Sure. Happy to report what I have experienced. I, too, have guttate hypopigmentation on my back, arms, and neck. This is from having untreated cystic acne that left white, depressed scars all over my body. We could not afford acne treatment and Accutane was not on the market when I had this acne...so I had bad acne that I couldn't treat. I don't think peope will have such disasterous results with the advent of better acne care that is more accessible. Accutane was taken off the market last year, so that option is out but is replaced by other compounds/technologies.
So, these white scars, to me, are bothersome. I have had strangers approach me in the past to ask if I had a tinea infection which is a white, polka-dot fungal infection that some people acquire. This infection is magnified by a tan...the spots really stand out (it can be cured with a few applications of selsun blue).
I explain to them that I don't have tinea, but I have scars, and that these white scars are permanent and due to a destruction of the melanocyte producing cells in the skin. The destruction comes from the inflammation form the acne and the continual picking of the acne, which I did regularly...like most kids.
So, my goal with benoquin was two-fold: I wanted to stop producing more age spots (check!) and I wanted to uniformly lighten my skin to reduce the visibility of these hypopigmented spots (check!). It worked. My skin is light enough now that the "white spots" are not relaly detectable. I am sure that with more skin lightening, these spots will blend more. After all, I am removing pigment from the surrounding skin, and this should match the depigmented scars. The only caveat is that these depressed scars are slightly shiny due to collagen deposition which is the physiological manner of laying down scar tissue...so I don't expect that these scars will go away, but I do expect them to be less visible.
Frankly, I went this route to have a way to stop doing laser. My laser treatments were 300-500 per area per session. I tallied the money I spent in the past 6 years on laser, and I calculated that I spent close to 30,000 for it. It worked, and I am more than pleased for what it did for my skin. It certainly got me on the right path to keeping out of the sun (required for all laser patients...forever).
Likewise, if you start this treatment, you will have to treat your WHOLE BODY and you must avoid the sun. PERIOD. That sounds impossible, right? I live on the East Coast (beaches, beaches, beaches). I wear micronized zinc oxide on every exposed surface of my skin and then I wear pants and long sleeves...year round. Yes, I sweat like a dog in the 100-degree heat...but I console myself with the fact that I am preserving my skin.
Hope that helps. I am always willing to share my experience if it helps anyone.
Cheers!
