Hypertrophic acne scars

[peatolish]

I have some noticeable raised scars (not keloid, but hypertrophic) on my chest since i've had a big problem with acne during my puberty. My dermatologist prescribed me various ointments and gels that did help but they are still there and are bothering me.

Would there be a peaty way to treat them? My dermo said that no surgical intervention should be done as I'm prone to these kind of scarring. I'm looking into laser therapy or steroid injections.

Also, is there a way to reduce the red-pinkish coloring on them?

[CO3]

@peatolish Progest-E! Topical to try and reduce the scarring (by its nature this will only have limited but I believe noticeable effects) and orally to improve the hormonal profile causing the overdevelopment of scar tissue. Doing everything to improve the progesterone:estrogen ratio basically.

Avoiding soap might help too, but some people have jobs that really just don't allow them to do that. In my case I get by just using baking soda and vinegar, but I don't work a physical job.

[peatolish]

@CO3 yeah, the hormonal profile really messes up the scar formation. I got these scars when i was literally PUFAnated and estrogenated eating junk food and not moving at all during quarantine. I gave myself insulin resistance and hypothyroidism at that time and a couple other issues. I'm working on fixing them, thanks for the suggestions. Progest is definetely on my shopping list for my high e2.

[vocedilegno]

@peatolish +1 to Progest-E but as Peat cautioned it’s important to make sure your vitamin D level and calcium intake are high enough to avoid activation of certain estrogen-producing enzymes (7-keto I think was in the name) by the progesterone. If you’re not sure then vitamin E might be safer to start with. Or maybe the vitamin E in the Progest-E obviates the risk, it would be good to go back and check what Ray said.

FWIW what you’re describing sounds similar to something I have on the left side of my nose which tingles like it’s growing whenever estrogen or prolactin are rising, if I consume TocoVit or slather it on the skin the tingles go away.