Has anyone used the Derma Roller

[therise]

I've got acne scarring that I am having Profractional done on, and it is helping. But I've been reading about the Derma Roller procedure? Apparently its good for acne scars. Has anyone any info they could share. There seems to be two types: One type that is done in a clinic, and one type that you can purchase and do at home.

[tv123]

At home, I used the roller consistently for two months; I didn't observe any acne (boxcar) scar improvement or any positive effects.

[therise]

That's what I have been finding too. I use a 1.5 or my 2.0 rollers every 5-6 weeks now for about 4 months and haven't really noticed any improvement. I'm not giving up yet though because so many people do have dramatic positive results, so hopefully I will see some. The needle depth is on the high side, and is meant for acne scarring, so I know I'm using the correct type of roller. When I roll, I do bleed, but don't usually scab.

Let's see now...I've tried Fraxel Re:store, Profractional, dermarolling... I guess my next step is C02 lasers.

tv123, how bad is your acne scarring? Mine is bad on the cheeks.

[DrRubinstein]

The treatments you have both been using are all good to get some improvement for acne scars. In my opinion, the most aggressive choice (with the best results) is dermabraision. Not microdermabraision, but the full fledged dermabraision. The recovery is 2-3 weeks initially and you can expect redness that will subside over many weeks following that. But the results will be the best of all the treatment options. If you prefer a faster recovery with somewhat more limited results I might recomend fractional CO2. I use the Matrix in my practice, but there are many machines out there and they all do basically the same thing. These treatments will require about one week of healing and you may have some minor redness that improves quickly after that. Fractional CO2 lasers are not as aggressive as dermabraision and will not give you as nice a result from one treatment. You may need to have a couple of treatments over time to achieve a similar result in the end.

I hope this info helps!

[larginejohnson]

No i had never used it.

[therise]

Thanks so much Dr. Rubinstein. I appreciate your honesty. My acne scarring is rather bad on the cheeks. I'm 52 years old, and just so sick and tired of living with this. I will have to research a few dermatologists/plastic surgeons down here. How risky is dermabrasion?

[DrRubinstein]

Dermabraision is a pretty low risk procedure. The limitations depend upon your skin color more than the procedure itself. As with all resurfacing procedures there is a risk of leaving your skin with less pigment than it originally had, a condition known as hypopigmentation. Dermabraision has somewhat higher risk for that than other methods like the roller or fractional CO2 laser treatment. However, dermabraision is likely to give you the best results. If your skin is darker than average you do have a risk of hypopigmentation. If you are fair skinned your risk is smaller since you don't have as much pigment to lose.

If you have more questions please feel free to email me directly or simply keep asking questions on this forum.

I hope this info helps!

[McKenna]

I wished you would of surfaced a week ago when I had my first Profractional, I was in such a panic, however, read alot of your old messages and they helped! Sorry don't know anything about the derma wand, there are several good Anti Age Clinics where I live (Destin Fl) and none of them use it. McKenna

[aaliyahhaughton08]

Originally Posted by therise

I've got acne scarring that I am having Profractional done on, and it is helping. But I've been reading about the Derma Roller procedure? Apparently its good for acne scars. Has anyone any info they could share. There seems to be two types: One type that is done in a clinic, and one type that you can purchase and do at home.

Nope, never used it. Please search online for features and benefits.