Dermarolling: Results! What do you think

I was finally able to roll yesterday. I was actually kinda nervous. It had been awhile (thanks to my breakouts) and I was hoping I wouldn't make a mistake and leave track marks.

Popping noises while dermarolling! 

The moment I started rolling, my skin started making this horrible popping noise. Worse than before. It was loud and it felt rough as I rolled the scarred area. It hurt too! Really badly. My eyes were watering but I kept on going. The area beside my lip was bleeding ALOT! Did I mention that it hurt? I must have pressed too hard. Fortunately, I am fine today and there's no butchered skin. It's fine, thank goodness.


I decided it do my chin area and my upper lip too and it HURT! OUCH! I didn't do a good job above my lip because it hurt so bad but I have next time to do better.
After it was done, I was as read a cherry! It was scary to look at. I took a shower and carefully washed off the blood. After my shower, I put on some vitamin E (cream form). It was soothing but I felt like I had a sunburn. I was happy though because I know this is working. The pain is totally worth it.
I woke up this morning and put on some Vitamin A. I will be putting on some Vitamin E, C and A before bed.

Update

My skin looks great. It's a bit red but it's all swelled up so I look like I have no scars. I love this. Microswelling is so awesome! I wish it could stay like this forever.


Here are some pictures:

1st pictures I took back in June.

Taken in June. Other side 

1 month after my first roll

Taken Nov. 4th, 2011 (most recent) Lighting is different because I could not recreate same lighting.

Dermaroller: Pictures of results

Here is the article I was talking about in a previous post: Skin needling for wrinkles and difficult scars

It's interesting and has some before and after pictures.

I rolled today! Yeahh! I bled ALOT! I don't know if that is a good thing or bad. We will see...my husband says I look like a clown right now. I don't care because I know the redness will fade and my skin will look better. I will blog tomorrow and post before, during and after pictures and will tell you a little more about what I did.

Dermarolling: Look at my results so far!

My skin has finally cleared up! I got microdermabrasion done this past Tuesday and will be ready to roll by tomorrow! I am so excited.

My skin is finally clear and ready to roll! Yeeahh!

Close up of my scars

Stretched skin on the side of my lip. The red mark was a deepish pitted scar. It has shrunk dramatically and is filling in nicely. The little red marks are all the icepick scars I had. Most (but not all) have filled in and now there's just red marks where there used to be holes. I am a HUGE believer in this because it IS working for me!

Dermarolling has changed my skin

I LOVE dermarolling! It has dramatically changed my skin for the better! I won't lie...there is still work to be done. Not all the holes have filled in but most of them have. It's amazing and I can't even believe it sometimes. I know if I continue I will be able to get my skin to looking decent! I know there's no way to get perfect skin. That is not what I am expecting and you shouldn't either. I've read reviews where people have said that they have completely gotten rid of their pitted scars. Don't believe it. That's not possible. If it were, all the movie stars would have flawless skin.  What is possible is that you can have beautiful skin again. It will take time. Don't expect a miracle. It has taken months for me to get to this point and I've still got a ways to go but I am optimistic that the time spent on this will be worth it. It's working and that's what matters! whoohoo!

I will ask my husband to take pictures of me in the same lighting and angle as the last time I dermarolled when I roll. Taking pictures myself (like these)come out blurry but I don't have a full time photographer (in other words, it's work to get my husband to take pics of me so I have to take them myself most of the time).

Dermarolling put on hold... :(

My face is still breaking out. I got another cyst on the side of my lip. Ugh. I hate this. I had 2 above my lip recently and they left little indented scars. I poked at them...couldn't help it.
The good news is I truly believe in the dermaroller and the studies I have read (done by Dr. Fernandez...the man who created the dermaroller) say (and show...amazing pics. I will have to look for articles and post links)that the dermaroller works best on the upper lip area! And that is where I got the 2 new small scars. Studies also show it works best on old scars but I have faith that mine will go away!


Here is a terrible pic of what my skin looks like now and why I haven't been able to roll.

 Those were all cysts that I squeezed out. I have another one that I haven't squeezed on the other side. What a nightmare. Stay away from Minocycline. I used to only get one a month before I took that damn medication.  now I get them all over my chin, above my lips and the sides of my lips and I got one in between my eyes. P.S. If you look closely, you can see my line scar...the one I hate. Yes, I always have to point that out. Can't wait to dermaroll it the hell away! :)

I really hate the waiting....

Dermarolling: Will I ever do it again???

I love dermarolling and I love the results I am getting. It's a slow process but I definitely see changes in my scars. Unfortunately, I have not been able to roll in at least 8 weeks (or a little longer) because my skin has been a mess! I got a canker sore which extended to the side of my lip and onto my skin. :( It is still healing and now I have broken out in the area I roll! :(((((( I will have to wait until my skin clears...I really hate this.
I was on minocycline for cysts awhile back but when I got off the meds I broke out even more. So I went back to my dermatologist and got another prescription of Minocycline. Unfortunately, it isn't working the second time around. I am still breaking out worse than before. ugh

Will keep you updated!

Dermarolling: Setback

I was not able to roll this weekend. I got a cyst above my lip and got the most terrible canker sore. It started on the inside of my mouth and part of it was on the outside of my lip. It has been about 15 days since I got it. There's a terrible bump still there. I can not take the chance and roll over it so I am going to have to wait. Here's what it looks like right now:

The red mark above my lip is the cyst and the red mark where my lips meet (corner of lips) is where the canker sore is. A part of it came off and there was a hole in the middle. It looks like it healed....I hope so. I don't want another scar. :(

Current Results

I was looking at my skin earlier today and noticed that 2 ice pick scars completely filled in. It's amazing. It seems to work really well for the little scars. It makes sense. They are small so they are going to fill in faster. The larger ones are somewhat filled in (except for the one I hate) but I've got a ways to go with those. I am fine. I have hope and I really believe in this. It's working for me....slowly but surely.

Microdermabrasion

Oh I almost forgot. I had microdermabrasion done this past tuesday. She avoided my problem areas. I may get it done one more time (it's pricey $80 a session). It really hasnt done much for the scars. It has smoothed out my skin...made it more even toned and it feels so soft. But it isn't helping the pitted scars. It's good for the discolored ones tho.

Dermarolling

I have not been able to roll so I am alittle behind. I planned on doing it this weekend but I wanted to get my microdermabrasion session done first. Unfortunately, I accidentally scheduled my son's appointment at the same time so I had to cancel the micro and reschedule for this week.
So I'll be getting microdermabrasion done on Tuesday and will be rolling on Saturday.

Results: 

Line scar is still there. ugh. The scar that has improved by 50% hasn't had much change but the little tiny scars are filling in. Slowly but surely! I am so looking forward to my next session. I really believe this is working!

Dermarolling: Scars improving!

I have noticed a HUGE difference in my scars. I was just looking at my scars in different lighting and the most noticable ones (except for the one I hate) are almost gone. You can't see them at all unless I stretch my skin!  whoohoo! I am so glad I tried the dermarolling and I cant' wait for my next session! I'll be getting microdermabrasion first and then will roll about 4 days later.

The next time I roll, I will be rolling the entire part of my lower face (from nose and below) because that's where my problem areas are. And I will be focusing on that line scar I hate so much. I had been focusing on the other big scars but I am satisfied with them now. Of course I would like perfect skin, but I know that isn't possible. I will continue with this for as long as I can...

Dermarolling: Amazing results!

I decided to count all my icepicks but when I stretched my skin to start counting I saw the most amazing thing! Some of them are filling in! I know because I could see a piece of skin inside (in the middle) of the hole and it's at least 90% filled in. This is for SEVERAL icepicks.  It looks a little bumpy in the area where all the ice picks are clustered and filling it...but I am hoping maybe microdermabrasion would smooth that out. or maybe it will smooth out on it's own once it's done repairing itself. I want to make it clear that the icepicks that are filling in are the smallest ones. The bigger ones are still there and there hasn't been any change in those. The scar I hate hasn't improved and the other one that was improving hasn't improved anymore. :( But at least those little ones are filling in! That's good news!

Okay, just wanted to pop in real quick to give you all an update! I got so excited that i forgot to count my icepicks....:)

Dermarolling Session #3

I rolled for the 3rd time on August 6th, 2011. I rolled hard but I felt as if I did something wrong. I'll explain later. First I'd like to show you some pics!

Before I rolled. that is my scar that is almost gone! I wish I knew how to put arrows. 

Before I rolled. You can see the line scar I hate  in this pic. ugh

Right after I rolled. You can see the blood spots

Other side.

One day after I rolled. See the redness. It was like this for 2 days

One day after rolling. Red 

Okay so what I did was I rolled on Saturday night before I went to bed. Right after I rolled, I took a quick shower (like a 10 min one to wash the blood spots) and immediately  applied my rentinol and it burned like crazy!! I was a bit worried. After about 20 minutes the burning feeling went away and I felt fine. I was a little worried about that because last time I rolled I feel asleep with a tingly/burnish feeling and this time it was gone! I felt as if maybe I didn't roll well enough but I was pretty red. For a few days after (reason why it took so long to update. I wanted to see what was going on before I posted), it looked like I had butchered my skin. Not what I experienced last time. I was totally freaking out. I thought I had scarred myself but the butchered meat look is gone and I think I am still microswelling. Either that or my scar (the one that has been improving) and some of the little ice picks have improved significantly. It's probably just microswelling. What I am going to do is count all my ice picks and see if any go away in a few months. I looks like some have filled in but since I didn't count before I am not sure so I can't say for sure.

I will update soon!Sometimes I feel like it's working and other times I am not so sure. My husband says my scars are less visible but can I really believe him? He's my husband...he might be saying that to make me feel better.

Dermarolling: Getting ready to roll tomorrow

Tomorrow will be my 3rd session of dermarolling. It's more like my 2nd since I don't think I rolled correctly the first time.
I will be taking before, during (so you can see what the blood spots look like), and after pictures and will post them on Sunday. I like to roll right before bedtime so I won't be posting anything tomorrow.

My Thoughts:

I want to share my thoughts about dermarolling. I can see why people get discouraged...it takes time to see results but most of us are impatient (me) and when there are no results or minor results, we give up. I have felt like giving up a couple of times. I want to see BIG changes and I want to see them now!  I haven't seen much of a change except in one scar. The scar I want fixed hasn't changed a bit...I feel so discourage and can't help but wonder if I am going to be stuck with this ugly thing for the rest of my life. It looks like a big wrinkle! ugh.
I have read several blogs were people START to blog about their dermarolling journey and they promise to keep posting but then they stop with no warning. It is so discouraging! I dont like that. I don't want to do that to you. I am going to share my experience with you whether it's good or bad. I am going to be open and honest with you.  I don't want to mislead you. I know I don't like it when someone claims that some miracle product works only to find out that it was all a scam.
I have heard that dermarolling works for some people and it doesn't for others. I am hoping and keeping my fingers crossed that it will work for me and hopefully it will work for you(or has worked for you) and I hope that you'll share your story with us. We all need hope...
Like I said before, It has helped one scar (by 50%) so maybe it will help the other scars or maybe it won't. I will keep you updated. Please feel free to post comments or ask questions.

Dermarolling:Update

I've got one more week to go before I roll again.

There hasn't been much change in my scars since I last blogged. I can not tell if the icepick scars are getting better. Sometimes they look better but I can't say for sure and I don't want to guess and give you false hope. The scar in my smile line is still there...no changes so far. The scar that I've seen improvement in is still at 50%.There are days where it isn't noticable at all. I am hoping a few more rolls will make that one almost invisible.

Dermarolling: Update with pictures

Here are some new pictures taken today.

Stretched skin:That little red mark is where my skin filled in about 50%.

Excuse the ugly red mark on my chin. I was poking at my skin (and I wonder why I scar!). There is some redness in the scar I have been working on (where my lips meet) but the indentation is slight. There still is a hole but it's not as obvious.

Do you see that big red mark where my smile line should be? That's the ugly scar that won't go away.


The next pictures I take will be exactly like the first ones I took when I started this journey. Pictures were taken in my guest bathroom but we have guests so I have not had access to it. I will try to recreate the same lighting, position, etc so that you can see if there have been any changes. I have see the change but it's so hard to show in pictures.
I will be rolling in about 2 weeks from now.  I am hoping to get microdermabrasion done before I roll. I had 6 sessions done before I started this but it did nothing for the scars. It did, however, make my skin so beautiful and healthy looking.
I was also on Minocycline for about 4 months to help with the cysts. It helped and they went away but now that I am no longer taking the meds the cysts have come back (hence the big scab on my chin). And I have been getting 2 at time instead of one...ugh. So if I have cysts in a couple of weeks, I will not be getting micro done. :((((((

Dermarolling: Changes I've seen in my scars

The microswelling has gone down. The ice pick scars are still there but I noticed that the ones on the right side of my mouth have blended together and have now formed a big one (not huge...about the same size as the one on my right side). There are other icepick scars in that area that did not blend with the now big one. I hear ice pick scars are the hardest to get rid of so I take this (that some of them blended and are now a big scar) as a good thing because it may be easier to work on a big one than a whole bunch of little ones.
The scar in my smile line is still there. :( It is a new one and I hear new scars are harder to get rid of and if I stretch my skin you can see 2 ice pick scars. :( :((( I haven't seen any change in this scar. It looked a little better when my skin was swelled up but it's back to be ugly again. The scar next to it (small round one) has definitely filled in about 50%! You can almost not see it! It's like a little indent but I can see that new skin has filled in the hole! I am hoping this is real and that it's not temporary. I also have some icepick scars on the right side of my mouth but honestly I can't tell if there's been any change.

1 week after dermarolling session #2

It will be a week since I rolled. My scars are almost gone. I am wondering how long microswelling lasts!??? My skin looks great. I am hoping this lasts until my next session.

Dermarolling: Scars are red? Is that a good thing?

My skin is really nice and plump but my scars are red. Is that a good thing? Does that mean I micro needled them really well? This did not happen last time...I must've done it wrong the first time. I am REALLY hoping this works! I know it's too soon but I am getting really exited! :)))))

Dermarolling session #2

I caved and rolled last night (Sunday June 26, 2011). It's been 5 weeks so I think I'm fine. I read that if you roll with a 1mm-2mm roller weekly you could be causing scar tissue to form.

It's recommended to roll every 4-6 weeks (6 weeks being better so that you give your skin time to heal).  I did a WAY better job this time than last. I pressed harder so it hurt pretty badly and there were lots of little specks of blood all over the areas I rolled. It was a scary little sight! And I could hear popping noises!!!!! I was afraid that I had scarred my face even more. But after I washed off the blood specks, my skin didn't look worse. Just really red and puffy. I didn't get any redness the first time I rolled so I am taking this as a good thing. And my skin didn't fluff up last time like it did this time. My husband says he can't even see the scars anymore. :))))  I know it's just microswelling but it feels good not to have holes on my face even if it is just temporary.  The wrinkle that I hate (caused my 2 icepick scars in the smile line area) is still there (sad face) but it's less obvious. I want it gone.
Right after I finished rolling, I put on some Vitamin A. I am hoping it will help with the healing. I didn't have any the first time I rolled so maybe this will make a bigger difference.

Today my skin is feeling a little bit rashy and the area I rolled is red but the scars have greatly diminished. I am feeling happy and  hopeful! I plan on rolling at least 6-7 more times or maybe I will roll for the rest of my life. It depends on how well this thing works. I will keep you all updated and will try to take some decent pictures for you.

Dermarolling: I May give in to my urge to roll again

It will be 5 weeks this Saturday since I rolled and I am feeling an overwhelming urge to roll this weekend. I wanted to wait until the 6th week but I don't know if I can wait that long....

Dermarolling: Is it working??

It's been a little over a month since I dermarolled. I have not seen any improvement on the scar in the parenthesis (smile lines area)area. Nothing. :( That is the one that bothers me most. I can't tell if there's been any improvement to the ice pick scars. BUT the indented scar near the parenthesis area has definitely filled in a little bit. I would guess that it's about a 10% improvement. Not much but better than nothing.

Stretched skin: just showing one side of where scars are because this is the worst side

Same side: Scarred.

My first experience using the dermaroller on my acne scars

I heard about dermarolling sometime last year and thought it was crazy to roll a bunch of needles all over my face. There was no way I was doing that...it's one year later and guess what I did!

My Skin Issues

I do not have a bad acne problem or scars all over my face but I was having problems with cystic acne. One would pop up once a month around my mouth and every month a hole would be left behind. Sadly,  I have been left with a ton of ice pick scars on both sides of my lips.

About 3 months ago, I got a HUGE boil which I picked. It got inflamed and my whole face swelled up. What was left behind was an indented scar right where the ( ) parenthesis are so it looks like a big wrinkle!  It looks so horrible.  I became desperate and started looking for something to help get rid of my scars.

The Dermaroller

I looked all over the internet for a cure...for something to help make the stupid scar and ice pick scars disappear. What kept coming up was the little dermaroller. I gave in and bought a 1.5 mm Dr. Roller for $80 on Amazon. I waited a whole month before I used it...it scared the heck out of me. What if it scarred my face even more? Will it hurt??? Will it make the scars worse? Will it really work? Those were the questions that kept going through my mind...

On May 2, I started using Avalon Organics Vitamin C vitality facial serum ($25). I couldn't find any vitamin A that was affordable so I ended up buying the Aveeno Smart Essentials moisturizer with vitamins A, C, and E which was about $13.

One May 21, I did it! I rolled my scars. I did spot treatments since I wasn't too sure about what the dermaroller would do to my face. My only concern were the scars near my mouth and the big crease scar. ugh.

Rolling on either side of my mouth did not hurt. I did not use numbing cream...I guess I can tolerate pain. Rolling the parenthesis area (smile lines) hurt like crazy. My eyes watered and everything! The indentation on the smile line bled a little...it looked like 2 small blood spots. Other than that, everything was fine! No extra holes were left behind.

After I was done, I waited about 10 minutes and put some Vit. E on it. My skin felt like I had a bad rash. Fortunately, I rolled right before bed so I fell asleep right away and when I woke up the rash feeling was gone and the redness was gone too!

 It will be a month since I rolled on June 18th. I can honestly say that I see no difference whatsoever. The scar is still there. Nothing has filled in at all. :( I am guessing I need to give it more time.

 I just found some Vitamin A for $10 at a Beauty store and started using it yesterday. I am hoping that will help.

Photos to Keep Track of Progress

I took some before pictures but my photographer (hubby) didn't do a good job. They all came out blurry but I'm posting them anyway. The next pics will be better. Now I know why people never post pictures...it's really hard to get good ones and the scars don't really show up very well. Sorry that these are so bad....

These were taken before I rolled:

These scars are worse than they look. They are Not super bad but there are holes that are not showing up here and the indentation that I hate doesn't even show up. but it's there!


These pics were taken a week after I rolled (sorry but my photographer was no where to be found so I had to use my computer to take the pics so lighting is different).

You can see how the scars are more visible. The other side isn't as bad.

 

I stretched my skin to show you the holes...they sure don't look like they are filling in! But it had only been a week and I hear it takes 3 months to see results.

stretched skin

One month after dermarolling:

stretched skin

I am really sorry about the quality of the pics and the different lighting. I will try to do better next time.

 I won't be rolling until probably 2 more weeks.