How do you get rid of acne scarring????
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Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:15 am

Have had acne throughout my adult life but now thanks to roaccutane it has cleared very well. However the scars remain and I want to get rid of them. I understand that surgery of some sort will be required but I need your help! Does anyone know of an effective surgery or treatment? I am based in the UK but if a suitable treatment were available abroad I would travel but it would have to be highly recommended!! Thank You.

Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:38 am

Hi Sarah. I have the same problem. What kind of scars do your have? Indented, or raised? Reddened or white? It all depends on what type of scars you have, as to which treatment you can go for. I have tried 3 IPL's for my reddened, indented scars. They have helped with them a bit, but someone recommended the v-beam instead for this. Good luck! Wink

Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:48 am

Thanks!!
My scars are white and inverted. only really visible if I am in certain light ie sunshine or direct light but I can see them all the time no matter what light - so I hope to find a treatment out there that will work for me. Sarah.

free skin care · Tue Apr 12, 2005 8:55 am

Hello Sarahl

First of all what type of scars do you have, are they the pitted sort Crying or Very sad

or the purple marks left from blemishes.

Depending upon what sort of scars you have you could try acid peels before you went for the drastic surgery option. Beauty salons will do very mild peels such as glycolic acid peels and you can get higher strength peels such as TCA peels and the Obagi Blue peel done by GP's/cosmetic surgeons.

As for surgery options well I think that is the only option to get totally rid of the pitted kind of scaring. Being in the UK you may be able to get this done on the National Health, if not BUPA hospitals do it for a huge sum of money.

Hope this helps you in some way.

Tue Apr 12, 2005 9:14 am

Dear Lady Jane

Have tried glycolic peels under doctor supervision also recieved roaccutane via NHS dermatologist but when it came to scarring they said I would not be able to recieve treatment via Nhs and referred me back to the private sector. To date I have been unable to find a recommended treatment that is 100% effective. I do not want to be a position where I have paid a lot of money and still have the scarring.
I have heard about the Obagi peel but have heard mixed results from those who have used it. Maybe you could shed further light?

Many Thanks

Tue Apr 12, 2005 10:03 am

Unfortunately it's very difficult to get rid of acne scarring, if there was a simple and effective treatment then you wouldn't have so many rich celebrities with bad acne scarring eg. Catherine Zeta Jones.

Your best off looking at the boards dedicated to acne scarring on acne.org

I am currently trying homeopathy as Im fed up with all the glycolics and other harsh things I was doing to my face with no real results.

free skin care · Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:08 am

Wow I didn't know CZJ had acne scarring, isn't it nice to know they are not as perfect as their airbrushed photos would have us believe Smile

Sara1 - I haven't had the Obagi peel so I can't comment on how effective it is. I had a course of Glycolic peels and then monthly glycolic facials but I stopped them because they had cleared up spots and pimples but did nothing for scarring. A short while after I had a course of TCA Peels (3)together with Microdermabrasion (3)from a GP, and although I had great hopes for this (and was told by the Doc this would greatly improve my scarring) - it didn't - and I had to suffer red flaky burning skin for a few days each week whilst the treatment was going on.

I think the bottom line is all these peels are too superficial, in my opinion the only way to make scars look better or even get rid of them is surgery, i.e. a much deeper peel with a few weeks down time and a bigger price tag. I haven't had the money, time or been brave enough to have this done but would like to

free skin care · Wed Apr 13, 2005 3:51 am

I have had great sucess getting rid of my mild to moderate acne scarring. It has taken a lot of persistence and various treatments but I have to admit my skin looks amazing.

Intially I didn't know where to start so did research online. I always seemed to come up with the same answer. It was C02 laser resufacing was the most effective way to reduce scarring.

I went on a major mission and was determined to have the C02 done. Living in Atlantic Canada it was no easy feat to find a recommended doctor who does C02. After finding one and going for my first appointment he refused to do the C02 on me. He didn't feel it was necessary in my case as my scarring wasn't as severe as I seemed to think it was.

I was totally disappointed and still desperate for help so took his advice and had the following done.

6 Glycolic Acid Peels
3 TCA Peels
Microdermabrasion

The microdermabrasion was done using the crystal and vacuum system but he went extremely deep with it. It ended up being what should have been called dermabrasion. I was out of work for over a week and left his office with my face literally oozing. It was extremely painful and not like anything I was prepared for.

Next I had artecoll injections for some of my deeper scarring. Last and definitely not least was using the Obagi system which I honestly feel made the biggest improvement of all.

Sorry to have gone on so long but hopefully this helped in some way.

Sherri

Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:06 am

Hi Sherri

This is really useful information.I cannot believe that the laser practioner told you he would not carry out the CO2 treatment. People who have not had acne and are not scarred for life do not really understand how deeply these scars affect daily life and sometimes how traumatic they are.
I really believe that more research needs to be done in this area as it must affect a lot of people. In the end web searches to find suitable treatment is very much a reality for all of us affected in this way.

I am glad the Obagi system and your other treatment has worked out well for you. Could you tell me if that is just the skin care or if the Obagi blue peels were also part of the healing process?

Thank you for sharing your experiences and I hope I will be as successful in finding suitable treatment.

free skin care · Wed Apr 13, 2005 7:25 am

I have customers who say Epidermx helps over time. Very Happy

free skin care · Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:41 am

Hi Sarah,
I never had the Obagi blue peel but basically TCA peels are the same thing. It took me a period of about 6 years to have all those procedures, mostly due to the fact of running around finding doctors who did them.

I also never stuck with what one doctor said and always went for second opinions. It was frustrating and time consuming but it is my face and I never took any of them lightly. He wasn't the only doctor who advised me against the C02. Basically they all felt for the risks associated with the laser that my situation didnt' warrant it.

Omg I almost forgot I had erbium laser done about three months ago as well. I honestly didnt' see any change in my skin after so forgot having even had it done lol.
Hope this helps and good luck, be persistent and you will get results.
Sherri

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