Enlarged pores/pits --> scarring?

[NB1993]

Hi!

I’ve been lurking on this forum for a while and wanted some various opinions on post-treatment healing since I feel myself becoming increasingly worried and my already existing depression becoming worse because of this.

I have a lot of fine dark hair on my face and wanted it to be permanently removed with electrolysis. I’ve had three sessions so far spaced three months apart and each session was 2.5 hours long. It was not very painful and I did not feel any plucking. Post-treatment healing took long with redness and scabs for two weeks. My aftercare consisted of keeping the area clean and applying aloe vera.

After my first electrolysis session my skin/hair looked like this:

After my third electrolysis session/now my skin looks like this:

The area of concern is right on the cheekbone, but also further down the cheek, but this is more difficult to capture on camera. I can see pits/enlarged pores that weren’t there before. I actually feel very sceptical about these marks healing and am very worried this is permanent scarring since I can’t see any improvement and it has been 4-5 months since my last appointment.

Has anyone seen this type of reaction in their clients or themselves and has it healed? If so, how long did it took to heal? And if it is permanent, what should i do next? Stop treatment, wait for a year and get a peel? I don’t know what to do right now and regret having electrolysis in the first place. I’m more worried and embarrassed about the skin than the hairs.

Thank you in advance!

[Deedra]

Thanks for the pictures. Was the second picture taken immediately after treatment? It looks fresh and red / pink to me.

Most people have that orange peel look on certain areas of their face. I can see it on other areas where the hair is still in the follicle. When the hair is removed, those orange peel pores show up even more.

You said it was 4-5 months since your last appointment, but it looks like a healing area to me, less than a week after treatment. If indeed this area has healed for 4-5 months, then some of those pores do look big to me. I don’t see that in my clients as part of their healing. I do take quality pre-pictures to document.

I also wonder if the light on your camera was highlighting natural flaws in your skin. We all have pores, but some of us have really big pores.( Don’t get angry with me for saying that. It might not be true in your case, but other people are reading this and I like to write for the general public , as well.)

[NB1993]

Hi Dee,

Thanks for your response! The second picture was taken about 4 months after my latest/third treatment. So healing seems to go very slow for me. I’m on dexamethasone which might be the cause of delayed wound healing, however I asked my endocrinologist about this and she said the dose was too low to cause this kind of side effect (I take 0.20 mg a day).

The light on my camera is the same as in the first picture (phone camera with flash) and it was indeed meant to make these newfound pits show up, so I was able to show them in this post. However my skin therapist is able to see them in real life as well. I do have more visible pores on my face than average but I never had them on this area right on the cheekbone, it also seems like an unnatural place to me to have such big pores. If I imagine the hairs being plucked out on the same area in the first picture, I would not think this texture was underneath all of that.

A week after healing it was more red/pink than this and my cheek would feel like one big overlying scab. When I asked the electrologist if this was normal, I would get the answer that it was not, but I did need to expect a strong reaction because of the hair removal and long healing time and that all would eventually heal. However, that is were my concern is, will it heal, should i continue and what can i do if these pits are permanent?

[Deedra]

Well, give it more time. It is said that it may take as long as 18 months for the skin to re-structure itself After that. Some have used a special laser to resurface the skin and have seen results. You will have to consult with a specialist to discover what your needs are, NB. Please come back and let us know how this resolves.

Oh, two more questions: was the other cheek treated and were pre-pictures taken of the affected cheek ?

[permanence]

Try taking another photo with the same lighting as the before. Did you use a magi lamp in the second so the skin highlights differently/lighter?

[NB1993]

The other cheek was treated as well but the marks on that cheek aren’t as prominent. The density of the hair on the right cheek was more than on the left cheek so maybe too many hairs were treated close together in one session. I do have pre-pictures taken with natural light:

I plan on stopping electrolysis for now, letting the skin heal and consult a skin therapist a year after my last treatment and will update on how it (hopefully) all resolves.

@permanence: the pictures showed above are both taken with my phone and a flash, the angle is different because these marks are difficult to show on camera. It is more obvious with flash, in real life or for example in the car mirror. But I have taken two photos at two different angles in natural light with my phone, but like i said, it doesn’t exactly show what my skin actually looks like:

[Deedra]

I see enlarged pores to the right of your cheek, going toward your nose. Was that area treated?

[Iluv2zap]

this looks more like the result of previous cystic acne to me. Sometimes when hairs are taken from the same follicles it is only then the damage from acne is revealed. This is easy to put down to electrolysis results, when really there is no association.

[NB1993]

I think this is the best way to show it! The area on the right side of the black line was not treated, and already had visible pores there before treatment and is also, what i believe, a common area for people to have visible pores. The area on the left of the black line was treated and in this area (what I would describe as cheekbone/upper beard area) i notice larger pores/pits. But in this photo it (i guess luckily :)) doesn’t show as well as the picture with flash.

@Iluv2zap
Could be an explanation for some people, however I never had cystic acne. I did have mild acne but again, never on this area:

This is the photo where I can show on this forum best what I am talking about. It was not previously there on this area and I never had cystic acne there. Maybe it was overtreatment in this area because too many hairs were zapped in one session and a delayed wound healing because of dexamethasone and/or maybe even having mental stress (because i do suffer from depression). I am just guessing here of course… What matters to me most is that the skin will heal/go back to it’s previous state, but I am alarmed because it has already been 4 months.