hypo-pigmented scar

[danielle0589]

Hello,

I have a scar on my knee that i've had for 10 plus years. The scar is hypopigmented and i think hypertrophic, but i am not sure. I am wondering which type of needle to use the derma stamp or derma roller and if there is anything i could do about the hypo pigmentation?

[SarahVaughter]

Skin pigment (melanin) is produced by melanocyte cells. They are at the bottom of the epidermis, which is only about 0.1 - 0.3 mm deep in the skin.

When they produce too much melanin in certain area, you get hyperpigmentation, when they do not produce enough or are destroyed or damaged, you get hypopigmentation.

Scar tissue differs from normal skin and one of the differences is that it has no or badly functioning pigmentation processes.

Dermarolling often triggers melanocytes (pigment producing cells) or "wakes up" existing dormant melanocytes. In some cases the color turns completely back to normal (especially if there is hypopigmentation but no scar tissue, such as in Vitiligo for example) and in some cases the color improves but the scars remain still lighter than the surrounding skin.

In your case, you have a scar and some very small parts of the scar are slightly raised. Use a 1.5 mm dermastamp with 35 needles and stamp the scar very densely every 15-20 days.  For pigmentations, more frequent microneedling is suitable.

Stamp the hypopigmented patches and also stamp slightly outside of its borders to enable the migration of the melanocytes from the surrounding normal skin into the hypo-pigmented areas.

When the skin is healed from microneedling, expose your hypopigmentation to the sun because melanin is produced as a reaction to UV (provided there are melanocyte cells in the area to produce it).