My Experience with Silikon 1000 for Acne Scars - New York City

I never write reviews for anything, but given the amount of research I did on Real Self before having this procedure, and the strong negative opinions of some doctors on the subject of silicone injections and acne scars, I felt I owed it to folks who are here looking for info.

About me: I am a woman in my mid-30's who had cystic acne in my late teens/early 20s that was cleared permanently by Accutane. I have had 2 rounds of full-face CO2 laser and and just about every temporary filler you could imagine, including old school collagen, Juvederm, and fat injections--the latter from the so-called pioneer of lipostructure, or whatever it's called these days. My acne scars could be characterized as moderate, mostly boxcar-type and rolling on the lower portion of my face. I'm sorry but I don't have before and afters, the thought of having my acne scars permanently memorialized on the web freaks me out.

I had my first round of Silikon 1000 injections for acne scars 1 week ago. My experience has been excellent--way beyond expectations--at this point. I realize I still have a couple more treatments before I am finished, and that there can be a latent period before side effects show up. However, I am extremely pleased and will update as my treatments proceed.

The procedure was virtually pain free (even without topical anesthesia, which my doctor prefers not to use) and I experienced only very mild bruising/swelling. The correction from Silikon is a thousand times better than I have experienced with any temporary filler. Even some of my scars that were extremely recalcitrant and never filled by any of these temporary fillers are now greatly reduced. My doctor used less than 1 CC of silikon total, which is about 1/5 of a teaspoon.

I am disappointed that Real Self does not allow regular users to respond to doctors' comments about a particular treatment. I did a huge amount of research before undergoing this procedure, and I feel there is a lot of misinformation going on here (notice there are doctors who don't seem to delineate between the difference between generic silicone and Silikon 1000, which is a highly purified medical grade silicone). For the doctors who will surely respond to this post trashing Silikon 1000 as a filler for acne scars, can you please point me to a single documented case in the medical literature which shows a silicone embolism due to conservatively injected (less than 4cc total over the course of treatments) Silikon 1000? Can you point to a single documented case in the medical literature of conservative use of Silikon 1000 causing granulomas that are untreatable by simple steroid injections? Furthermore, I've also noticed some anti-Silikon doctors implying that doctors who use Silikon have a financial interest in doing so. I'm not sure how this works, since a series of Silikon treatments is infinitely cheaper than a lifetime of temporary fillers.

Finally, I just want to say that for anyone whose life was changed for the better by Accutane, I'm sure the story around Silikon rings true. Basically, it's a treatment that works and saves scores of people from a lot of heartache, but it's controversial because a) some people have used it incorrrectly (in most cases of silicone-related side effects, we're talking about non-medical grade silicone injected by non-medical personnel); and b) there is a financial incentive for doctors to push temporary treatments over permanent ones.

Please, do your homework like I did. Draw your own conclusions. If a doctor makes a claim, good or bad, ask them to back it up by citing the medical literature so you can review it yourself. If you decide to do this treatment, go to an expert. It's permanent, so if you need to travel to find that expert, save up and do it. If you're someone with acne scars that don't really bother you very much, maybe this isn't the treatment for you, because you really should do your due diligence. But for years my scars were all I saw when I looked in the mirror, and I finally feel like I've shut the door on that part of my life.