also look into the Cica Care sheets and see what it can do for me.

I must tell you it is nice to get a name for the bumps on my nose. Hypertrophic scars! Now, I know what I'm working with!!

Thank you once again for your reply. It is very much appreciated and good luck to you too!!

[SarahVaughter]

The problem is that we do not know what these bumps are. Since you described pushing them is extremely painful, they might actually be filled with pus.  If it was just a scar, applying pressure on it should not be so painful (even though the nose area is different from the face because there is cartilage below the skin). Needling an infected bump is not a good idea.

[Iwontweight]

Hi Sarah!

There wasn't pus in the scar. It was only painful because how hard I was pressing on it (and it was my nose). I was actively trying to break the scar tissue beneath because I thought applying pressure would be less invasive than trying to needle it.

Now, the other bump that was forming as I wrote the first post had pus (I was able to see it). I applied Retin A. It has dried and gone down quite a bit, but a small bump still lingers.

Do you think I can needle (single) the remaining (not infected) bumps on my nose? If not, I will proceed with the silicone sheets to eventually flatten them. I hope.

Thanks for your reply. You are very helpful.

[healingtoday]

Hi iwontweight

Sarah has a good point about making sure u knw what these bumps are.  If the bumps are acne, u should not needle them.  Can you tell us how the bumps appeared?  Also, what does the skin on the bump look like?  As hypertrophic scarring tends to have a shiny experience?  Currently, I'm dealing with a hypertrophic scar which I can tell is a scar because it has tension on the sides, has a pinkish appearance and is a bit on the shiny side.  It's actually very smooth in appearance... Too bad it's raised!  It's been two weeks now but the silicone sheets have brought it down significantly.  It was hard to the touch before but is now soft and the collagen underneath seems to easily move, though it's still above skin level.  My acupuncturist is going to needle around the scar tomorrow so I'll let you know how that goes.  But yeah, if has pus or resembles acne, please do not needle it.

Have a nice day!

[SarahVaughter]

Needling is very efficient, both for hypertrophic and atrophic scars but I am not sure how the nose area would react because as I said, it is different from other facial skin.

   

  If you needle it, do just one scar (somewhere on the side). After needling and the days after, apply mild pressure onto the scar (using your method but not so strongly.)

     

  On the other hand, if you already know that your pressure method works, it might be better to use it by itself. I  can't really guarantee that needling the nose will turn out to your satisfaction.

[Iwontweight]

Thanks for your reply again, Sarah.

Why does the skin on the nose have to be so different?!! It's so frustrating. It's the ONLY place I can get a bump and it doesn't go away. Since I have several  (different sizes), I will needle one and apply a little pressure and use my "method" on another with numbing cream.

I would like to let you know what happens if you don't mind.

Thanks again. You and healingtoday have been so very helpful.

[healingtoday]

Hi Iwontweight,

Hope that you have good success with the bumps on your nose.  I haven't dealt with bumps on the nose before (the ones I've dealt with were on the cheek) so I can't speak to the different skin.  Hope Sarah can help you out here.

Update on my acupuncturist appointment.  So, I went in and showed my acupucturist my hypertrophic new scar (2 weeks old from peeling off some skin from glycolic acid before it was ready) and she agreed that it was a raised scar.  Since it was pretty new, she thought the best thing to do would be to circle the scar with acupuncture needles.

She inserted the needles about 1.5mm deep (these needles are thinner than the dermaroller needles).  For anyone who is interested, acupuncture needles in the face can be slightly painful but you get used to it.  After the session, I went to the bathroom and threw some helichyrsum essential oil on the scar.  After an acupucture, the face is red where the needles are and it looks like your face is a bit swelled (not really a pretty sight).  However, after a couple of hours, you look totally normal.

A few hours later, I was pretty happy.  The scar had shrunken down a little, enough for it to be noticeable.  The scar tissue is very soft at this point but I also treated this scar right at the onset (silicone sheet, essential oils, needling, etc.) so I think that is key.  Am hoping that another week or two of silicone sheet wearing will bring down the scar to level with the other skin.

I intersperse the acupucture sessions in between my self needling sessions.  I see more progress with the self needling (probably due to the diameter of the needle) but I started with acupuncture to get me used to the idea of needling because I never thought I could needle myself (it takes courage) but I guess you could say having acuptuncture warmed me up to the idea and I realized I could tolerate the pain.

I've also had a tattoo artist work on one side of my face with the scars.  However, I can't say I would try it again.  I don't think I was prepared mentally to see the outcome (face was scabbed and it looked like I was covered in cat scratches).  It also took me two weeks to heal (which was not told to me, I was told it would take 4 days).  I couldn't take more time off work so I had to go in with a huge bandage on my face and I made up some story about falling on my face.  It was truly one of the most embarrasing times in my life and every night I was scared to pull off the bandage for fear that the scabs would peel off too early.  I saw some results later but not enough to warrant what I went through.

I've been needling for about two years now (I had unscarred skin until I was in an accident) and have been working on them since.  In the beginning, its very easy to get down and depressed because you think the needling isn't getting you anywhere (the changes are very subtle) but two years later I can say that I'm glad I kept it up.  People used to have difficultly looking in my eyes because of my scars but they have become softer and less noticeable.  I realize I will never have perfect skin again but I feel much better about myself than from the beginning of this journey.  I used to cry whenever I looked in the mirror and wish I could get my old life (before scars on the face) back.  I realized that its a constant inside and out process where you have to be positive and also think outside the box on how to heal yourself.  

I would say be persistent and be smart about needling (don't over needle), try what works for you and keep it up.  I really like the single needle because you can really target and go at every angle (though you have to be patient and be able to deal with seeing the blood come out of a good stab)  I really think the silicone sheets may also work for you (I had keloids on my body from mole surgery from years ago) and the silicone sheets flattened them.  It may be more difficult to apply on the nose, but they will ceconform to the skin.  Just need to be patient and put it on as soon as you get home.  

[SarahVaughter]

Thank you, healingtoday for giving us your feedback. I am glad it works for you. I always try to stress that persistence and patience is very important in dermarolling or needling.

   

  Iwontweight, the skin on the nose is not different from other skin but because there is tough cartilage right underneath it, it may make needle penetration a little harder and the healing perhaps a bit unpredictable.