Chicken pox scars/marks

[milagros]

I am in my late 30's and developed chicken pox 3 weeks ago, the scabs are falling now but still lots in my torso. On my face I have been left with spots/marks darker than my skin colour and a bit reddish. They are flat, no indentation or roughness. It is very unsetling seeing my face covered in these. My question is, what can I do to improve their appearance, will they go? when?
Are there creams I can apply to help the healing? Can I use my usual make up or will do damage to these marks?
Any help will be greatly appreciated!!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Marks like these take several weeks to clear up.  The face heals faster than the torso.  Vitamin-E-containing creams may help a little.  Makeup is no problem.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[seeyouincourt]

26 M
One year ago I got chicken pox from a guy at my work who had shingles.  I now have three noticible scars on my forehead.  I have come to get used to them, but one is fairly large on the crease in my forehead, where the biggest and first pox occured.  

I have heard there are some techniques to fix this pox scars on my forehead and am going to see a dermatologist about an ice pick method?  My question is whether I should wait longer for more natural healing, or is this as good as it gets?

thanks

[calqt23]

The same thing happened to me. I had a series of dermabrasion sessions and a chemical peel. The marks are gone and I actually did a commercial for a cosmetics company called Sheer Cover!  I got the chicken pox when I was about 30. I am now 36. There is one mark on my breast that wouldn't go away, but my face and torso are fine.

[seeyouincourt]

That is really encouraging. That's pretty good results if your doing commercials!  

If you do not mind me asking...how long did you wait to have the procedure, and once you had it, how long did the recovery take?  Chicken pox is fairly significant as an adult.  When you get it, it is like the text written over the door of hell in Dante's Inferno, abandon all hope, ye who enter here.  It does get better but I have some noticiable pock marks.  

How significant were the marks you had treated with the derm?  Thank you.

[calqt23]

Dermabrasion is sold in series. I went once a week for 10 sessions.  It is kind of like they are polishing your face with tiny crystals.  The "wand" that they usu looks like a shower head, except that the part where the water would come out is a flat surface.  The chemical peel is also sold in a series. I started noticing real results from the dermabrasion after about the 5th visit. Looking back, I don't think that I really needed the chemical peel. I really don't even know why.  It did give my skin a luminescent look, but I don't think that I needed it. The chemical peel probably should have been what I went with first. It is stronger than the dermabrasion.

[seeyouincourt]

Thanks for the reply.  Do you mind me asking roughly how much the derm cost?  Did you have pock marks that were small or fairly noticable?  How long did the recovery process take?

I read a story about people crashing off of Russia and this seems fairly insignificant, however, it is an adjustment when you've gotten used to a face for 25 years and then have it changed-especially when you have a job working with the public.

Waxing & Musing

[calqt23]

What does crashing off mean?  

It is usually $100 per appointment.  That comes to $1,000.00. However if you purchase an entire series instead of just making appointments one by one, the cost is usually less.  The sell them in a variety of series. Some places have 6, 10, 15, etc.  

My marks were pretty noticeable. I had the chicken pox when I was younger and I must have gotten rid of the scars pretty quickly because as I aged I never noticed anything. However when I got them the second time I must have been 29 or 30. Those left marks!  Like I mentioned, I still have a resistant mark on one of my breasts, but the ones on my face and torso have disappeared.

[seeyouincourt]

"Crashing off" doesn't make much sense :)  I mean an airplane carrying 100 Americans crashed last night over the Black Sea.  

That is really good info and reasonably priced.  I am going to ask the dermatolgist about this.  There are so many options out there!  I have had to wait three months to see a dermatologist and finally got an appointment. I want to have good information  walking in the door.  

I have heard of a skin grafting option called an ice pick method???  Does anyone know how this compares to the dermabrasion method?

[milagros]

Hi there,
I have been reading with lots of interest all of your comments. I would like to know if you had dark marks left where the blisters appeared? My forehead has lots of dark marks and wonder whether they will ever fade?! it is 5 weeks now since I had the outbrake and I am hiding from everyone. Did you find any topical cream useful?
xxx

[seeyouincourt]

if they are just color marks, those went away.  If it was a scar...those take longer to heal.  I used Vit. E and found that that helped.  I had marks all over my skin and that was one year ago.  Now I don't notice them.

[milagros]

most of them are just marks, and on a day to day basis it is hard to believe they will ever go, everybody says so. I will try vit E. I also have few indented ones, where I had the first and biggest blisters. One year seems so long to wait! but I hope I will get better. Thank you very much for your comments, they give me hope.

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