forehead scar

[hello]

Hi Sarah,
I have dark skin and plan to dermaroll a scar on my forehead. It is hyperpigmented and uneven in texture. When I lift my eyebrows I now get forehead creases that take a while to settle back. This has never happened until I got this scar. After reading other posts I think I should use the .5mm dermaroller 2 or 3 times a week and use a 1.5mm stamp on the scar and wrinkles once every 5 weeks.
I am worried that this will cause me to hyperpigment more so I wanted to know if stamping the scar with the 1.5mm stamp a fewer number of times per session at a shorter interval is the same as an aggressive session every 5 weeks. What do you recommend?

[hello]

also would the dermaroller help with dry flaking skin?

[hello]

One last question. Sorry for all of the posts. I have some shallow rolling acne scars on my cheeks and fine lines around my mouth. Is there a big difference between using the 1.0 and 1.5 mm rollers? 

[SarahVaughter]

Can you please tell me a bit more about this scar. How did you get it and how old is the scar? Has it always been dark like this? Is it getting lighter over time?

Are you prone to get hyperpigmentations?

[hello]

Yes i am definitely prone to hyperpigmentation. I got it from a microdermabrasion gone wrong. i had that done for the minor acne scars on my cheeks. it was at first very indented and then the skin that grew back was red and turned into this dark color. the color has slightly faded but the skin is rough and not smooth. I got it last December so about a year ago.

[SarahVaughter]

Try our 0.1% Tretinoin cream on your hyperpigmented scar. Tretinoin improves hyperpigmentation but you have to apply it long term.

A cream with hydroquinone should also help.

For your shallow scars on the cheeks and the lines around the mouth, buy a 1 mm or a 1.5 mm dermastamp. Do a test patch first to see whether your skin ends up hyperpigmented. Redness for many days after stamping is completely normal though.

If you have the rolling type of acne scars and you get no results with just stamping, add the suction method:

https://http://forums.owndoc.com/dermarolling-microneedling/subcision-suction-method-for-acne-scars/

If your skin reacts OK to stamping, you can try to stamp your forehead scar to make it smoother but do not perform any aggressive stamping. Start very slowly on a small part of the scar to see what happens.

No, a dermaroller will not help with dry, flaky skin.

Dry skin is not caused by lack of water - it is caused by excessive evaporation of water from the skin. The natural skin barrier that should prevent evaporation doesn't work properly. Supplying dry skin with hydrating creams doesn't work.  It needs some fats to keep the moisture in.  In fact, hydrating creams saturate the skin surface with water which makes the skin look temporarily better but this very temporary hydration actually increases the evaporation of water from the skin!  Adding water does not solve dry skin. Establishing a barrier that prevents water evaporation solves it. That is why oils are much better moisturizers than any light moisturizing cream because oils form a film on the skin that prevents the evaporation of water.
The film however can be a problem with acne-prone skin.

I use almond oil to clean and moisturize my skin. I slightly wet a cotton pad with tap water, add almond oil and clean my face. Almond oil will keep the skin moist and supple by preventing the evaporation of water from the skin. I also apply almond oil on my body (while the skin is still wet) after a bath. I keep a bottle of almond oil in the fridge and refill a small container that I keep in the bathroom. From time to time I use fine salt in the shower for exfoliation but do not exfoliate too frequently.

[hello]

Is one aggressive stamping equivalent to 2 less aggressive stampings but at shorter intervals.
ex. is 8 stamps in one session every 5 weeks equal to 4 stamps in one session approx. every 2.5 weeks
from my understanding but the end of the 5 weeks in both cases there will be an equal number of pricks so an equal number of spots of skin that need to be regenerated. however each time there would be less inflammation so there is less of a chance of hyperpigmentaion?
what do you think? I'm just trying to understand why aggressive sessions with long intervals are recommended.. what is the benefit of that as opposed to shorter intervals with less aggressive sessions.

[SarahVaughter]

You should stamp your scar every three weeks. If it heals OK, add more stampings the next session. There is no need for aggressive stamping in your case. Aggressive stamping/needling is useful in case of scars that contain hardened collagen scar  tissue, which is often the case in surgery scars or stretch marks but your scar is just a little rough and the hyperpigmentation is the main problem.

You can also stamp lightly, every two weeks. In case of pigmentations, more frequent, light approach is better. However, I recommend stamping to smoothe down the scar. I am not sure  microneedling will improve the pigmentation because you are obviously prone to hyperpigmentation. For the pigmentation, a hydroquinone cream or a Tretinoin cream are a good choice.

[hello]

Would derma rolling two to three times a week with a .5mm roller be the same as using tretinoin. This is for my understanding. Both would essentially just increase the rate of exfoliation of epidermal skin and increase its thickness right?

[SarahVaughter]

A 0.5 mm dermaroller already reaches the top layers of the dermis so it increases the turnover there as well. For your scar, a dermastamp is more suitable. Tretinoin often evens out the melanin distribution in the skin and the exact mechanism is not fully known.

[hello]

thanks for your help and all of the great information! would you say that after about 10 months of consistent dermarolling with the 1.5mm roller, the entire epidermis and dermis would have been turned over? so after about 10 dermarolling treatments does that mean the epidermis and dermis should have all new skin?

[SarahVaughter]

That is difficult to answer because during each dermarolling session, only a certain percentage of the skin is renewed and it is hard to say how many rollings are necessary for an entire renewal cycle.

However, as you can read in my article:

https://http://owndoc.com/dermarolling/how-dermarolling-works/

..our body does not always renew the skin in a better way than you started out with. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. In your case, it may happen that the body will produce new skin but that this skin will again be hyperpigmented because that is what your body now "considers normal" in that area and it will keep it that way. It may also partially go back to a lighter tone or it may fully go back to a lighter tone. In some rare, unfortunate cases, especially in individuals that are very prone to hyperpigmetations, the skin will react to dermarolling by producing even more skin pigment, just as it produced more pigment as a reaction to your dermabrasion but since dermarolling does not remove any skin layers, hyperpigmented reactions are very rare. Some initial redness and temporary pigmentation that eventually goes away is normal.

Dermarolling is a much more gentle method comparing to abrasive methods such as dermabrasion, acid peels or even lasers.  Lasers heat up the skin and that is much more prone to result in hyperpigmetation or hypopigmentation.

[hello]

THANK YOU! I definitely understand what you are saying. Most of my questions are just general because I would like to get a better understanding of what is happening even though I have read throughout your forum. Your answers were very helpful.