Keep replying DM! I feel a lot better when you guys stay active here. I peeled the 'scab' off and still can't really tell whats underneath. Should be healed by tomorrow or Friday and I will be able to see what the results are. I think it will look a bit better... But not What I was hoping. Of course I'm hoping for an overnight fix though
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Oh this is SS by the way.
Also side note: I work in rentals and yesterday a guest at a house I was working at was talking to me and it's the first time ive noticed these spots on another person. He must have had 50 huge white spots on his upper lip. Never seen anything like it. He didn't seem too bothered by them so maybe we are all making a bigger deal than it is. I know that this is mostly in my head... But I can't help it. The anxiety is just insanity. I can't wait until these are finally gone.
SS
Also side note: I work in rentals and yesterday a guest at a house I was working at was talking to me and it's the first time ive noticed these spots on another person. He must have had 50 huge white spots on his upper lip. Never seen anything like it. He didn't seem too bothered by them so maybe we are all making a bigger deal than it is. I know that this is mostly in my head... But I can't help it. The anxiety is just insanity. I can't wait until these are finally gone.
SS
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The anxiety is real. Every time somebody around me touches their mouth, i feel like it’s bc they see me.
-KC
-KC
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Hi everyone,
I’ve never posted on one of these forums, but have followed them for several years. I first noticed my spots about 6 years ago, but at that time you could only see them if I stretched my upper lip. Over time they grew and I had several clusters along the inside of my upper lip that were really noticeable and awful looking. I also had one huge one to the left of my cupid’s bow that was extremely obvious. I had tons of anxiety, which I know you can all relate to. I had tried pretty much every remedy posted on the internet and nothing ever worked (again, I know you can relate). I went to two dermatologists who both were basically like, “you’re really pretty and nobody notices them. Just forget about it”. One sent me away with some cream to put on them but that did nothing. I also made an appointment at a laser clinic, and the doctor was willing to treat me, but it cost a grand and the potential for scarring and the lengthy healing process freaked me out. At that point I decided I had to make my peace with having them, and for about a year I was able to just forget about them and move on, but then I noticed that new ones started popping up so I freaked. The inner part of my lip into the middle already had a ton, and now they were starting to form along the outer edge. I literally felt sick to my stomach every day with the thought that I would have no lip left at all by the end of the year. I decided to schedule a cosmetic consultation at a dermatology office. The derm that I ended up seeing was amazing, and I can’t say enough good things about her. She took my concerns seriously and never made me feel like I was crazy or vain or overreacting. She did say, for my peace of mind, that there were really one or two spots that were noticeable to others, but understood how critical people can be of themselves. She wanted to start by using electrodessication with a hyfrecator to see if that would get results since I was still afraid of the laser. She did three test spots at the consultation (free of charge) and had me come back a month later. There was SIGNIFICANT improvement and I was super excited. I could still see a little bit of yellow where the spots had been but they were totally flat, I couldn’t feel them at all running my tongue over the spot or rubbing my lips together. When I went back, she agreed that the treatment made a difference and she zapped about 20 more spots. After letting the numbing cream sit for about 15 mins, the whole thing took 2 minutes. She charged me $100 for the procedure and had me schedule a follow up for another month. The healing was super quick, the first 24 hours my lip looked a little gross (think last days of a cold sore) but by the second day after the procedure, you really couldn’t notice. It took about a week and a half for it to fully heal to where you could see what was actually left of the spots. There are some that you can’t see at all any more, and the ones that are still visible look SO much better. They are smaller and flat, so it basically just looks like the pigmentation of my lip. To be realistic, I’m really not sure how noticeable the spots actually were to other people - I have never had someone mention, ask about them, or be weird about sharing food/drinks or whatever with me - but I’m positive no one would notice them now. I went for the follow up appointment, and my derm hit a couple of spots that she missed the last time, and redid the initial test spots that she did because she wasn’t as aggressive with them and thought she could improve them more. The “touch up” appointment was also at no charge. She acknowledged how challenging these spots can be to treat but said it was her hope that the procedure would last years or longer. If not, she said I could come back as often as needed if new spots popped up or if old ones grew back. It’s been about three months and so far, so good. Even if they do start to grow back at this point, I would be more than happy to continue doing this treatment once or twice a year to keep them at bay.
Sorry for the super long post, but I know how hopeless these things can make you feel and I just wanted to share something that really helped me. My lips still aren’t perfect, but I don’t think about them anymore, which is an amazing feeling.
I’ve never posted on one of these forums, but have followed them for several years. I first noticed my spots about 6 years ago, but at that time you could only see them if I stretched my upper lip. Over time they grew and I had several clusters along the inside of my upper lip that were really noticeable and awful looking. I also had one huge one to the left of my cupid’s bow that was extremely obvious. I had tons of anxiety, which I know you can all relate to. I had tried pretty much every remedy posted on the internet and nothing ever worked (again, I know you can relate). I went to two dermatologists who both were basically like, “you’re really pretty and nobody notices them. Just forget about it”. One sent me away with some cream to put on them but that did nothing. I also made an appointment at a laser clinic, and the doctor was willing to treat me, but it cost a grand and the potential for scarring and the lengthy healing process freaked me out. At that point I decided I had to make my peace with having them, and for about a year I was able to just forget about them and move on, but then I noticed that new ones started popping up so I freaked. The inner part of my lip into the middle already had a ton, and now they were starting to form along the outer edge. I literally felt sick to my stomach every day with the thought that I would have no lip left at all by the end of the year. I decided to schedule a cosmetic consultation at a dermatology office. The derm that I ended up seeing was amazing, and I can’t say enough good things about her. She took my concerns seriously and never made me feel like I was crazy or vain or overreacting. She did say, for my peace of mind, that there were really one or two spots that were noticeable to others, but understood how critical people can be of themselves. She wanted to start by using electrodessication with a hyfrecator to see if that would get results since I was still afraid of the laser. She did three test spots at the consultation (free of charge) and had me come back a month later. There was SIGNIFICANT improvement and I was super excited. I could still see a little bit of yellow where the spots had been but they were totally flat, I couldn’t feel them at all running my tongue over the spot or rubbing my lips together. When I went back, she agreed that the treatment made a difference and she zapped about 20 more spots. After letting the numbing cream sit for about 15 mins, the whole thing took 2 minutes. She charged me $100 for the procedure and had me schedule a follow up for another month. The healing was super quick, the first 24 hours my lip looked a little gross (think last days of a cold sore) but by the second day after the procedure, you really couldn’t notice. It took about a week and a half for it to fully heal to where you could see what was actually left of the spots. There are some that you can’t see at all any more, and the ones that are still visible look SO much better. They are smaller and flat, so it basically just looks like the pigmentation of my lip. To be realistic, I’m really not sure how noticeable the spots actually were to other people - I have never had someone mention, ask about them, or be weird about sharing food/drinks or whatever with me - but I’m positive no one would notice them now. I went for the follow up appointment, and my derm hit a couple of spots that she missed the last time, and redid the initial test spots that she did because she wasn’t as aggressive with them and thought she could improve them more. The “touch up” appointment was also at no charge. She acknowledged how challenging these spots can be to treat but said it was her hope that the procedure would last years or longer. If not, she said I could come back as often as needed if new spots popped up or if old ones grew back. It’s been about three months and so far, so good. Even if they do start to grow back at this point, I would be more than happy to continue doing this treatment once or twice a year to keep them at bay.
Sorry for the super long post, but I know how hopeless these things can make you feel and I just wanted to share something that really helped me. My lips still aren’t perfect, but I don’t think about them anymore, which is an amazing feeling.
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That's great! Hoping that I can get the same thing soon! If the TCA doesn't work out then I'll be hitting the laser... Would have already but it's 500 bucks so I figured I would try the TCA first.
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Little update on my TCA spot.. I removed another peeling layer of 'scab/skin' and still need it to fully heal for another day or so to really see what's under it but from what I can see it looks like it may have removed a few of the spots. I have clusters of small spots not individual large spots. So it took off a couple of the small spots which is a good sign. I only hit it once with the TCA rather than hitting it and waiting and then hitting it again. I also only did a small spot but the results look promising. Only downside to it I can see is that you have about 7-10 days of having a noticeable 'scab' and that this will take FOREVER to hit every spot. So it's gonna be months of this scabby thing. Now I might be back tomorrow saying that the spots look the same when the spot heals fully... But it LOOKS like a few are gone.
SS
SS
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Patience...
Electrodissection is the process of sending radio waves through a small metal needle that consists of two different densities or conductiveness (sp?). That way, the DR can stick the needle down in the skin causing ablative damage to a certain area but not cause damage to the surface skin.
I tried this twice with no luck but is definitely a better treatment than most. It works well if you have just a few small spots and no clusters. Then the DR can be precise and will likely hit the gland.
For me, they had trouble actually finding the sebaceous gland and destroying so the spots came back after a few weeks.
They actually sell the electrodissection machine and needles on Ebay which I almost bought because I was sick of going back and forth to the dermatologist but then I discovered Tazorac and 50% tca and never tried that method again.
Electrodissection is the process of sending radio waves through a small metal needle that consists of two different densities or conductiveness (sp?). That way, the DR can stick the needle down in the skin causing ablative damage to a certain area but not cause damage to the surface skin.
I tried this twice with no luck but is definitely a better treatment than most. It works well if you have just a few small spots and no clusters. Then the DR can be precise and will likely hit the gland.
For me, they had trouble actually finding the sebaceous gland and destroying so the spots came back after a few weeks.
They actually sell the electrodissection machine and needles on Ebay which I almost bought because I was sick of going back and forth to the dermatologist but then I discovered Tazorac and 50% tca and never tried that method again.
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I tried 25% first and literally nothing happened except a but if peeling. Then this time I used 50% and it burned a bit but nothing too crazy at all. It looked like a scab on my lip for about 3 days or so... Then like I tore skin off for about 4 or 5 days. Not too terrible but it would be a bit embarrassing deoending in where you do it. Mine easmt too noticeable because where it is its kinda hard to see because my facial hair.
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They may fill back up so I want to wait until I call it a success... I can still sort of see one or two spots where I did the peel but there was at least 10 before. We will see in the next few weeks if it stays this way. If so then I'll be hitting the worst part next.
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On the right side of my top lip it isnt too bad.. Like 5 spots sorta soread out so I don't mind then too much at all. The left side is the bad side and its two clusters. The one that I hit was the smaller cluster of about 10-12. The other is about 15 I'd say, but its more noticable because it's right to the left of the center of my lip so it's more out there.
SS
SS
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