If you have finally conquered your acne, dealing with the acne scars left behind can be extremely disheartening. But just because you have acne scars doesn't mean you have to just sit back and live with them. In fact, you can take some action against, redness, irritation, pits and dips in your skin left behind by troublesome acne, by taking advantage of a few of the acne scar removal treatments available, like laser resurfacing or dermabrasion.
Acne Scar Types
Several types of acne scars can leave your skin looking less than perfect after dealing with acne. A common affliction is hyperpigmentation. These red or brown marks on the skin are left behind from the inflammation acne caused to your skin. Luckily, these marks fade on their own over time. Other scar types are more severe and can be permanent if not treated, like rolling scars, which leave subtle depressions in the skin, boxcar scars, which leave sharp and angular depressions in the skin and ice pick scars, which leave very narrow pits in the skin.
Laser Resurfacing
Laser resurfacing can be used to remove some acne scars. The laser causes controlled damage to the outer layers of skin so that new skin can grow and heal better, leaving your scars less noticeable. A local anesthesia is typically used to reduce discomfort during treatment. It will likely take several sessions to achieve the appearance you want.
Dermabrasion
Dermabrasion is another option for removing acne scars, or at least making them less noticeable. This treatment involves using a device with sharp crystals on it to sand off the top layers of skin. You will be under local or general anesthesia depending on the extensiveness of the procedure. This requires a significant recovery time, since your skin will be very sore and swollen. It will likely scab over. Applying the creams and lotions provided by your dermatologist is vital if you want to see positive results.
Surgical Removal
For very deep scars that would not be improved by resurfacing techniques, there are surgical options. For instance, you can have your entire scar removed using a technique called punch excision. Or, you can have punch elevation, which fills in scars by having the skin beneath a scar lifted and held in place. A punch graft, made of skin from another part of your body can also be used to fill in an area where a scar has been removed.
Fillers
Treatment to remove acne scars can also involve the use of fillers like fat, collagen or hyaluronic acid. These substances are injected directly into the scar to help make it flush with the rest of your skin. Unfortunately, these substances are all temporary and the injections have to be repeated at least every six months. The only permanent filler is polymethylmethacrylate, or PMMA.
Member Comments