So now that I've had my acne under control for several months, I've been looking into ways to reduce the scarring. When I say scarring, I don't mean the PIH (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, the red or brown marks left behind from breakouts), I mean a few craters from really, really bad cysts from over a year ago. They're still pinkish brown in color and if anything, with time and reduced inflammation of the scar, they've gotten deeper. I have two on my left cheek that are deep. I also have shallower scars on my left and right cheeks. My scars aren't terrible. They could DEFINITELY be worse. I would still like to improve the appearance of them because makeup tends to cake up on them and it makes me super self conscious. They are constant reminders of the war I had with acne for most of my adult life.
ANYWAY. I've used a dermaroller and dermastamp in the past. They've been okay, and might have done some good. Recently, I decided to purchase a Tria Age Defying laser. I know this ISN'T the intended use for the device but I've done a lot of reading on fractional lasers and *THINK* this might work well if given enough time and patience (much like microneedling, I think). I'm excited to try it. Even if it can reduce the amount of wonky pigmentation from old acne, that would be awesome. After 6 months of being mostly acne free, I'm still left looking like I have acne breakouts from the amount of pizza face pigmentation going on.
I'm going to post a before picture in decent, natural light and take pictures every 4 weeks, probably. I am never good at the "blow by blows" but want some documentation of progress or lack thereof. And hopefully it will help someone in a similar situation to me decide if this is worth the $500 investment or just save your money for professional fractional treatments.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Skin Diaries, many months later
So, I haven't updated in forever and a day. What can I say, the change was crazy slow and a blow by blow was pretty pointless.
I stopped using Retin-A micro pretty shortly after my last post (maybe 6 weeks or so of use?). I am still taking Spironolactone at the 100mg dose. I'm going to touch on a few things I've noticed since I began taking it in September of last year (so a solid 7 months).
The Good:
Reduced oil production within the first few weeks. This was HUGE for me as I was the oiliest of all oil slicks. Makeup would melt off and look like crap within the first hour or two. It was a huge issue trying to cover acne and scarring with makeup that wouldn't even stay on my face. I am now happy to report that my skin is what I would consider "normal" neither oily nor dry. It's such a beautiful thing.
My hair is less greasy and I no longer get terrible "dandruff" and itchy scalp. Kind of goes hand in hand with the oil production. Oil causes a type of fungus to grow (how freaking gross is that) and causes a type of sclerosis to develop. No more!!!!
My sweat is no longer pungent and I don't sweat as much as I used to. Sorry, this might be TMI, but I wish I had known about this side effect because it is amazing. I used to be VERY self conscious about sweating because deodorant-antiperspirant wouldn't even touch it. I could NEVER wear clothing twice. I was so paranoid about my boyfriend getting anywhere near my pits, even when I hadn't been sweating. Now I smell fresh all day. You don't realize how freakin bad it was until it's gone and it's something I would have taken this stuff for all on its own. So YAY for not being smelly.
Completely cleared forehead acne and cystic acne after a few months. Completely cleared "bacne" too.
Boobs are a little bigger. hehe
The Bad:
Increased "spider" veins and other visible veins on legs. I've done a lot of research on this issue, because I wasn't POSITIVE it was the Spiro causing it. Spiro doesn't cause this directly, HOWEVER, changes in hormones CAN, especially if you are already genetically pre-disposed for them. So that's why things like birth control pills and pregnancy can cause these to pop up.
Has not been a complete cure for my acne, yet. In saying that, I haven't had a terrible cyst since maybe the first month of starting Spiro. I still have a little acne here and there, especially around that time of the month, but it's no where near as bad as it used to be. I'm pretty sure if I upped my dose it would probably take care of it completely, but at the moment I don't have insurance and can't really afford double.
Increased frequency of urination. This did get better after a few months, though.
Period can be super wonky. Sometimes it'll be almost 2 months before I get it. I dunno. I kind of look at this as a good/bad/yay bonus! type of thing, lol. Haven't had too many issues with spotting.
I stopped using Retin-A micro pretty shortly after my last post (maybe 6 weeks or so of use?). I am still taking Spironolactone at the 100mg dose. I'm going to touch on a few things I've noticed since I began taking it in September of last year (so a solid 7 months).
The Good:
Reduced oil production within the first few weeks. This was HUGE for me as I was the oiliest of all oil slicks. Makeup would melt off and look like crap within the first hour or two. It was a huge issue trying to cover acne and scarring with makeup that wouldn't even stay on my face. I am now happy to report that my skin is what I would consider "normal" neither oily nor dry. It's such a beautiful thing.
My hair is less greasy and I no longer get terrible "dandruff" and itchy scalp. Kind of goes hand in hand with the oil production. Oil causes a type of fungus to grow (how freaking gross is that) and causes a type of sclerosis to develop. No more!!!!
My sweat is no longer pungent and I don't sweat as much as I used to. Sorry, this might be TMI, but I wish I had known about this side effect because it is amazing. I used to be VERY self conscious about sweating because deodorant-antiperspirant wouldn't even touch it. I could NEVER wear clothing twice. I was so paranoid about my boyfriend getting anywhere near my pits, even when I hadn't been sweating. Now I smell fresh all day. You don't realize how freakin bad it was until it's gone and it's something I would have taken this stuff for all on its own. So YAY for not being smelly.
Completely cleared forehead acne and cystic acne after a few months. Completely cleared "bacne" too.
Boobs are a little bigger. hehe
The Bad:
Increased "spider" veins and other visible veins on legs. I've done a lot of research on this issue, because I wasn't POSITIVE it was the Spiro causing it. Spiro doesn't cause this directly, HOWEVER, changes in hormones CAN, especially if you are already genetically pre-disposed for them. So that's why things like birth control pills and pregnancy can cause these to pop up.
Has not been a complete cure for my acne, yet. In saying that, I haven't had a terrible cyst since maybe the first month of starting Spiro. I still have a little acne here and there, especially around that time of the month, but it's no where near as bad as it used to be. I'm pretty sure if I upped my dose it would probably take care of it completely, but at the moment I don't have insurance and can't really afford double.
Increased frequency of urination. This did get better after a few months, though.
Period can be super wonky. Sometimes it'll be almost 2 months before I get it. I dunno. I kind of look at this as a good/bad/yay bonus! type of thing, lol. Haven't had too many issues with spotting.
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