Pimple scars develop when the original acne lesion damages lower layers of skin, called the dermis. The Scar Information Service points out that when significant damage is done to the dermis layers, hair follicles and sweat glands are destroyed and do not return. Therefore, a scarred site will never be the same.
Pimples can form different types of scarring and, therefore, often need differing treatments to improve their appearance. For mild scarring, topical creams or home remedies can see improvements. Although the website Acne concedes the ineffectiveness of these for severe acne scarring, clinical treatments can provide quick improvements.
Step 1
Make an appointment with your doctor to identify the type and severity of acne scarring that you have. Mild acne scarring can simply cause dark blemishes, but more severe pimple scars can cause small indentations in the skin where tissue and collagen fibers have been lost. These are called boxcar or ice pick scars, so named due to the shapes they form at the base of the indentations. More severe scarring can also cause keloids, which are raised growths of tissue protruding from the skin.
Step 2
Apply an ointment containing the aquatic plant gotu kola for your mild pimple scar blemishes, and massage it into your skin. Use as soon as the scar is beginning to form. Gotu kola is used for a variety of dermatological purposes as it can prevent overproduction of collagen, which can create scar tissue while also helping to promote new skin growth.
Step 3
Schedule an appointment to have soft tissue fillers for small indentation scars like boxcars. A specialist will use a needle to inject filler into the indentation. This filler can either be collagen, silicone or your own fat tissue. The skin inflates as the filler enters and raises in alignment with the rest of the skin's surface.
Step 4
Have a consultation to discuss the use of a chemical peel for your ice pick pimple scars. Chemical peels use an acid solution to burn off the outermost layers of skin, the epidermis, and some of the dermis, if the case requires. This is a purposeful wounding of the skin that not only removes the surface layers of the scar, but also shocks the body into healing and therefore producing new, less-blemished skin.
Step 5
Schedule a session with your dermatologist for cytotoxic injections to remove any severe keloid pimple scars. Fluorouracil, a cancer-fighting drug, or bleomycin, an antibiotic, are injected into the growth of tissue with the aim of breaking down the formation of cells and dissolving the tissue.
Tips and Warnings
- Although effective, soft tissue fillers are the least permanent. Attractive results may last only a few months. Low-strength steroids are often delivered with cytotoxic injections. Chemical peels are available in differing strengths.
- Gotu kola can cause allergic reactions when applied topically. More research is needed to support the use of natural remedies as effective treatments for acne conditions, notes the Mayo Clinic. Side effects are to be expected with clinical treatments. Redness, soreness, bleeding, scabbing, swelling and increased photo sensitivity are common. In extreme cases, scarring can be made worse by hyper pigmentation--aka skin darkening.
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