Scars, Microneedling with Platelet rich plasma and.. WOW

[Doreen]

So I just got it done a couple days ago and already, WOW the results are fantastic!!!

I have scars from oh, so many surgeries over the years.. neck scar, forehead scar, ear scars, etc... the most visible was the neck one.  I finally got persuaded by my doc to try it.

Microneedling, all the rage with the Kardashian clan apparently.. they roll a series of tiny little blades across pre-lidocaine numbed skin all across your face and dip your own plasma on top of it.  Sounds gross? It kinda is if you think about it, but mostly it felt like a deep massage.   It was a bit painful on the top hairline where I was concerned about my scars from ffs in the hairline edge.  It cost me around $200 for the entire hour long procedure.

that being said I may NOT need hair transplant to hide the scarring!  This appears to be doing amazing work in resolving my scars!!  I can't say how happy I am that the scars are fading finally.  What nature didn't give me, medicine is finally lol.

Seriously, if this progresses how I anticipate it I'm going to try it on my legs next where I have discoloration from scars & wounds over the eons too.  Look into it, research, know the pros cons... but.. just.. wow Not only is it rapidly diminishing all my scars, its also evening out my skin tone and improving my pores amazingly too! Like the perfect thing I found here lol. 

The worst is the peeling afterwards on the cheeks I'm getting, and it feels like I got a sunburn basically.  Lotion lotion lotion.

[Debra]

Yeah Dr Deschamps-braly uses this as a part of his FFS treatment. You have it done when you get your bandages off....it comes with the surgery, etc. It definitely hurt but I'm sure it helped my healing/recovery.

[Doreen]

Yeah Dr Deschamps-braly uses this as a part of his FFS treatment. You have it done when you get your bandages off....it comes with the surgery, etc. It definitely hurt but I'm sure it helped my healing/recovery.

Oh that's awesome, and well thought out.  Maybe more surgeons can get on board.  Nothing worse than glaring obvious scars.  Mine (Dr. Cardenas) did light therapy, not sure how much that helped to be honest.

[anjaq]

I looked into that a while ago and it seems that there is little scientific evidence, but a couple of anecdotal positive stories - for others it did nothing. It seems to be a big hype among tv and movie stars apparently. I guess for $200 I might even try it, but here locally the price seems to be more like 3 times that and they say it needs 3-4 treatments, so I have my doubts about putting that much money there on something that I am not sure is going to work.

[Doreen]

I looked into that a while ago and it seems that there is little scientific evidence, but a couple of anecdotal positive stories - for others it did nothing. It seems to be a big hype among tv and movie stars apparently. I guess for $200 I might even try it, but here locally the price seems to be more like 3 times that and they say it needs 3-4 treatments, so I have my doubts about putting that much money there on something that I am not sure is going to work.

Oh, I understand all too well hype sadly.. but my experience is not anecdotal... it truly is factual.  The scars that were very white & noticeable on my forehead have diminished to almost nothing now.. the discoloration in my skin gone, the pores are honestly quite a bit smaller & less obvious. 

Now keep in mind I worked as a wound care nurse also for quite a few years.. if anyone should be able to witness any change in skin integrity and improvement in skin condition, it should be me.  I tried laser on that damned neck scar, debrasion, fat infiltration, NOTHING was working on it.   This? Finally seems to be working.  Well.. of course only one person does not scientific fact make   But it worked extremely well for me.  For that alone I am immensely grateful & wished to share my success with others.

No I don't represent anyone or any medical group that does this procedure lol.  Its just something I did that worked.

[anjaq]

Well.. of course only one person does not scientific fact make   But it worked extremely well for me.

This is what is meant by "anecdotal evidence" - meaning it is single persons reporting success with it - but no statistically proven groups with controls and all of that. So it is some people saying "it helped me" while others say "it did nothing for me" and in the end you dont know if it really works with statistic significance - or if it was basically pure chance or maybe just something else in the procedure except the plasma...

To me it is a bit like they did bloodletting in the 19th century and people said it cured them. Maybe it did do that in some cases - but there seems to be not that much evidence that it has a healing effect on a majority of people who would use it to treat all kinds of sicknesses.

It is not known why and how it should work there - basically one tries to do something like taking blood - the liquid that makes us alive - and we think that all the life energy in it must have healing properties if we put it in damaged areas - but then again, the blood already reaches those areas, otherwise they would be necrotic and die....

[Doreen]

This is what is meant by "anecdotal evidence" - meaning it is single persons reporting success with it - but no statistically proven groups with controls and all of that. So it is some people saying "it helped me" while others say "it did nothing for me" and in the end you dont know if it really works with statistic significance - or if it was basically pure chance or maybe just something else in the procedure except the plasma...

To me it is a bit like they did bloodletting in the 19th century and people said it cured them. Maybe it did do that in some cases - but there seems to be not that much evidence that it has a healing effect on a majority of people who would use it to treat all kinds of sicknesses.

It is not known why and how it should work there - basically one tries to do something like taking blood - the liquid that makes us alive - and we think that all the life energy in it must have healing properties if we put it in damaged areas - but then again, the blood already reaches those areas, otherwise they would be necrotic and die....

Well .. I wouldn't QUITE equate it to bloodletting.  Its the same naysayers 25 years ago that told me under no uncertain circumstance don't ever ever EVER get voice surgery (CTA)  it'll ruin your voice.  It won't help, and noone they ever saw that got it it helped.

I'm incredibly stubborn & thick headed.. I had pushed & pushed & pushed my voice to get lower because my puberty was all screwed up.  It did.  Then 3 years later I wanted my high voice back, so I got the surgery.

Guess what?  25 years later my voice is PERFECTLY female range, timbre, etc.   Oh, sure sometimes I sound like a dyke the way I talk because I'm just kinda blunt alot.  I should probably work on that lol.

But the terrible thing?  I had people .. that listened to me.. that would blast me online for getting it and telling others it was a success.. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS. omfg.  Haters will be haters, whether things work or not!

Not saying you're being a hater..  you're just expressing your opinion which is fine   However, it did work well for me (the microneedling).  Honestly now I want to do it on my legs because sooo many scars & discoloration.  Thanks for you input though

[echo7]

How long has it been since you had it done?  I ask because 6 months later, your skin may revert.

I spent thousands of dollars getting a full face laser resurfacing combined with a vampire facelift with a well known dermatologist in my area. After the treatment, my skin looked amazing. Pores were greatly diminished, skin complexion was better, and acne scars disappeared. But slowly over the course of 6 months, many of my skin imperfections became visible again. My skin is still better than it was before, and I still think it was worth it, but my initial joy in the first month was short lived.

[Doreen]

How long has it been since you had it done?  I ask because 6 months later, your skin may revert.

I spent thousands of dollars getting a full face laser resurfacing combined with a vampire facelift with a well known dermatologist in my area. After the treatment, my skin looked amazing. Pores were greatly diminished, skin complexion was better, and acne scars disappeared. But slowly over the course of 6 months, many of my skin imperfections became visible again. My skin is still better than it was before, and I still think it was worth it, but my initial joy in the first month was short lived.

Good point, its only been a couple weeks hehe.  I'm just happy alone with the scars diminishing. One on my chin is barely visible at all. I'll give myself a couple months! 

I'm also getting pubic laser hair removal.  I didn't HAVE pubic hair (or if i recall like tanners stage 1) till I started HRT in my 20's.  I'm just tired of shaving it, want it gone.

[echo7]

If it's not too much trouble, and if you remember, I'd love to hear what your results look like after 6 months or more.  If the results prove to be long-lasting, I definitely want to look into microneedling myself!

[zirconia]

I'd heard interesting things about it as well so I experimented on a raised scar I got after a car jack fell on my head and a stretched scar from a knife wound on my hand. I don't have ready access to the equipment used to make platelet rich plasma right now, so this was with just needles.

The raised scar got quite a bit softer after the first round, and after two the ridge is clearly not as defined. The color of the stretched scar hasn't changed much but the texture seems closer to regular skin. I think I'll try a few more times to see what will happen.

Yes, I know this also is anecdotal—but since I'm not doing this for the purpose of publishing an article, I'll be happy enough if I can determine that it works for me. (^.^)

[Doreen]

If it's not too much trouble, and if you remember, I'd love to hear what your results look like after 6 months or more.  If the results prove to be long-lasting, I definitely want to look into microneedling myself!

I can probably squirrel up a pic before I had the procedure done & post later..if i remember ^_^

[Lemon3]

hi you can buy a micro needling roller/ derma roller on amazon for $15 they are popular on youtube

[Doreen]

hi you can buy a micro needling roller/ derma roller on amazon for $15 they are popular on youtube

Ya I've seen that.. From what I hear they're very superficial needles.. plus better take care to make sure its thoroughly cleansed too.  Its worth a try though!

[anjaq]

Yes thats what I was considering. Given that microneedling itself seems to have good success with some scars and improving skin, I wonder how much added benefit is the plasma, which basically triples the price of it at least. And also how long it lasts, so many cosmetic procedures only last a few months - like fillers or botox.

I am not saying that microneedling with plasma does not work at all - just sceptical about how much added benefit it has compared to less expensive methods. I mean, I looked into local prices because I thought maybe it helps with my hair loss after FFS or the visible scar at the head from the FFS or the pigment spots I have in my face in the past years, but they charge something like 500-600 EU for a session and say you will need 3-4 sessions, so thats well over 1500 EU - which is about a months salary... I would be more sure that this really is worth such an investment before making one - instead of using needle rollers (the professional longer ones of course, not the micro ones available for $15 at Amazon)

About the voice surgery experience - its also anecdotal. I have no doubt that in some cases voice surgery worked even back then, but I also know for many it did not work. I know a few who had it done and it is basically horrible. I had it done 3 years ago now and it worked pretty good. Its about the statistics in that case - if 30% are a success, that means 30% will say its a great thing and they are so happy - but 70% will say it did not work or made it worse... both of them are true.

It would not be hard to make a study on the method - take 200 women, offer them those treatments (if you want to be more scientific, give it to them for free but at the catch that 50% of them will only get needling and 50% will get needling plus plasma and they will not know which one they got), disallow them to change the skincare regimen during the experiment, do 3 treatments for each of them, document the appearance of the scar, skin and how the women perceive the progress themselves, see if there are signigicantly better changes in the group with plasma in objective measurement (documentation)  or just in subjective perception.
But I doubt anyone will do such a study, because those who could do it would maybe loose money if the study shows its not that much different and they make a living selling things.

[Doreen]

Yes thats what I was considering. Given that microneedling itself seems to have good success with some scars and improving skin, I wonder how much added benefit is the plasma, which basically triples the price of it at least. And also how long it lasts, so many cosmetic procedures only last a few months - like fillers or botox.

I am not saying that microneedling with plasma does not work at all - just sceptical about how much added benefit it has compared to less expensive methods. I mean, I looked into local prices because I thought maybe it helps with my hair loss after FFS or the visible scar at the head from the FFS or the pigment spots I have in my face in the past years, but they charge something like 500-600 EU for a session and say you will need 3-4 sessions, so thats well over 1500 EU - which is about a months salary... I would be more sure that this really is worth such an investment before making one - instead of using needle rollers (the professional longer ones of course, not the micro ones available for $15 at Amazon)

About the voice surgery experience - its also anecdotal. I have no doubt that in some cases voice surgery worked even back then, but I also know for many it did not work. I know a few who had it done and it is basically horrible. I had it done 3 years ago now and it worked pretty good. Its about the statistics in that case - if 30% are a success, that means 30% will say its a great thing and they are so happy - but 70% will say it did not work or made it worse... both of them are true.

It would not be hard to make a study on the method - take 200 women, offer them those treatments (if you want to be more scientific, give it to them for free but at the catch that 50% of them will only get needling and 50% will get needling plus plasma and they will not know which one they got), disallow them to change the skincare regimen during the experiment, do 3 treatments for each of them, document the appearance of the scar, skin and how the women perceive the progress themselves, see if there are signigicantly better changes in the group with plasma in objective measurement (documentation)  or just in subjective perception.
But I doubt anyone will do such a study, because those who could do it would maybe loose money if the study shows its not that much different and they make a living selling things.

I'd love to see more scientific studies.. as I also suspect plasma enrichment?  Ya why not just use aloe vera lol.   And home needle kits. Save you a bucket of cash.  Here the procedure is $200 a time, so not nearly the same cost you are facing.

I am just happy with the results so far   Glad I did it.. Have tried other things for scars that didn't work... this is.

[anjaq]

For $200 I would just try it, for sure. Why not - not a big investment then. But microneedling alone is more expensive already - and PRP treatment without microneedling is still about 300 - and I dont know how this would even work, if you dont use needles to punch it in. There are some treatments offered at a lower price here, but they are not done by medical doctors, just practitioners without a degree or full medical education, so I dont know if those could be trusted or if they would do an effective treatment.

Basically what I would probably want it for is the pigmentation in my face, the sagging skin at the jaw from FFS and the scar at the upper head where the FFS was done and now there are less hair and a bit of a palpable scarring there. Not sure if that makes sense to treat the FFS related things yet though as its been only 3 months and probably if sould not be touched until its healed as much as it can by itself?