Oxygen Facials and cystic acne

Recently, I met a lady who gives Oxygen Facials. Having never heard of an oxygen facial, I Googled it to see what it could do for my skin. Basically, from what I understand, pressurized oxygen is used to spray atomized moisturizers into your skin which will in turn hydrate your skin smoothing it out and plumping it up.
There is no evidence indicating that this truly works but I did a ton of research and people claim it helps to smooth out wrinkles, get rid of small scars, and (this next part is what caught my eye) helps with cystic acne!
Treatment is very expensive and can cost anywhere from $175 per session up to $500 per session. The lady who does it here charges $175 which is  too steep for me but I'm going to save up for a package. Supposedly, you need to have at least 3 treatments to see a difference. If I do it, I will post updates with pictures on my progress and hopefully it won't be a waste of money.Wish me luck!
If it helps with the cystic acne, then it will have been worth every cent!

*Update

I never got the oxygen facial. I had a few friends who tried a few sessions but there was no difference in acne scars. Wrinkles disappeared but for a very short time-a few days. Total waste of money, IMO

How to prevent Track Marks when you Dermaroll

Before I started Dermarolling, I did a lot of research and one the of things I kept coming across was people talking about track marks that had been left on their face after they had Dermarolled. Some people claimed to have had the track marks for months and months and feared the track marks were permanent. Nobody knew what caused the marks and if they did, they didn't mention it.
My biggest fear was scarring my face with track marks. I mean, the reason I was going to Dermaroll was to get rid of scars so what was the point of Dermarolling if it was going to leave even uglier scars on my skin? It actually took me a while to take the plunge.
I know exactly what causes the track marks after Dermarolling and I'm going to share it with you. It's all in the roll.

How to prevent track marks when dermarolling

This is what you need to do to prevent track marks:
 As you come to the end of a roll, LIFT the roller before rolling in the opposite direction. So, you Dermaroll up and at the end of that roll lift the Dermaroller before you roll down. Keep lifting the Dermaroller after every roll. If you leave the Dermaroller on your skin and start to roll the opposite direction, the needle are going to drag. The dragging of the needles are going to leave the track marks and possibly even scar your skin.
So there you go. You now know how track marks are made and how to prevent them. 

Dermarolling: Before and After

I haven't been able to Dermaroll in quite some time thanks to my acne cysts. I was planning on Dermarolling this weekend but I woke up with a big fat cyst on my face so I may either roll the other side or wait until my skin has cleared up and roll both sides at the same time.

My new cyst. I hate this. I will not be able to dermaroll this side for at least another week or 2. If I'm lucky, another one won't pop up preventing me from rolling. It's been way too long

 I have a few new acne scars and one that is a big line scar that I haven't been able to work on. It's never been rolled so it looks bad but I know once I start dermarolling it will heal. Maybe not 100% but it will look better. Here's my pictures (the next time I take pictures, I'll try to recreate the same lighting. I had a hard time today but I'll work on it).

That line (not talking about Parenthesis line..that's just old age. haha I'm taking about the one below my smile line) is a new scar that I have not rolled. I'm sharing this as a Before picture so that I can measure the improvement once I start rolling.

Here are Before and After Pictures of the scars I have been working on

Taken before I started rolling

 Picture taken today. Sorry the lighting is different but this is the best I could do. As you can see, the dark red spot (indented scar) isn't as visible. That has healed about 50% or so. All the other holes are slowly closing too. You can barely even see them! 

 

Does Microdermabrasion help with indented acne scars?

Before I began my Dermarolling journey, I tried Microdermabrasion. I really wanted to get rid of my indented scars but I didn't have the money to spend on laser surgery or any of the other expensive treatments I had read about. Plus, a lot of those treatments, like Laser surgery, could cause more scarring so I didn't want to take the chance. I had done so much research on the subject and Microdermabrasion kept coming up.

Microdermabrasion reviews and my dermatologists opinion

I read about a million reviews (at least that's what it felt like) and most people claimed that Microdermabrasion helped get rid of their indented scars. There were some people who said it didn't work at all but I wasn't paying any attention to them. I REALLY wanted this to work.

On February, 22, 2011, I made an appointment to see my dermatologist. There was a medical Esthetician that worked in his office so I asked him if Microdermabrasion would help get rid of my indented acne scars. He didn't directly say no but he implied that it wouldn't get rid of them.  His exact words were, "Well...it will help smooth out your skin in that area." That was enough to convince myself that yes it would work!

I scheduled my first Microdermabrasion session for the following week. The cost would be $85 per session and I planned on having at least 8 of them. Maybe more if I had the money!  I ended up getting a treatment every 2 weeks for a totally of 7 Microdermabrasion sessions. After the 7th session, I got 1 treatment a month for 3 months. It was around the final months of getting Microdermabrasion treatments that I started dermarolling.

Did microdermabrasion help my acne scars?

I know what you're wondering...did it work? The answer is no, it did not. It did exactly what my Dermatologist told me it would do. It smoothed out my skin especially the scarred area  (my skin was really rough looking and bumpy in that area) but the scars were still there. Every single one of them.
The machine used on my skin was the kind that shoots out crystals. I've heard about the type of machine that uses a diamond tip on your skin. Maybe that makes a difference. I don't know.
I really didn't like the machine that uses the crystals because once the session was done, the crystals were left all over my face. My Esthetician cleaned my face really well but the only way to get that stuff off my skin was to take a good shower. She also couldn't use the wand near my eyes which wasn't good. I am a squinter so I have a few fine lines so any bit of help to minimize their appearance wouldn've been nice but that wasn't possible with the crystals. 

Benefits of Microdermabrason

Although Microdermabrasion did not get rid of my indented scars, it brightened up my skin. I had a lot of red marks where previous cysts had been and in areas where I had poked at my skin. All the red marks completely disappeared after my 3rd Microdermabrasion treatment. So, if the type of "scarring" you have are just red marks, Microdermabrasion would definitely help with that. I also noticed that some fine lines were minimized. The deep ones on my forehead (thanks to all the squinting I do) were still visible but all the little lines were almost non existent. If I could afford it, I would have kept getting Micro treatments every couple of months (just for the benefit of getting rid of the red marks and fine lines).

Microdermabrasion results are not permanent

 I had already spent $850 on Micro treatments (in a very short period of time) and that's not counting the extra money I spent to get facials and all the lotions for my skin. Also, with Microdermabrasion you have to keep going for maintenance because the effects disappear after a couple of months. The red marks won't magically reappear but the fine lines that were smoothed away will come back.

 

Microdermabrasion or Dermaroller?

I recently found a place that does Microdermabrasion treatments for $57 which is a lot more affordable than $85 a session AND they use a diamond tip. I am going to give it a try (to get rid of my red marks and help my fine lines) and see if it helps minimize the scars that I am still working on. Quite honestly, the best indented scar treatment I've used is the dermaroller so that's my number one tool but it doesn't help brighten my skin like Microdermabrasion.