Dermarolling for Stretchmarks
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » Skincare Tools & Do-It-Yourself Skincare

free skin care · Fri May 15, 2009 11:17 am

Bira wrote:

Kay, I read that you rolled and your stretchmarks got worse, too, and you're trying to pre-treat the area with topicals. I did not use anything before or after, and no numbing cream. I did not use enough force to break skin. It hurt enough as it was. However, the next couple of days, my stretchmarks were raised where they were flat before.

Hi Bira,

I have rolled about 4 small areas now. But the ones on my thigh did 'look' worse for about the first 2 - 4 days after the roll. They were raised instead of flat, but that was obviously just inflammation and the redness of the normal skin making the white marks stand out more. After that they went back to normal, they don't look worse anymore, neither do they look better - but it's too early to expect any different.

I have only been applying Vit C spray and Retin A after the roll, I didn't apply anything prior to rolling.

Bira wrote:

Now I noticed they have crept up above the area below belly button to above it, and my skin as a result kinda wrinkles around the belly button. I'm too scared to try rolling again. To be fair, I cannot be sure if the wrinkles and above BB stretchmarks came from rolling or massaging. I was doing both around the same time.

That does sound strange. Are you saying that some of the stretch marks have gained in length (and now go above the belly button), or are their completey individual 'new' ones that are now above the belly button? How old were the ones on your stomach that you rolled? Were they gained through pregnancy or weight gain?

I will be totally honest, I had been putting off using my roller because I obsessed that I would end up making mine worse. In the end I just went for it.

free skin care · Fri May 15, 2009 12:34 pm

Hi,

This post may come across as weird or stupid, but it's something I have been thinking about this evening.

I know quite a bit about stretch marks now after hours and hours of research and using forums etc. But obviously there is still more I could learn, like with anything.

So, we know stretch marks occur in the dermis. Obviously the dermis is only so many mm thick.
So what if the stretch mark/tear is as deep as the dermis? (if that makes sense). So in other words, the depth of the stretch mark is the depth of the dermis - the stretch mark has torn right through the whole depth of the dermis (maybe seen in more 'severe' stretch marks).

I was wondering, how would derma rolling do anything for this? I imagine it would be like needling thin air? (unless you were to use a roller than would penetratefurther than the dermis...)
I'm not sure if that is going to even make sense to anyone else, but it does me lol.

Or is it a case of the needles penetrating the surrounding areas that induce collegen which then works into the stretch mark/split dermis area?

Maybe I'll draw a diagram so I can make more sense about what I mean Confused

Fri May 15, 2009 1:26 pm

P Girl wrote:

So I'll start...

I have SM of varying ages on my arms, my boobs, my upper and lower abdomen, my hips, horizontal ones above my butt, and behind my knees. Many are from puberty, but some are from weight gain after I got married. All of them are at least 5 years old.

I started using the 1.5 mm. Dr. Roller in January, but it was a very halfhearted attempt with absolutely no pressure and no topicals. In February I started using more pressure and eventually added Retin-A. I started seeing results on my arms very soon after I started the Retin-A.

I've been trying to add the DIY Vit. C spray (I'll post links to all products after this post) to my morning routine but I'm not doing a great job at remembering to use it. I've vowed to introduce it regularly.

I have the Climax spray for numbing, but I rarely use it. Ice does work pretty well but it's kind of a pain. For the most part I don't use numbing.

I roll at the beginning of every month, but I don't do all areas. I have a rolling diary and my treatment schedule of where to roll is a little staggered. I think it's best to not try to roll all areas at once, but rather to focus on a few and seek resolution of those first.

I roll with medium to aggressive pressure. Medium=using some force to push the roller down and aggressive=pushing as hard as I possibly can. I get some blood, but not a lot.

Here's what I do:

1. Wipe the area with alcohol

2. Roll (I tend to not follow the star pattern because I'm not that organized...I just roll the heck out of the area and go over every area in a lot of directions)

3. Shower & dry off

4. Apply Retin-A

5. Apply Vit. C in the morning (and every morning thereafter) and I now apply Retin-A every 2 days because I was getting rashes.

6. Wait one month and do it all again.

Results: My arms and boobs (where I started) are showing dramatic improvement to the point where I can wear sleeveless shirts in public now. My abdomen is much slower at responding, but there is some improvement. I can't really tell behind the knees because 1) I can't see it very well and 2) it hurts SO badly there that I've only rolled it twice.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have been going through the other posts for hours and nothing has been as helpful. I have had my dermaroller for over a year and been overwhelmed with all of the information, I just give up and put it off. I can't wait to get started. I too have a few SM on my arms and a lot on my thighs. Again, thank you!

free skin care · Sat May 16, 2009 10:45 am

Kay2008 wrote:

Hi,

This post may come across as weird or stupid, but it's something I have been thinking about this evening.

I know quite a bit about stretch marks now after hours and hours of research and using forums etc. But obviously there is still more I could learn, like with anything.

So, we know stretch marks occur in the dermis. Obviously the dermis is only so many mm thick.
So what if the stretch mark/tear is as deep as the dermis? (if that makes sense). So in other words, the depth of the stretch mark is the depth of the dermis - the stretch mark has torn right through the whole depth of the dermis (maybe seen in more 'severe' stretch marks).

I was wondering, how would derma rolling do anything for this? I imagine it would be like needling thin air? (unless you were to use a roller than would penetratefurther than the dermis...)
I'm not sure if that is going to even make sense to anyone else, but it does me lol.

Or is it a case of the needles penetrating the surrounding areas that induce collegen which then works into the stretch mark/split dermis area?

Maybe I'll draw a diagram so I can make more sense about what I mean Confused

Kay, your post makes sense to me. I did not do research like you, but when I was rolling, I felt the same way like how coule these tiny needles help repair my stretchmarks which seem to be a deeper tear.

To answer to your previous post in response to mine, I got stretchmarks from having a baby. They're about 10 years old. The new ones above the belly button just magically appeared after I decided to tackle my stretch mark problem with derma rolling and massaging/brushing. I don't know if I was maybe pulling the skin too hard, and caused the old stretchmarks to start gaining in length or not. Imagine a run in your nylons. Maybe stretchmarks work the same way. The run doesn't get worse until you pull on it, right? So maybe my stretchmarks if left alone would have stayed put, but now they kinda run up. I'm sure they're continuing from my old marks. I can see them all connecting. This is why I'm scared to try to do more with them that could create friction and causing more tears.

BTW, my marks were VERY light and hardly noticeable before in bikini. In pictures, you could not even see any stretchmarks. Now they're much more obvious although the color has gone back down to white, but the width seems much wider. I have not taken pictures to see if they show up now though.

free skin care · Sun May 17, 2009 1:46 pm

Kay2008 wrote:

Hi,

This post may come across as weird or stupid, but it's something I have been thinking about this evening.

I know quite a bit about stretch marks now after hours and hours of research and using forums etc. But obviously there is still more I could learn, like with anything.

So, we know stretch marks occur in the dermis. Obviously the dermis is only so many mm thick.
So what if the stretch mark/tear is as deep as the dermis? (if that makes sense). So in other words, the depth of the stretch mark is the depth of the dermis - the stretch mark has torn right through the whole depth of the dermis (maybe seen in more 'severe' stretch marks).

I was wondering, how would derma rolling do anything for this? I imagine it would be like needling thin air? (unless you were to use a roller than would penetratefurther than the dermis...)
I'm not sure if that is going to even make sense to anyone else, but it does me lol.

Or is it a case of the needles penetrating the surrounding areas that induce collegen which then works into the stretch mark/split dermis area?

Maybe I'll draw a diagram so I can make more sense about what I mean Confused

I know what you mean, but maybe you weren't looking in the right place when you did your research. The "puncture wounds" is done so that your skin can HEAL (thats the point of the whole rolling process). When you roll you are trying to go deep enough to hit the collegen (right below the dermis). Therefore the collegen will react "producing" more. The "new" collegen will "fill in" underneath the skin, when that happens it will make the SM more shallow/ thinner until the collegen completely fills it in. When that happens then your SM will be gone (doesn't happen over night, give it at least 3 months for decent results, also depends how deep they are)
As for making it worse???????? Never happened to me or the 30 other ppl I talked to. Maybe after rolling the inflammtion made the SM you didn't know about more noticable. When I roll I pull my skin also. I'm not seeing much improvement on my belly but my hips are finally starting to blend in.

Hope this helps

free skin care · Sun May 17, 2009 1:49 pm

epidermis nit dermis sorry. once you go pass the dermis it mainly consist of fat/ muscle, no SM.

free skin care · Sun May 17, 2009 4:12 pm

Ella's Mommy wrote:

Kay2008 wrote:

Hi,

This post may come across as weird or stupid, but it's something I have been thinking about this evening.

I know quite a bit about stretch marks now after hours and hours of research and using forums etc. But obviously there is still more I could learn, like with anything.

So, we know stretch marks occur in the dermis. Obviously the dermis is only so many mm thick.
So what if the stretch mark/tear is as deep as the dermis? (if that makes sense). So in other words, the depth of the stretch mark is the depth of the dermis - the stretch mark has torn right through the whole depth of the dermis (maybe seen in more 'severe' stretch marks).

I was wondering, how would derma rolling do anything for this? I imagine it would be like needling thin air? (unless you were to use a roller than would penetratefurther than the dermis...)
I'm not sure if that is going to even make sense to anyone else, but it does me lol.

Or is it a case of the needles penetrating the surrounding areas that induce collegen which then works into the stretch mark/split dermis area?

Maybe I'll draw a diagram so I can make more sense about what I mean Confused

I know what you mean, but maybe you weren't looking in the right place when you did your research. The "puncture wounds" is done so that your skin can HEAL (thats the point of the whole rolling process). When you roll you are trying to go deep enough to hit the collegen (right below the dermis). Therefore the collegen will react "producing" more. The "new" collegen will "fill in" underneath the skin, when that happens it will make the SM more shallow/ thinner until the collegen completely fills it in. When that happens then your SM will be gone (doesn't happen over night, give it at least 3 months for decent results, also depends how deep they are)

Hope this helps

Okay, so you are saying new collagen is formed by puncturing/wounding the epidermis? I thought it was by puncturing/wounding the dermis... (I may have gotten mixed up.).

If so, what's the point in using 1.5mm/2mm rollers?

I thought people used shorter needle lengths purely to thicken the epidermis, where as longer length needles (that reach the dermis) are for producing collagen.

From Medscape website wrote:

The dermis contains mostly fibroblasts, which are responsible for secreting collagen, elastin

Ella's Mommy wrote:

When you roll you are trying to go deep enough to hit the collegen (right below the dermis).

Ella's Mommy wrote:

epidermis nit dermis sorry. once you go pass the dermis it mainly consist of fat/ muscle, no SM.

The dermis is where the stretch marks form. Yes, underneath the dermis is fat/muscle etc.

So surely, the whole process is done by penetrating the dermis? This was what I was asking, if a severe stretch mark has torn it's way right through the depth of the dermis, how will needling that stretch mark help? It's like you would be needling thin air, as the needle wouldn't be able to hit the remaining intact part of the dermis below the stretch mark...

Okay, just confused lol.

free skin care · Sun May 17, 2009 7:50 pm

http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=22460&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=dermarolling&start=3375

http://dermalintegrity.com/newsmedia/micro.html

when I have the time i'll post more links

free skin care · Mon May 18, 2009 8:36 am

A SM is skin that was stretched... the marks are just the skin trying to heal it's self (which was done improperly) your body was/ is healing itself, it wasn't worried about the cosmetic part of it. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is something there. your body always finds a way to heal itself even though it's not the way you would like to see it. So instead of wondering how deep you have to go to hit the dermis, you should worry about how deep you have to go to reach your collegen since that's what will help with SM. does that make sense at all? I'm gonna find you some links so you can do more research

free skin care · Mon May 18, 2009 8:40 am

I also had similar questions... I just took a day and looked up everything i could. http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=22460&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=dermarolling&start=3250

free skin care · Mon May 18, 2009 9:33 am

Hi,

I'm not sure if my original question has come across how I meant it.

I am not 100% on whether collagen is produced in the epidermis or dermis, but I'm sure I've read it's formed in the dermis.

My question is, when needling stretch marks... is needling the surrounding skin (dermis) going to help form collagen in the stretch mark? or is it needling the dermis below the mark what forms collagen in the stretch mark? If so, how will that happen if a stretch mark is the depth of the dermis...

I think I'm not able to explain what I mean properly, without a diagram.

Derma-Rollers.com wrote:

As you roll the skin roller over your skin, it creates pin point punctures into the dermis - the majority of which are simply pushing your pores open temporarily. This is perceived by the body as damage, which stimulates the release of growth factors that trigger the production of collagen and elastin

Ok, so basically - does needling the surround areas (next to stretch marks) help with "filling in" the stretch mark. (I think that's the best question to ask, to get the answer to my original question).

free skin care · Mon May 18, 2009 11:38 am

LOL...this discussion is cracking me up for some reason.

Okay, I'll give it a go, but this concept kind of makes my head spin and my eyes go googly.

I think needling the surrounding areas and the areas of the SM are helpful. The actual SM is skin too, just damaged skin, so presumably rolling that area only would solve the problem.

I think we may be conceptually thinking of a SM like a void, like the Grand Canyon. The Earth (skin) has moved, creating a vast unfathomable cavern (cue the dramatic music!). However, it's my thinking that when our skin starts shifting around during the lovely creation of SMs, the "scar making" process is triggered to fill in the gap. So it would be like a giant crew of men who run in to the Grand Canyon and start filling it with cement.

So if we are rolling the cement/damaged skin, the idea is that we're using a mini-jackhammer to break up all that cement---triggering that wound healing/collagen growing process in that very area and replacing the scar tissue with new healthy tissue.

Well now that I've thoroughly stirred this pot and have answered nothing I think I'm done for the day. Very Happy

Tue May 19, 2009 2:11 am

hey p girl..gurL, u are awesome, how the hell did u come up with that analogy?...so smart...haha...so the dermis doesnt neccessarily have to be healed all the way for us to see results?..if we could achieve to heal the epidermis and the basal layer of the dermis fully, would that appear, with what we see with our eyes, stretch mark free skin?

free skin care · Tue May 19, 2009 2:58 am

shygirl,

Why thank you! Laughing

I think I just see SMs as something similar to the Grand Canyon....LOL....it seems like people can see them from hundreds of miles away. So it just made sense.

You know, this is something I don't really understand---the way skin heals. I don't know to what degree we need to "heal" in order to be SM free. Maybe we just need to achieve healing in the uppermost portions? I really have no idea. Too bad I'm not a skin scientist.

If skin heals from below we'd notice depth changes until eventually fresh new skin just appears. If it heals from the sides we'd notice narrowing until fresh new skin appears. If it does both we'll experience both. I just don't know what the reality is. I'm noticing depth changes mostly. I assume they're depth changes because they don't feel the same.

Tue May 19, 2009 6:57 pm

hey guys..i know p girl has had a lot of success with derma rollin..i just want to know how many others have had improvements in here and to what extent...I'm mainly concern about my arms for now...they go all the way down to right before the back of my elbow...i really hope to be where p girl is at..she has mentioned a rating of 8 out of 10 for her arms...oh by the way p girl, are the marks on ur arms bad before? did they go down as far as minE?

free skin care · Tue May 19, 2009 8:39 pm

shy,

To be fair, the SM on my arms are/were nothing like the SM on my lower abdomen. I have one wide one (approx. 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide) on the inside of my left arm where it meets the armpit and then there are many many smaller (but noticeable) ones that run down the insides/undersides of each arm down to the elbow. IMO they were noticeable. I refused to wear anything more revealing than a huge men's t-shirt so my arms wouldn't show.

The marks on my arms are still here. The widest one has made a drastic improvement. There's been an overall huge huge improvement and I now wear sleeveless tops, but I'm still continuing on my rolling path. I was due to roll at the start of May but I've put it off.

Wed May 20, 2009 10:34 am

P Girl wrote:

So I'll start...

I have SM of varying ages on my arms, my boobs, my upper and lower abdomen, my hips, horizontal ones above my butt, and behind my knees. Many are from puberty, but some are from weight gain after I got married. All of them are at least 5 years old.

I started using the 1.5 mm. Dr. Roller in January, but it was a very halfhearted attempt with absolutely no pressure and no topicals. In February I started using more pressure and eventually added Retin-A. I started seeing results on my arms very soon after I started the Retin-A.

I've been trying to add the DIY Vit. C spray (I'll post links to all products after this post) to my morning routine but I'm not doing a great job at remembering to use it. I've vowed to introduce it regularly.

I have the Climax spray for numbing, but I rarely use it. Ice does work pretty well but it's kind of a pain. For the most part I don't use numbing.

I roll at the beginning of every month, but I don't do all areas. I have a rolling diary and my treatment schedule of where to roll is a little staggered. I think it's best to not try to roll all areas at once, but rather to focus on a few and seek resolution of those first.

I roll with medium to aggressive pressure. Medium=using some force to push the roller down and aggressive=pushing as hard as I possibly can. I get some blood, but not a lot.

Here's what I do:

1. Wipe the area with alcohol

2. Roll (I tend to not follow the star pattern because I'm not that organized...I just roll the heck out of the area and go over every area in a lot of directions)

3. Shower & dry off

4. Apply Retin-A

5. Apply Vit. C in the morning (and every morning thereafter) and I now apply Retin-A every 2 days because I was getting rashes.

6. Wait one month and do it all again.

Results: My arms and boobs (where I started) are showing dramatic improvement to the point where I can wear sleeveless shirts in public now. My abdomen is much slower at responding, but there is some improvement. I can't really tell behind the knees because 1) I can't see it very well and 2) it hurts SO badly there that I've only rolled it twice.

Can you please tell me what % of Retin-A you use? I have never used it before and want to start using my dermarollers. Thanks!

free skin care · Wed May 20, 2009 11:06 am

Therisa,

I use .05%. There's no real reason behind this choice though--it's just what I can get in the cream version from ADC.

free skin care · Fri May 22, 2009 11:24 am

P Girl wrote:

LOL...this discussion is cracking me up for some reason.

Okay, I'll give it a go, but this concept kind of makes my head spin and my eyes go googly.

I think needling the surrounding areas and the areas of the SM are helpful. The actual SM is skin too, just damaged skin, so presumably rolling that area only would solve the problem.

I think we may be conceptually thinking of a SM like a void, like the Grand Canyon. The Earth (skin) has moved, creating a vast unfathomable cavern (cue the dramatic music!). However, it's my thinking that when our skin starts shifting around during the lovely creation of SMs, the "scar making" process is triggered to fill in the gap. So it would be like a giant crew of men who run in to the Grand Canyon and start filling it with cement.

So if we are rolling the cement/damaged skin, the idea is that we're using a mini-jackhammer to break up all that cement---triggering that wound healing/collagen growing process in that very area and replacing the scar tissue with new healthy tissue.

Well now that I've thoroughly stirred this pot and have answered nothing I think I'm done for the day. Very Happy

Lol! I can understand why it would make you laugh - I just got this weird thought and wanted to ask.

Your answer made sense, and thank you for explaning it like that lol.

I just thought when I ran my fingers over some of my marks (wider/bigger ones) the indentation felt so bad, I imagined those marks to be hollow (hence my 'rolling mid air' theory Laughing

).

Hi shy, glad to see you made it over to this thread! Wink

I can roll my thigh again in just over a week... but I might leave it a little longer if it still looks bruised.

My stretch marks are still appearing/spreading LOL, white ones that is... they're appearing all over my calves now Sad

it's one thing after another for me it seems Rolling Eyes

free skin care · Fri May 22, 2009 11:56 am

These pictures aren't great, so I do apologise for that.

Just thought I'd upload them...

I rolled roughly a 3x3 inch area on my left thigh. The stretch marks there were very small in both width and length, and when I ran my fingers over them I could barely feel them - so compared to my other marks on other parts of my body, they are very minimal (that's probably why the camera found it difficult to pick them up). They are there, but the camera makes them look less than in real life!

The upper part of the picture is going towards my knee and the bottom part is going towards my groin (just so you know the angle).

Ok, so this is the area just before I rolled:

This is just after I rolled (because of the redness the marks show up more):

This is 1 day after I rolled:

And this picture was taken 18 days after I rolled (taken today). The picture was taken in a different room in day light (the other pictures were taken in artificial light)... also the angle is sideways, so the right hand side of the picture is going down towards my knee (sorry about the hairy leg, I haven't bothered to shave in a while LOL!):

In the last picture the camera isn't picking up the dry/crusty area for some reason. It also looks better on camera than it does in real life... it looks alot more red/bruised in real life.

It would be better if I got a picture today in the same light and at the same angle. I'll try later.

Sat May 23, 2009 7:49 pm

girl...either the pic is hiding ur marks well or u are totally tripping...i don't see any sm and i'm looking like two inches away from my screen...if that's what ur complaining about u dont want to see mine...i would be completely elated with that...

free skin care · Sat May 23, 2009 8:34 pm

I have dark circles and puffy eyes and droop...will dermaroller help?

Sat May 23, 2009 9:22 pm

Hello all, this is my first post but I've lurked in the original DermaRoller thread for some weeks.

First off I want to thank everyone that has contributed to these threads, the info has been invaluable.

I'm a 28 y/o male with stretchmarks on the front and back of my upper arms and also on my midsection. This was the result of sudden weight gain.

I've tried Jean Wu's method on and off for about a year since that was the best alternative I'd found. Didn't see much results and after reading about how dermarolling works, I don't think her method was going to help much.

So I read many pages of the original DR thread and of this one, and came up with the following plan (very similar to P Girl's):

Items:
1. Dr. Roller
1.5mm
192 needles in 8 rows
dr-roller .eu, $69
2. Retin-A (tretinoin)
cream, not gel
0.5% or higher
3. Vitamin C (l-ascorbic acid)
cream or spray? (don't want to risk effectiveness)

Steps:
First, divide into small skin areas to work each on consecutive days

1. Disinfect dermaroller
- hydrogen peroxide spray (+ rubbing alcohol just in case). I hope those rollers come sterilized...

2. Wipe skin area with alcohol

3. Roll trying to push the needles all the way in
star pattern: horizontal, vertical and oblique (X5 each)

4. Apply Retin-A
mix with vitamin C?

5. Go to sleep and on the morning apply vitamin C

6. Wait a month, repeat and repeat

Some other things I've read in the threads:
- "intense, infrequent rolls being the way to go for collagen induction"

- "Never put C serum on after rolling...maybe wait a day or two or longer, because it might act as an anti-inflamatory agent, (which you don't want.)"

- "application of Retin-A to skin that has been rolled, thereby increasing its absorption by an unknown percentage, will also increase the risk of developing the above-referenced side effects, several of which cannot be detected without blood tests. Why take the chance of hepatotoxicity and neurotoxicity, when the milder form, retinol, will support collagenesis"

- "I'm staying away from Retin A after rolling because I'm fearful of the absorbtion into the liver"

---

I'm going to post updates as time goes by, but the process is going to take months. Hopefully these threads won't die off.

free skin care · Sun May 24, 2009 8:38 am

Thanks for all the answer to my previous post! I'm glad to see that so many are getting at least some improvement from this Very Happy

Unfortunately, after reading that a lot of people hate the SM's on their arms, I've started to really hate mine too Confused

So I'm going to roll there as well.

Anyway, I just wanted to know where I can buy everything I need to prepare for the roll? The roller itself I'm going to buy at Ebay, but I need to know where to get Vit A & C (as well as in what form?), and if there's any place I can get Vit A & C + Retin A, since I dont want to pay for shipping from all over the place Shock

free skin care · Sun May 24, 2009 4:26 pm

shygirl11 wrote:

girl...either the pic is hiding ur marks well or u are totally tripping...i don't see any sm and i'm looking like two inches away from my screen...if that's what ur complaining about u dont want to see mine...i would be completely elated with that...

Hey shy!

In the first pic, if you can see those tiny white wonky lines (inside the black marking)... might see it better in the 2nd pic.

The camera is really having a difficult time picking those marks up for some reason. Trust me, they are there and look worse in real life than they do in the pictures. But I will say, they are some of the smallest marks on my body and that area was just a test - I didn't roll it because that's an area I want rid of marks, because no one sees my thighs anyway lol.

The marks on my arms, boobs, stomach are the ones I'd like to lessen... and they are MUCH worse than the ones in the pictures.

My camera is only a 5 megapixel and lastnight I tested it on some marks that are bigger and wider, and it even struggled to pick them up! I wish my marks did look like they do in the pictures, but in real life LOL!

The camera didn't even pick up the redness or bruising very well either - hmm

, and I can't afford a newer/better camera!

When I roll the bigger marks on my arms, stomach and boobs - I will take before, during and after photos... but I still cannot make up my mind whether it will be better to roll once I've lost the weight.

tasha92337 wrote:

I have dark circles and puffy eyes and droop...will dermaroller help?

Hi Tasha,

I think you would be better of visiting the http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=22460&start=3475 thread and asking your question. As this thread is for people using a derma roller to treat stretch marks...

bento wrote:

Hello all, this is my first post but I've lurked in the original DermaRoller thread for some weeks.

First off I want to thank everyone that has contributed to these threads, the info has been invaluable.

I'm a 28 y/o male with stretchmarks on the front and back of my upper arms and also on my midsection. This was the result of sudden weight gain.

I've tried Jean Wu's method on and off for about a year since that was the best alternative I'd found. Didn't see much results and after reading about how dermarolling works, I don't think her method was going to help much.

So I read many pages of the original DR thread and of this one, and came up with the following plan (very similar to P Girl's):

Items:
1. Dr. Roller
1.5mm
192 needles in 8 rows
dr-roller .eu, $69
2. Retin-A (tretinoin)
cream, not gel
0.5% or higher
3. Vitamin C (l-ascorbic acid)
cream or spray? (don't want to risk effectiveness)

Steps:
First, divide into small skin areas to work each on consecutive days

1. Disinfect dermaroller
- hydrogen peroxide spray (+ rubbing alcohol just in case). I hope those rollers come sterilized...

2. Wipe skin area with alcohol

3. Roll trying to push the needles all the way in
star pattern: horizontal, vertical and oblique (X5 each)

4. Apply Retin-A
mix with vitamin C?

5. Go to sleep and on the morning apply vitamin C

6. Wait a month, repeat and repeat

Some other things I've read in the threads:
- "intense, infrequent rolls being the way to go for collagen induction"

- "Never put C serum on after rolling...maybe wait a day or two or longer, because it might act as an anti-inflamatory agent, (which you don't want.)"

- "application of Retin-A to skin that has been rolled, thereby increasing its absorption by an unknown percentage, will also increase the risk of developing the above-referenced side effects, several of which cannot be detected without blood tests. Why take the chance of hepatotoxicity and neurotoxicity, when the milder form, retinol, will support collagenesis"

- "I'm staying away from Retin A after rolling because I'm fearful of the absorbtion into the liver"

---

I'm going to post updates as time goes by, but the process is going to take months. Hopefully these threads won't die off.

Hi bento,

Your items and steps sound perfect to me. I too use a 1.5mm roller, 0.05% Retin-A cream. I make my own Vit C spray with LAA crystals.

bento wrote:

4. Apply Retin-A
mix with vitamin C?

I would suggest applying the Retin-A on it's own (after your roll).. and apply the Vit C seperately... in the morning as you suggested.

This is what I have done, and others too.

I have also read some of the statements you posted above. The one about Retin-A and absorbtion into the liver - well, that's entirely upto the individual, but PERSONALLY... I am not that bothered. I want to treat my marks, and that's my aim. I don't think I will get very far in my treatment without Retin-A IMPO.

I'm sure someone else will be along soon to offer you any more advice.

Loosey wrote:

Thanks for all the answer to my previous post! I'm glad to see that so many are getting at least some improvement from this Very Happy

Unfortunately, after reading that a lot of people hate the SM's on their arms, I've started to really hate mine too Confused

So I'm going to roll there as well.

Anyway, I just wanted to know where I can buy everything I need to prepare for the roll? The roller itself I'm going to buy at Ebay, but I need to know where to get Vit A & C (as well as in what form?), and if there's any place I can get Vit A & C + Retin A, since I dont want to pay for shipping from all over the place Shock

Hi,

I'm not sure where you are from, - but I'm sure most places you need a prescription to get hold of the Retin-A. So most people have bought it from here (including me) http://www.alldaychemist.com/

The shipping can be high to some, but if you stock up on the Retin-A (or any other products you want), then I think it's well worth it. I bought 7 or 8 tubes when I ordered mine.

Is the roller you are buying from eBay a Dr Roller? I think you should purchase one of these... I think they are the best, and alot of other people will recommend them too. Rather than the other cheap ones, that are likely to break or the needles to bend etc.

Automatic Message

If this is your first visit to the EDS Forums please take the time to register. Registration is required for you to post on the forums. Registration will also give you the ability to track messages of interest, send private messages to other users, participate in Gift Certificates draws and enjoy automatic discounts for shopping at our online store. Registration is free and takes just a few seconds to complete.

Click Here to join our community.

If you are already a registered member on the forums, please login to gain full access to the site.