I'll start by giving some background information. I had acne as a teenager and was left with numerous icepick scars on my cheeks . I then had cystic acne after the birth of my third child and had a further 3/4 boxcar type scars as I stupidly picked my spots !. Over the years I've had 11 fractional laser treatments, a chemical peel and an ablative laser treatment before having skin booster injections . The fractional laser and the peel did absolutely nothing to help . The ablative laser did soften a lot of the scars but I still want happy with my skin . The first before photo is after the ablative laser in the worst lighting possible . I am wearing make up in most of the photos but it does nothing to hide the 'depth ' of my scars , my skin is naturally very red as I'm so fair and it covers that . I had a course of skin boosters last summer , 3 treatments a month apart . The second picture is after the third treatment . Maintenance treatments are needed about once a year as the effect starts to wear off as the 'filler' breaks down . The third and fourth photos are last week before my maintenance treatment . Skin boosters are very similar to fillers but treat the area as opposed to individual scars . The injections are slightly painful but more than bearable. My face was swollen and red after the treatment and the skin feels hard . Lumps can be felt under the skin but I couldn't see them when looking in the mirror . The fifth and sixth photos were taken the day of treatment . My left side is now fully 'recovered ' so the last photo is of that side , 4 days later . The right side is still a bit red and swollen so not taken a photo of that side as it may change before I get the final result . Overall I would recommend it as it definitely does give a noticeable improvement . Maintaining the results cost £250 a year but when I think of the thousands I spent on fractional laser with no results it's worth it .
Hi. If you are on a budget, using a retinoid cream daily would help with both the active acne and the scarring until you are in a better situation financially. If you are a woman, going on a contractive combined pill may also help. For both of these things you need to see a GP to be assessed and for them to be prescribed. Hope that helps.
