The treatment is multimodality, including resurfacing (peels, (micro)dermabrasion, CO2 and erbium laser), fillers (HAs, radiesse, sculptra), and excisional surgery as with limited ice pick scar excision or skin lifting as with mini-lifting. Of course, your skin condition should be as stable as... more
Laser resurfacing and microdermabrasion for acne scars?
I have ice pick scars on my cheeks. I've done 5 laser resurfacing and 5 microdermabrasion treatments, but I don't see any significant improvement on my scars yet. I was told I still have 3 treatments left. Can I expect the scars to look better after 3 more treatments, or are there any other options I should be better off trying?
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7 answers to “Laser resurfacing and...”A: Punch grafts followed by resurfacing work well for ice pick scars
Shallow scars respond very well to the treatments you mentioned, provided that the microdermabrasion is done by a doctor and deeper than what an aesthetician would do. I typically find that punch grafts for ice pick scars work well when they are done first before the resurfacing with dermabrasion, Fraxel or... more
A: You will need fillers
The laser tx will improve your skin to some degree. Fraxel been very effective since it penetrates deep and rebuilds your tissue. The acne starts from deep layers and skin tx do not penetrate deep enough to remove acne. Fillers and fat injection will work better. Please discuss this with you doctor. If... more
A: Ice pick scars need deep and full thickness treatment
Laser resurfacing and dermabrasion generally treat surface irregularities. Ice pick scars are essesntially holes in the skin that usually traverse the enitre thickness of the skin. The best treatment is to punch (cut) them out and then perform a resurfacing procedure to soften the resulting scar. If I can... more
A: Microdermabrasion or superficial laser will do nothing for ice pick scars.
To SEEBRUCH, Hi! Ice pick scars are hard to treat, and "non invasive" treatments will not help. Sometimes, "non invasive" means "non effective". DEEP laser resurfacing with the dual modality Contour laser ( long pulse and short pulse erbium laser) can often help. ... more
A: Deep non-ablative fractional laser resurfacing plus ablative fractional is best for deep acne scars
Dear SEEBRUCH, Deep ice pick acne scars are very difficult to treat. Surface laser resurfacing and microdermabrasion do not go deep enough into the dermis (deep layer) of the skin to promote new collagen to plump the scars. Newer fractional non ablative resurfacing (Satrlux 1540) for 4 treatments followed by a... more
A: Results depend on depth of resurfacing
It is difficult to evaluate your situation without photos and laser settings. Ice pick scars sometimes need excision as well. Current thinking is that acne scars respond best to fractional ablative laser resurfacing either with erbium or carbon dioxide lasers. best advice is to see a practicioner with... more
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Acne scars before & after photos
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1 post
9 Feb 2009
I have scars from cutting. Is there any recommended treatment? Its embarassing that I did it to myself and now I just want to feel normal.
18 posts
4 Feb 2009
I have seen "improvement" in ice pick scarring with the Active FX Deep treatment. However, all skin is not the same. You may need to have a traditional CO2 laser resurfacing under anesthesia and even then, we never say "gone". Although the healing time for this procedure is more extensive, it is going to be the most effective. In my experience, Microdermabrasion has not been effective in treating this kind of scar. I wish you luck!
81 posts
4 Feb 2009
These three modalities: Deep FX, Fraxel Re: Pair, Traditional CO2 Resurfacing have all proven to significantly improve acne scarring in well documented, peer reviewed literature. All are CO2 based lasers and work by vaporizing part of the damaged tissue as well as heating the surrounding tissue to cause tissue remodeling and collagen stimulation. Unfortunately, there are a lot of devices out that call themselves laser resurfacing. Some of them work but many do not. If you have not seen much result after five treatments it is unlikely that you will get significantly more results after three more treatments. Microderm is a very shallow treatment and unless your provider is taking the skin down to the point of bleeding they are likely way too shallow to have a significant effect. Keep in mind even with treatments like Deep FX and the Fraxel Re: Pair it is still necessary to do three treatments. With traditional CO2 usually one treatment will give significant results but the downtime can be several weeks to over a month.
92 posts
4 Feb 2009
I agree that microdermabrasion and superficial lasering will do nothing for ice pick scars. Deeper lasering may help, but they do have significant downtime. We have had good results is some patients filling these scars with Juvederm or another type of filler. Though the scar is still present it can be more easily and effectively covered with concealer. We just treated a young woman with significant scarring prior to her wedding, and although not perfect, she was very grateful for her results, and how she looked in her wedding photo album.
1 post
13 Apr 2009
I have had acne since I was 13, I am now 30 and as time went the dark spots on my face have not, I continue to get pimples and scaring and now I see more and more pockmarks, what will I do. I wear make-up to leave my home to work everyday. I'm just sick and tired of it. If I could get advice and affordable treatment I would love to get help.