Acne Scar Treatments Archive 9
Return to the Acne Support Group in Cyberspace home pageKen -- Denise1, 21:32:46 02/04/03 Tue
Hi Ken! I'll try to answer your questions below, o.k.?:
Improve the texture of my skin, erbium or Tca and what treatment?
Temporary measure to improve my skin, topicals?Denise: TCA peels don't remove scars, but improve tone and texture. Erbium
laser is a bit like c02; some people have good success, some don't. As stated
before, the problem with scars is that the collagen is bound down, and needs
to be released. Lasers don't do that. Subcision does, needling does, and
exoderm seems to melt the scar tissue. Temporarily, to help your skin, you can
always use Skin Biology products combined with peels, but this isn't going to
do anything quickly, and probably won't deep scars.Will the collegan last forever after subcision?
Denise: It should.
Last time, you said I had better see a good acne scar doctor to figure out my
scarring type and suitable treatments. In fact, a good evaluation must be done
by some kind of experienced doctor who is neutral and will not risk his
patients’ face only for their money. Therefore, besides Dr. Rapaport, do you
have any referrals for precise evaluation on acne scarring?Denise: What I would do if I were you Ken, is I would put up a message with
regard to where specifically you want to travel, and then people can make good
recommendations. Word of mouth seems to be pretty good here at this board.
Another good scar doctor is in my home state. His name is Dr. McDaniel, and he
is a plastic surgeon/dermatologist who specializes in acne scars. I've heard
nothing but raves about him. He knows all about all kinds of treatments. He is
probably the only other doctor I would go to for treatment, if my scarring was
really bad as he is only 2 hours from me. But again, if you are travelling
from Asia, then you may not want to come all the way to the east coast, I
don't know. Make your mind up as to where you want to travel and ask for
recommendations is what I would do if I were you.Why did you said Co2 will not work well with oily skin? Moreover, do you still
think Co2 is not as effective as many people think here?Denise: Co2 isn't recommended for people with oily skin or broken capillaries.
Co2 may work for SOME people with minor or shallow scarring, but again....if
you read here regularly, most people aren't happy at all. Just look at what
poor Heather has had to deal with for 18 months. It's just too
risky....especially for Asian skin, in my opinion, and from what I know.In addition to exoderm, if I decide to take the combination of Subcision and
N-Lite/Cooltouch II, what procedure I should take after in order to improve my
skin texture? TCA or Eribum? Which can archieve more percentage of
improvement? Is Asian skin suitable to Eribum Laser?Denise: I would say that if you go with a subcision/non-ablative laser combo,
the doctor should be able to tell you what you would need next. You don't want
to do too much to your skin at one time. I personally would recommend Skin
Biology products for healing and recovery, and aftercare. You may not need
anymore procedures at all if you get one or two subcisions, and a good doctor
should be able to tell you. I don't think that Asian skin would do well with
Erbium, but I could be totally wrong. Personally, I wouldn't risk it. But some
of the other Asians could correct me here if they have had good success with
it.Another important question I want to produce is whether the newly-grown
collagen will last forever after subcision?Denise: I believe it should, yes. Needling is good too, in that the collagen
seems to be stimulated for many months after the initial injury to the skin.
You may want to look into needling, also. I believe that there is that place
in San Francisco that has a good reputation for needling. That could be a
consideration also. Your scars look like the type that could respond well to
needling also. And needling works very good on Asian skin as well.If I want to temporarily improve my skin texture during the time of saving
money for the fee of procedures, Do you think only applying Retin-A is
preferable? (I know the dead cell will mount up again when stop using it.)
Moreover many people here mentioned the products of Skinbiology, I am so
confused, because I don’t very understand the use and purpose of each product.
Could you tell me? Or give me a link to a website that will describe these
products’ use and purpose? I have ever seen the website of SkinBiology, but
its information look in disorder.Denise: Well, I'm not sure what to say here except that you should only do
what you feel comfortable with. I use Retin A micro every other night. I use
Skin Biology with it. But I don't know what to tell you about the organization
of the Skin Biology website except that if you want to read about it, that's
the place to go. I do believe that combining Retin A or lactic/glycolic acid
peels with Skin Biology Serum is very helpful. If you want to see about peels,
go to: www.homepeels.com and click onto information about lactic/glycolic acid
peels.
Denise, as we know needling take almost no down time, if you fly to South
Africa seeing Des Fernanandes for needling, it will be more effective though
you have to take a long travel.Denise: But I have someone 2 hours from me who is experienced in needling.
There is no need for me to go all the way to South Africa. Plus, if I get my
whole face done, I will have about 5-7 days of down time.Hope this helps, Ken, and God bless you, too.
Heather -- Kate, 17:43:08 02/04/03 Tue
Heather, I am very sorry to hear your pain...I really do understand what
you're going through. I also did the hiding of my face under hair and was
always aware of the lighting conditions. About 3 years ago I started taking
Diane-35 and that really helped clear me up...You should do a search for it
and read up on the research done on it and become familiar with both the
positive aspects and the possible side effects. I also was very depressed, and
even though it's a contraindication to take these bcp's if you are
experiencing depression, it seemed to actually help my depression. I do still
occasionally break out with one or two pimples, but it is nothing in
comparison to what it was. Also, if you experience cystic acne, zinc really
helped me with that(I take 15 mg about every other day-try daily to start
out.) I would recommend zinc pilocnate(sp?). I suggest you do research on this
to familiarize yourself with how and why it might work and any complications
it might cause. Now, for scars- I do still have them, but they are alot
better. I was trying the cp serum and exfol serum, but didn't see much of an
improvement. I ended up switching to the exfol cream and trireduction cream
w/o retinol and have noticed a good improvement in my skin tone and texture.
As I had said, I do still occasionally break out, but the trireduction and
exfol cream seem to actually help with the breakouts. My skin is not as oily,
it soothes my skin, and gives it a nice healthy glow. However, if you do not
wish to risk using the creams seeing as your skin does seem very sensitive, I
would highly recommend Olay total effects fragrance free anti-aging vitamin
complex. You can use it with the cp serum and exfol serum. Look for the short
fat bottle, not the moisturizer. I will post my results with the skin biology
creams when the time is right and wish everyone the best. And, Heather, I do
truly understand where you're coming from. I am only 24 and just a couple of
years ago I was in the same position as you.
Heather -- Denise1, 16:27:12 02/04/03 Tue
The main reason why I recommended going as natural as possible and as gentle
as possible is because it sounds like your skin is extraordinarily sensitive.Ofcourse you can "chew the meat and spit out the bones" to anything I'm
saying. Do what works for you. Personally, I use the Purifying Cleansing Gel.
It is incredibly gentle. The reason why I think you would may benefit from
using Living Nature products is because they also have a wonderful product
called Manuka Oil and Honey Gel. It has 5 ingredients, including vitamin e and
aloe vera gel. No chemicals, no preservatives. Because manuka honey has over
20 times the antibacterial properties of tea tree oil, it is very good. But
the difference is that manuka oil is incredibly soothing, very unlike tea tree
which can burn your skin of overused.That would probably be very soothing for your skin.
Also, if your skin is oily, the regulating gel by Acne Miracle will regulate
your oil production.Depending on how bad you break out, you may want to try vitamin b5 and read
some of the information at Acne Miracle. These folks also suffered from
terrible acne and gave up on derms and came up with all natural products to
soothe skin.I use several of the Acne Miracle products. But ofcourse I don't know how bad
you break out so it's hard for me to recommend much of anything. But one thing
to keep in mind too is that if you've been on antibiotics chronically, you may
have candida overgrowth. If you want to understand why antibiotics will make
acne worse, do a word search using the words: candida ablicans - acne -
antibioticsThat will explain everything.
Skin culture peels?? -- Jodi, 11:37:12 02/04/03 Tue
Has anybody out there tried the "Skin culture" peels? I'm a struggling single
mom (every penny counts) and would like some feedback before shoveling out
200+ dollers. My scarring isn't very deep, just splotchy... lots of little red
spots. All replies appreciated.--Jodi
to dr rullan -- rotten apple, 07:16:51 02/04/03 Tue
hi again doctor.. ive been seriously considering exoderm for my acne scars, i
live far away from california, but if exoderm is the best option for treating
scars, then i will go there, i just want to know how much improvement should i
see after.. lets say two months... ive taken accutane, but stopped in july of
2002, half a year ago, so i think the best date to have exoderm would be a
year later, this summer.. my scarring is only on the cheeks but i want to look
good and have confidence in myself again, i just want my life back, like many
people say, so, is it good one year after taking accutane and what is the
expected improvement? or also the improvement after the two exoderms done? ive
been seriously pondering about exoderm or the yag laser that my derm suggests
me. thank you very much for your time..
Thank You!!! -- Heather, 04:37:21 02/04/03 Tue
Dj: Thanks for your response. I can't believe its been two years for you and
you are still having the same problems I am. My doctor told me that the laser
is called the yagium but its been coined under different names and he says it
does basically what all the other non-invasive lasers do such as the N-lite
and all those. Its suppose to break up the redness and reduce it and stimulate
collagen in the mean time. I have no clue how much it costs because my
treatments are free as part of my recovery. I haven't really seen a dramatic
improvment since July when I started. The pink has faded a bit but its taking
forever. I just hate my face. BTW I wear sun screen only when I am going to be
in the sun for more than an hour continously. Otherwise I go without it if I'm
just going to be briefly in it here and there. Should I change that and wear
it full time because I think it aggervates my skin even when I buy the
non-everything type. Plus I hate how it makes my skin look.Denise: I'm looking at one of the sites now but I'm going to have to sit done
and devote some time researching everything before I can let you know
anything. I appericate your response soooooo very much :) I don't use makeup
at all so thats not a problem btw. I just wish I could eliminate my acne and
reduce these scars. I'm going insane over here. I'm hoping the skin biology
products work. And I tried Kinerase and a vitamin C serum btw for about 2
months with no improvment...has anyone had a could result from either of
those? And denise which product should I buy on allnatural...the acne gel or
manuka thing? Thanks guys!!!!!!
Re: Kinerase -- diego, 23:43:13 02/03/03 Mon
Pall: Kinerase does almost the same job on blackheads as Retin-A did for me.
That is, it made them soft and easy to extract. At my age though I get so few
blackheads that if you're young (teens/early 20's) then talk to your doctor or
dermatologist to check on Kinerase. There may be a prescription strength
version available that's more effective than the 0.1% strength that I get.
There are no side effects on record. It yields no photo-sentivity, no redness,
and no dryness. It's based on a plant enzyme and the good news is that there
are lots of similar products on the horizon that may be even more effective.
Illinois Doc -- Mikey, 21:00:22 02/03/03 Mon
Does anybody know of any good illinois acne scar doctors??
Diego-Kinerase -- Pall, 19:56:38 02/03/03 Mon
You mentioned using kinerase and i was wondering if it works like retin-a?
Does it help with the blackheads? Does it make your skin smooth? Any side
effects? Thanks!
Reply to Ken -- Dorrie, 18:54:04 02/03/03 Mon
Hi Ken!
Just to let you know, I would not pass along names of doctors whom I have not
seen. I've seen Dr. Geroneums, Dr. Norman & David Orentreich & Dr. Rapaport.
For me, Dr. Orentreich was the best. The Orentreichs also felt I would benefit
from laser and/or dermabrasion, but I could not be sold on this method of
treating acne scars. The Orentreichs were the only ones doing subcision (about
4 yrs ago), and offered that to me as an alternative. I now moved from NYC to
NJ & wanted a Dr. on this side of the GW Bridge. I did not like Dr. Rapaport's
personally, and it is for this reason I would not consider having work done by
him. Dr. Geronemus also did not have a winning personality, but I've seen work
done by him, and all the derms seem to recommend him, so I can understand his
appeal. Dr. Bernstein in Dr. Geronemus' office, whom I have also seen, and
incidentally he took care of my spider veins, is a good alternative in that
office.
Dorrie
Dorrie -- Ken, 17:47:46 02/03/03 Mon
Dear Dorrie,
Thank you very much for your concern. I used to be like you, always finding
the best doctor to deal with our scars. But perhaps you are new to the voy
forum. You will eventually know some so-called renowned doctors like Dr.
Geronemus of NYC or Dr. Tina S. Alster of D.C are just self-promoting doctors.
Two persons on this voy forum who told me Dr. Geronemus and Dr. Alster are not
as a good result bringer as might be. Perhaps they are good dermatologists
(dermatologists able to treat many conditions) but not the best for treating
scarring. A lot of us might be swayed by the words of their website or their
images. Though I have never been to the U.S seeing one of them, I am finally
aware that the results of a patient count but not the rumors. So, you could
try to ask on the board if anyone ever saw Dr. Geronemus with great result
before visiting his office.As for Dr. Rapaport, you can read the old messages in the archive, he is
considered to bring constructive result to us ACNE SCARRING SUFFERER. He will
combine Subcision and N-Lite for scarring correction. You said you were
advised to receive CO2 by him SIX YEARS AGO. I think he did not do subcision
at that time. But it is a bit different now.God Bless you
Ken
Nina -- Ken, 17:42:18 02/03/03 Mon
Dear Nina,
Could you tell me which doctor performed your subcision and whether you
received N-Lite/Cooltouch II after it? Aside from above, did you ever receive
any procedures such as Erbium to improve the texture of your face. Your story
sounds encouraging, I hope you could answer my questions above.Here is the link to the photos of my scarring
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/newpride/lst?.dir=/My+Photo+Album&.src=ph&.order=&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/I hope you could give me some constructive suggestion of what
procedures and which Doctor best for me.Furthermore, could you tell me if the subcision is not done properly, what is
the side-effect?God bless you
Ken
Denise1 -- Ken, 16:07:50 02/03/03 Mon
Dear Denise,
Improve the texture of my skin, erbium or Tca and what treatment?
Temporary measure to improve my skin, topicals?Will the collegan last forever after subcision?
Dear Denise,
Last time, you said I had better see a good acne scar doctor to figure out my
scarring type and suitable treatments. In fact, a good evaluation must be done
by some kind of experienced doctor who is neutral and will not risk his
patients’ face only for their money. Therefore, besides Dr. Rapaport, do you
have any referrals for precise evaluation on acne scarring?Why did you said Co2 will not work well with oily skin? Moreover, do you still
think Co2 is not as effective as many people think here?In addition to exoderm, if I decide to take the combination of Subcision and
N-Lite/Cooltouch II, what procedure I should take after in order to improve my
skin texture? TCA or Eribum? Which can archieve more percentage of
improvement? Is Asian skin suitable to Eribum Laser?Another important question I want to produce is whether the newly-grown
collagen will last forever after subcision?If I want to temporarily improve my skin texture during the time of saving
money for the fee of procedures, Do you think only applying Retin-A is
preferable? (I know the dead cell will mount up again when stop using it.)
