POSTED UNDER Reviews REVIEWS
Skin Needling Acne Scarring
ORIGINAL POST
First of all, let me begin by saying that I have a...
blacknyellowApril 22, 2015
WORTH IT$900
First of all, let me begin by saying that I have a pretty bad skin picking habit. I am 30 years old now and have been doing it for years. It has been a vicious cycle of "pick, figure out ways to cover it up, panic about the scars that I may have been created, try to treat the scars".... There have been times when I have thought to myself "there is no way my skin will ever recover from this..... i am marred for life" HOWEVER, I now have some hope with microneedling.
I have done 3 Skin Pen treatments over the past year.... the first time I went, I asked that they only do my forehead because I was absolutely terrified that the procedure would make my skin worse, and I wanted to see how I would respond to it first. Also, my forehead was the WORST part of my face - i felt like I had to always hide behind my bangs. There was this one area about my area that I picked so badly... it would heal and leave this sort of raised area (not a keloid or anything, but just slightly raised and the size of like a quarter, right above my eyebrow) Because of its location, it looked like I constantly had a slight crease on my forehead between my brows. I hated it and would always try to pick at it thinking that maaaaybe I could get it to flatten it out (I know, I am crazy.) I don't know how to explain it other than "i just looked rough"...
Anyway, so the first session, I did forehead only. This was in May The technician numbed the area and after about 20 mins once I was numbed, she went over the area for about 15 minutes. I did feel some slight pricking but it wasn't anything I couldn't tolerate. After years of picking, you get used to the pain. Now I want to mention that this was a year ago, so any close up pics I might've had, I probably deleted. I do apologize for that. I have made an effort to zoom in on some old pics so you can see the improvement. The first pic was taken in February 2014 - you can see how rough my forehead looks. I did the skinpen treatment (forehead only) in April of 2014. The second and third pics were taken in late May 2014, so you can see slight improvement. Not perfect, no, but an improvement, and that forehead line i had been battling was finally flattening out. (In the pic with the sunglasses, I was actually out on the beach, so that pic was taken in bright sunlight.)
Ok, so the forehead was looking better and better over time, and I was actually starting to wear my bangs back up again. See July pics!
HOWEVER, I then suddenly had some weird breakouts on my cheeks around that time.. really deep painful ones that I of course picked at. Once I felt like they were kind of healing over, I went back for another skinpen in late July - this time for my entire face. One note of advice: I would not recommend you do skin pen if you have any deep bumps/cysts. In my case, I thought that the needles would help break up any acne, but really it just irritated them. Now, it could be that whatever topical they applied after my treatment was geared towards scarring rather than acne, but I'm not sure. I think it's better to wait until it has healed over, though, just to be on the safe side. I found that the skin pen just irritated my existing break out and almost pushed some clogged pores deeper into my skin. I do not think I have any close up pics of my cheeks from that time bc I felt like I looked like a monster - I was so hard on myself. The skin pen treatment didn't really help too much for my cheeks at the time - again, i had some weird breakouts and i probably shouldn't have done it, but it did seem to further improve my forehead in my opinion. (Finally the one "ugly" area of skin was the new "pretty" and clear area of skin)
I did a 3rd skinpen treatment in late September (Sept 26th i think), after the breakouts on the cheeks had healed - since they left some scarring and uneven texture, sI was hoping to smooth those areas out for good. My cheeks were never my biggest issue, so I guess I didn't really think to take pics... However, I'll see what I can find and update later. I did notice an improvement all around, though, and was receiving compliments from friends and family. I do believe the skin pen did help!!!!
Ok so where am I now? Well, because I'm slightly crazy and don't learn my lessons, I may or may not have managed to mess up my forehead again LOL. I had one night where I was just bored and anxious and mindlessly went at it. (I laugh because you know what? everything is fixable and treatable/improvable... we all mess up and no one is perfect - all we can do is either accept our situation and/or work to improve it)... So ok, here I am, messed up forehead again (will post pics later), and I am going in for a skinpen again on Monday 4/27. I know the technician will be mad at me for my d*mn idle hands lol. She will probably be like "I THOUGHT I FIXED THIS ALREADY" lol. I will let you all know how that goes.
Bottom line: I do recommend the skin pen !!!! I would just wait until after any active breakouts have healed and BE PATIENT. Be good to yourself! Often times, we don't even notice scars on others, or when we do notice them, it is because we are subconsciously comparing our skin to theirs. Life is too short to stress so much and hate ourselves over a few flaws... please google "Butterfly Child", and you will feel blessed about your current skin situation. It is okay to want to improve ourselves, but even if you don't/can't, remember there is always way worse.
Please feel free to post any questions, and I will do my best to update!
I have done 3 Skin Pen treatments over the past year.... the first time I went, I asked that they only do my forehead because I was absolutely terrified that the procedure would make my skin worse, and I wanted to see how I would respond to it first. Also, my forehead was the WORST part of my face - i felt like I had to always hide behind my bangs. There was this one area about my area that I picked so badly... it would heal and leave this sort of raised area (not a keloid or anything, but just slightly raised and the size of like a quarter, right above my eyebrow) Because of its location, it looked like I constantly had a slight crease on my forehead between my brows. I hated it and would always try to pick at it thinking that maaaaybe I could get it to flatten it out (I know, I am crazy.) I don't know how to explain it other than "i just looked rough"...
Anyway, so the first session, I did forehead only. This was in May The technician numbed the area and after about 20 mins once I was numbed, she went over the area for about 15 minutes. I did feel some slight pricking but it wasn't anything I couldn't tolerate. After years of picking, you get used to the pain. Now I want to mention that this was a year ago, so any close up pics I might've had, I probably deleted. I do apologize for that. I have made an effort to zoom in on some old pics so you can see the improvement. The first pic was taken in February 2014 - you can see how rough my forehead looks. I did the skinpen treatment (forehead only) in April of 2014. The second and third pics were taken in late May 2014, so you can see slight improvement. Not perfect, no, but an improvement, and that forehead line i had been battling was finally flattening out. (In the pic with the sunglasses, I was actually out on the beach, so that pic was taken in bright sunlight.)
Ok, so the forehead was looking better and better over time, and I was actually starting to wear my bangs back up again. See July pics!
HOWEVER, I then suddenly had some weird breakouts on my cheeks around that time.. really deep painful ones that I of course picked at. Once I felt like they were kind of healing over, I went back for another skinpen in late July - this time for my entire face. One note of advice: I would not recommend you do skin pen if you have any deep bumps/cysts. In my case, I thought that the needles would help break up any acne, but really it just irritated them. Now, it could be that whatever topical they applied after my treatment was geared towards scarring rather than acne, but I'm not sure. I think it's better to wait until it has healed over, though, just to be on the safe side. I found that the skin pen just irritated my existing break out and almost pushed some clogged pores deeper into my skin. I do not think I have any close up pics of my cheeks from that time bc I felt like I looked like a monster - I was so hard on myself. The skin pen treatment didn't really help too much for my cheeks at the time - again, i had some weird breakouts and i probably shouldn't have done it, but it did seem to further improve my forehead in my opinion. (Finally the one "ugly" area of skin was the new "pretty" and clear area of skin)
I did a 3rd skinpen treatment in late September (Sept 26th i think), after the breakouts on the cheeks had healed - since they left some scarring and uneven texture, sI was hoping to smooth those areas out for good. My cheeks were never my biggest issue, so I guess I didn't really think to take pics... However, I'll see what I can find and update later. I did notice an improvement all around, though, and was receiving compliments from friends and family. I do believe the skin pen did help!!!!
Ok so where am I now? Well, because I'm slightly crazy and don't learn my lessons, I may or may not have managed to mess up my forehead again LOL. I had one night where I was just bored and anxious and mindlessly went at it. (I laugh because you know what? everything is fixable and treatable/improvable... we all mess up and no one is perfect - all we can do is either accept our situation and/or work to improve it)... So ok, here I am, messed up forehead again (will post pics later), and I am going in for a skinpen again on Monday 4/27. I know the technician will be mad at me for my d*mn idle hands lol. She will probably be like "I THOUGHT I FIXED THIS ALREADY" lol. I will let you all know how that goes.
Bottom line: I do recommend the skin pen !!!! I would just wait until after any active breakouts have healed and BE PATIENT. Be good to yourself! Often times, we don't even notice scars on others, or when we do notice them, it is because we are subconsciously comparing our skin to theirs. Life is too short to stress so much and hate ourselves over a few flaws... please google "Butterfly Child", and you will feel blessed about your current skin situation. It is okay to want to improve ourselves, but even if you don't/can't, remember there is always way worse.
Please feel free to post any questions, and I will do my best to update!
blacknyellow's provider
Replies (4)
May 24, 2015
It helps breakouts to keep hair away from face and dry face with it's own towel. I've found that cream rinses leave enough oil on the hair and towels that it causes breakouts. Picking is a "nervous habit". It may help to talk to a doctor about anti-anxiety medication or pick somewhere else, not face. Of course all meds have side effects; you want to balance that with damage you do to face.
May 31, 2015
Hey I just wanted to say that I totally get what you're going through. I can tell you that when I began taking Wellbutrin my "habit" was easier to control. This is after years of trying different medicines for what is actually a real disorder, not just a nervous habit. It's super hard to drag yourself out of the mirror, or stop yourself, almost impossible. I tried Luvox at the dr's suggestion, and it was ok, but the buproprion helped immensely. A few side effects in the beginning but overall, worth it. Now, I only have to deal with scars left over and some tiny areas from when I ran out a few times. Best of luck to you and anyone reading this who has this same problem. It's a real killer of confidence.
May 31, 2015
You may very well be suffering from a mental disorder called Excoriation Disorder, a condition related to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, similar to Tricotillomania (hair pulling). As suggested by Queenbee, it is treatable by medication, psychotherapy or both. Ask your primary care physician for a referral to a psychiatrist for medication evaluation. There are therapists in the Houston area who specialize in treating this disorder. Check out Tricotillomania Leaning Center for specialists near you.
Replies (4)
April 21, 2016
Impressive! I think I really need to consider this procedure for my acne scars. Thanks so much for sharing your progress.
April 30, 2016
I don't see anything wrong with your skin. These are all "after" pics? I was a skin picker for almost 15 years as well (it was my personal coping method for CPTSD). I don't do it now. I've had 3 IPL treatments, several microneedling, 3 CO2, and I'm honestly not sure I can see much difference. I don't think you damaged your skin bad at all because you look beautiful. I've got such dreadful scars, and yes the forehead is the worst of all, so you have my heart, I totally understand. Be brave, be calm, move forward.....
August 6, 2016
Okay seriously I gotta say from a fellow picker your skin looks AH MAZ ING. You must heal well. I have terrible cheek scars and I secretly blame myself for all of it, I never had full face-covering acne like many people here, just a severe picking problem and a few hormonal cysts over the years that combined w picking led to super deep scarring, (they'd heal, I'd pick again, ugh) Anyway you look awesome :)
October 21, 2016
I also don't see any acne scars in your photos. I do see some lines on the first pic that are gone in the latter ones. Are you still happy with your results?
Welcome to the community. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your personal journey with us. You made a smart decision to treat only a small area of your face to see how your skin responded. I do see improvement in your forehead. Your review offers great insight into the battle of scars that many of us, including myself, face everyday. I have seen the story about the Butterfly Child, it really helps puts our own issues into perspective. Thanks again for sharing your story with us and I look forward to your updates.