To Sarah: What would you recommend for my skin?

[FuturePerfect]

Hi Sarah:

Thank you for this board. I've learned a lot from all the information posted here and all the pdf documents, but I still have a problem selecting the right products for my skin condition. I'm not sure what kind of scars I have or if my skin is thick or tough.

Background:  I'm 40 years old. I had bad acne problem in the past. I used Tazorac 0.1% for many years stopped for the past 5-6 years due to lack of attention to myself and life in general. I recently make a goal to nurture myself, and notice that my skin has gotten older and doesn't look so good. So, I have just restarted using Tazorac 0.1% for about 4 months. I'm using it every 2-3 days. I'm also using 15% Vitamin C E and Ferulic Acid Serum everyday (under Tazorac).

See my picture below. What would you recommend for my skin condition?

Thank you!

[geijutsu12]

Hi futureperfect,

Not Sarah, but I'd recommend that you purchase a 1.5 dermaroller to needle your face with a 1.5 small dermastamp for localized needling on deeper scars, you scars are very similar to mines, like you I couldn't categorize them because they're not your typical acne scars, they just superficial ones that are formed between the skin pores.

I'd also recommend that you use the Tazorac and the serum separately, for example you can you use serum in the morning, and the tazorac at night, make sure to also use a sunscreen over the c serum, one sunscreen I'd recommend is Pratima is it's zinc-based and leaves little to no white-casting, make sure to also get enough sleep and eat well in order to have better results, if you can afford it; invest in a good multi nutrient supplement, this all will help your skin heal better.

Other than the scarring, I think you have great skin, specially for your age, I actually thought that you might be in your mid twenties max from the picture you posted, very surprised.

[FuturePerfect]

Dear Geijutsu12:

Your and other people inputs are always welcome, especially someone with similar skin and skin conditions as mine. I shouldn't have made the post so exclusive. So, if anyone reading this, please comment, especially someone with similar skin conditions. Your experience can help me and others who's reading this post.

Thank you for the advice on the roller, stamp, and topical products usage--they are very helpful! I am actually taking many dietary supplements daily. I am eating as much whole food as much as I can. I am reducing the portion of food because I don't burn them as much as my younger years. I also start to exercise again.

Thank you for the compliment! I think I owe my great skin to my mom. She has GREAT skin for her age! I hope to improve mine with derma rolling.

Geijutsu12:  How long have you been derma rolling? How many sessions did you do before you start seeing results? What is your protocol? Every 3-4 weeks, roll with 1.5mm and stamp deeper scars with 1.5mm? How many rolls do you do per area? How many stamps do you do per deeper scars? Do you use 1.5mm roller on your forehead too? Do you roll with 0.5mm in between the 3-4 weeks of 1.5mm treatment?

[SarahVaughter]

I am sorry I have not replied yet.  I was too busy.  I will reply soon.

[FuturePerfect]

Sarah:

No worries. After I read your Candida and Fungal and Skin Infection boards, it makes me very grateful of my own situations. I've also learned a lot about Candida that I might order Lufenuron with roller/stamp. I need to do more reading on the board while trying to see if it would be applicable for me.

Thank you for all the time and efforts you put into this site and quality control of all the products offered. I really appreciate it.

[SarahVaughter]

Having completely wrinkle-free skin at your age is very rare. I also thought you were in your twenties with post-acne problems.

I recommend a 1.5 mm dermastamp with 35 needles for your scars (you have just a few).

For general skin tone and texture, use a regular 0.5 mm dermaroller and roll up to three times a week.

The redness of you face, is it from Tazorac?

If your skin "likes" dermarolling, you can later add a 1.5 mm dermaroller but first try just the dermastamp and the 0.5 roller.

[FuturePerfect]

Thank you for the recommendation. I've already put in the order and can't wait to start rolling and stamping.

I am still 39, but I am closer to 40 than 39. I wish I were in my mid twenties. However, I am grateful for your comment.

Yes, the redness on my face is from Tazorac. I mistakenly applied Tazorac two days consecutively. I won't be doing that again!

I'll post update after 6-12 months of rolling.

[NoMoScars]

Hello forum!

FuturePerfect, after reading your post and viewing your picture I had to register and reply as well because like Geijutsu12 my scars are very similar.  My scarring is a little "weird" for lack of a better word. If you look at them straight on they appear to be small ice picks or scarred pores. But when I turn my head and look at them in good lighting, you can see the scars are actually lines (like dotted lines or scarred pores within the scars itself) I know it sounds crazy! LoL! But I thought that I had buried scars because they look so different at an angle. Anyway, after reading tons posts, the dermarolling instructions, and really taking in Sarah's awesome advice, I finally ordered the 1.5 stamp and 1.5 roller. Received the roller yesterday but still waiting on the stamp. I plan on submitting photos and documenting my progress as well. My scarring isn't severe so I'm expecting good results:) Best wishes to all also on the journey towards scarfree skin!!

[geijutsu12]

Dear Geijutsu12:

Your and other people inputs are always welcome, especially someone with similar skin and skin conditions as mine. I shouldn't have made the post so exclusive. So, if anyone reading this, please comment, especially someone with similar skin conditions. Your experience can help me and others who's reading this post.

Thank you for the advice on the roller, stamp, and topical products usage--they are very helpful! I am actually taking many dietary supplements daily. I am eating as much whole food as much as I can. I am reducing the portion of food because I don't burn them as much as my younger years. I also start to exercise again.

Thank you for the compliment! I think I owe my great skin to my mom. She has GREAT skin for her age! I hope to improve mine with derma rolling.

Geijutsu12:  How long have you been derma rolling? How many sessions did you do before you start seeing results? What is your protocol? Every 3-4 weeks, roll with 1.5mm and stamp deeper scars with 1.5mm? How many rolls do you do per area? How many stamps do you do per deeper scars? Do you use 1.5mm roller on your forehead too? Do you roll with 0.5mm in between the 3-4 weeks of 1.5mm treatment?

Hi futureperfect,

Sorry for not replying to you earlier, to answer your questions:

So far I had only two skin needling sessions, the first one was in I think October 2012 and the second one was in mid December 2012, for the first time, I wasn't that aggressive as I was sort of testing the water and see how things go since I already have a very sensitive skin, I saw little improvement in the skin texture overall but it was still not what I wanted it to look like, by the time the second session came; I decided to be a little more aggressive, so instead of only using the 1.5 dermaroller, I decided to roll some areas with mild problem and dermastamp (both large and small) the problem areas, I made sure that I bled a lot, as Dr Desmond (father of dermaroller) claims that by bleeding you get better results, well by the end of the 1st month I had a great improvement in my skin texture, my sister came to visit and she could not stop talking about how much better my skin looks, to say that I was happy is an understatement.

In late March this year I noticed that I had very faint post inflammatory hyper-pigmentation from few zits I had earlier so I thought it would be a smart to go ahead and use a BHA peel, it was a huge mistake, most of the creppy scarred skin surface came back and my skin got exactly back to how it used to look like pre-needling if not little worse, it was a dumb move on my part as the reason why I have these scars in the first place was because I used bha toner 2 years ago that dried my skin too much and created those small cracks/craters between my pores, I thought by using the peel I will not be having the same problem since you get to wash it off 3 minutes later.

Anyway, I'm planning to needle again but I find it hard atm due to job schedule, my skin usually needs a minimum of 3 days of downtime and I only get to have 1 day off per week in my new job, so not sure how I'm going to be able to fit it within my schedule.

In conclusion, I think you will benefit a lot from needling since we seem to have very similar scarring, as a matter of fact mine is a little worse, all you have to do is be careful and let your skin rest, eat well and have plenty of sleep.

[FuturePerfect]

Hello NoMoScars, and welcome to the forum!

I'm glad you've decided to join the forum and document your personal experience.

I'm guilty of learning a lot from other people experience but haven't really made a contribution for other's benefits until I posted my pic. I am very happy that my post encourages you to do the same. I will definitely update my experience after I a few sessions. I also will be curious of your progress as well, especially we have similar scarring. Please keep me posted!


geijutsu12:  No worries. After I read your reply, I know why. With work schedule like yours, I can't blame you. I hope you will find a strategy that will allow you to take care of yourself despite the schedule.

Reading your reply, I am making note to myself to not do BHA peel. I actually haven't used any BHA products because Tazorac and Vitamin C serum are keeping my skin red and irritated already. I am taking it easy on these products for a few days, but they really do work. I just have to really pay attention to my skin of when I can used them.

Also, I'm glad to hear that you see result with just two sessions, especially after the more aggressive treatment. I will follow your and Sarah's advise to just go easy and see how my skin likes it and go from there.

I can't wait to receive my stamp and roller. According to USPS, it's still somewhere between the Europe and the US.

[SarahVaughter]

Thank you, geijutsu12, for describing your experience. Happy to hear dermaneedling worked for you.

[NoMoScars]

Hi FuturePerfect

Thank you so much for the kind words on my posting. Actually my overall facial coloring was improving quite a bit after I quit smoking (YAY) 4 months ago. But once I started being more aggressive with the needling to improve my indented scars, I began noticing the scars were starting to fill in but the area I needled/stamped was getting darker   Nonetheless the hyper pigmentation is bothersome but the indented scarring is my main concern right now. So I'm going to continue needling for a few more months with the longer needles to see if I can get a little more fill in then I'll concentrate on the darker areas of my face. Or as Sarah suggested I may order the retin a cream and use that as well. Or I may use the Ambi that I have. Right now I'm using some MSM cream that I read helps even skin tone and improves healing. The MSM could very well be working because as hard as I needle, my cheeks should be a lot darker than they are. I also need to be more consistent with using sunscreen. The one I previously used was oil based and broke me out. So I'm waiting to see what's going to happen with the new oil free SPF 50 I just bought. Are you experiencing any discoloration on the areas that you needle?

Besides a few setbacks, I think I'm progressing very well and I'm pretty satisfied with my results thus far. I'll continue to post, ask questions, and hopefully inspire someone else to take the plunge and give needling a try because it does work!

I bet it won't even take you six months FuturePerfect because your scars were not that bad. Actually your skin looked pretty good

Looking forward to seeing your updated pics and happy healing

[FuturePerfect]

@NoMoScars:  I used to have a lot of hyperpigmentation when I had a lot of acne. I'm not familiar with MSM, but the thing that was and has been helpful for my hyperpigmentation is retin A. And, for the past few months, I have found that vitamin C has really brighten my skin and also help with hyperpigmentation as well. The great thing about these two products is that they are compatible with dermarolling and stamping. I'm lucky that these two are enough to keep my skin clear and even-toned.

A friend of mine has stubborn hyperpigmentation spots. Retin A alone hasn't been enough for her. She uses a combination of retin A and hydroquinone 4%, and it lightens those spots. If the hyperpigmentation causes by melanin, the hydroquinone will work, but the skin will become really photo-sensitive. If you haven't tried retin A and vitamin C, you should definitely try it. I don't know whether hydroquinone is compatible with dermarolling, but I'm sure people have mentioned on the board somewhere.

To answer your question, I'm lucky that I don't have hyperpigmentation from needling. I'm searching for a good physical sunscreen (as opposed to chemical ones). It contains zinc oxide. When I found one I like, I'll let you know. I will definitely update my progress with my pics. I'll keep you posted. 

If you decide to start on retin A, start with 0.025% and see how your skin takes it. I remembered when I started on 0.025%, my skin can tolerate it. So my dermatologist increased it to 0.05% and then 0.1%. You will have to try and see the frequency that will work for you. I apply mine every 4 days - 6 days, but my skin can barely take 0.1% so when my current 0.1% runs out, I'll stick with 0.05%. The thing about all of these regimens is care, I believe. When I lost interest in taking care of myself, I really wasn't consistent with the retin A. Until I'm becoming consistent with retin A, vitamin C and now dermarolling, I can see the result. I know I can't stop aging, but I can really slow the speed of it.

You have shown that you care for your skin improvement by stop smoking and now dermarolling. You will see even more improvement if you are patient and consistent. I really believe it. Good luck with your skin improvement journey!