I have ‘ice pick’ kind of acne scar and because of good reviews with regards to derma rollers I also want to try it.

Question

I’ve heard good reviews with this thing called ‘derma rollers’. I just want to try this because I have ice pick scars. But the problem is, people who are using derma rollers are going with vitamin c serum. But I’m not sure if this will go well with my face. We have aloe vera in our backyard and I’m planning to use this instead. Will aloe vera gell go well with derma rollers in treating ‘ice pick’ kind of acne scars? We don’t have any clinics or dermatologists here in our place though.

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

Fractional laser is an amazing and highly effective treatment in our office. We use the laser treatment to help with acne scars, large pores, fine wrinkles, tissue collagen loss, scars, sebaceous hyperplasia, active acne, and for brightening dark pigmentation. Although there are very strong fractional lasers such as CO2 laser, we use lighter treatments for corrective skincare and maintenance of results. Our Thulium fractional laser, clear and brilliant laser, and Ultra Thulium laser are excellent options in our clinic. We also perform CO2 fractional and erbium depending on skin tone and tolerance for downtime. Patients do have to use a Melarase cream before and after treatment to help further reduce pigmentation after laser.  Melarase AM, Melarase PM, and Melapads can seriously improve surface sun damage and UV related pigmentation. Dark spots can improve with these treatments. I recommend fractional laser for incisional scars as well, especially after plastic surgery.  
Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian 
Realself100 Surgeon

Davin Lim, MBBS, FACD - Account Suspended · Answer

You can try rolling- 0.5 safe on the nose. This may help, however it is not the ideal treatment - TCA CROSS is the optimal treatment for ice pick scars. 
Acne scar revision comprises of specialised procedures. For the best results, one should target the acne scar type with ideal treatments METHODS. Using one device is not optimal. As everyone has a unique pattern of acne scarring, the best solution is a tailored one.  The web reference below will take you to a resource to help you understand acne scar revision at a specialist level. I embedded all the videos in one page to help.

As an example deep ice pick scars, and narrow box car scars are best treated with TCA CROSS. Deep narrow scars respond better to this treatment than even the most expensive lasers. On the flip side, rolling, and atrophic acne scars can improve with fractional devices such as Fraxel, fractional lasers, ProFractional erbium lasers, Infiini –Intensif –Intracel radiofrequency microneedling. Atrophic scars (depressions) can be treated with either fat grafts, PRP or dermal fillers. Tethered and anchored scars are best treated with surgical techniques such as subcision. Other surgical techniques that I use include punch elevation, surgical elevation, punch excision and traditional excision for focal scars. Early and very mild acne scars respond well to eMatrix and non-energy microneedling, as well as vascular lasers. Skin colour changes such as PIH or dark marks respond best to sun protection, creams, and Q switch lasers in the nano and pico pulse durations.

The majority of patients will have a collection of different scar types, and hence a tailored treatment METHOD will be best. Careful examination, especially under angled lighting with scar mapping will give you an understanding of what are the best options for your scars. Additionally tactile examination namely touch will give me an understanding of the amount of subdermal fibrosis, as special equipment is needed for this sub-set of acne scars.  In the majority of patients its finding the correct combination that give you best results, and everyone is unique! It is never about the device, its about the specialist behind the equipment that will deliver the best outcomes. All the best, Dr Davin Lim. Acne scar dermatologist specialist. Brisbane, Australia.

Mitchell Schwartz, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

Medical micro-needling has been proven to be an excellent treatment for acne scarring. In my office, we have been getting excellent results using the ProCell Therapies system which combines motorized microneedling with microdermabrasion and uses human growth-factor serums derived from human bone marrow stem cells that are specifically made for micro-needling. These serums are very "anti-inflammatory" and are very helpful in reducing excess pigmentation as well.
Also, I do not like derma rolling, as rollers create a more erratic pattern of "tears" through the skin rather than the clean, more evenly distributed punctures seen with the motorized micro-needling machines.

It is very important that anything you put on the skin after micro-needling has been specifically tested and proven to be safe to use after this procedure.

I have ‘ice pick’ kind of acne scar and because of good reviews with regards to derma rollers I also want to try it.

Answers (3)

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Derma Roller

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.

I have ‘ice pick’ kind of acne scar and because of good reviews with regards to derma rollers I also want to try it.

Answers (3)

Browse related questions

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Derma Roller

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.