Acne Scar Treatment
There are a variety of acne scar treatments available on the market today. These range from products you can apply yourself at home, to medical procedures carried out by professionals. Depending to your skin type, the severity of the acne scars in question and the likely hood of future breakouts you can choose the most appropriate path to healing you skin and boosting your self esteem. Before you decide on a acne scar treatment method its best to consider all you options. To assist we have outline some of the most common procedures below.
Despite the "quick fix" appeal of acne scar treatment such as surgery, I would recommend that you should first try one of the exfoliating skin products on the market. These will help to smooth out any excess skin caused by scarring. Used in conjunction with a product that can reduce the discoloration that acne scars and leave you will notice a difference and feel more confident as a result.
Some of the options available for acne scar treatment:
- Dermabrasion. This is thought to be the most effective acne scar treatment. Under local anesthetic, a high-speed brush or fraise used to remove surface skin and alter the contour of acne scars. Superficial acne scars may be removed altogether, and deeper acne scars may be reduced in depth.
- Collagen injection. Collagen, a normal substance of the body, is injected under the skin to "stretch" and "fill out" certain types of superficial and deep soft acne scars. Collagen derived from cows or other non-human sources cannot be used in people with autoimmune diseases. Human collagen or fascia is helpful for those allergic to cow-derived collagen. Cosmetic benefit from collagen injection usually lasts 3 to 6 months.
- Autologous fat transfer. Fat is taken from another site on your own body and prepared for injection into your skin. The fat is injected beneath the surface of the skin to elevate depressed acne scars. Because the fat is reabsorbed into the skin over a period of 6 to 18 months, the procedure usually must be repeated.
- Laser Treatment. Lasers of various wavelength and intensity may be used to re contour scar tissue and reduce the redness of skin around healed acne lesions. Tissue may actually be removed with more powerful instruments such as the carbon dioxide laser. In some cases, a single treatment is all that will be necessary to achieve permanent results.
- Skin Surgery. Some ice-pick scars may be removed by "punch" excision of each individual scar. In this procedure each scar is excised down to the layer of subcutaneous fat; the resulting hole in the skin may be repaired with sutures or with a small skin graft. Subcision is a technique in which a surgical probe is used to lift the scar tissue away from unscarred skin, thus elevating a depressed acne scar.
- Skin grafting may be necessary under certain conditions—for example, sometimes dermabrasion unroofs massive and extensive tunnels (also called sinus tracts) caused by inflammatory reaction to sebum and bacteria in sebaceous follicles. Skin grafting may be needed to close the defect of the unroofed sinus tracts.
Scar Surgery Treatment Summary
Scars are caused by the body’s inflammatory response to acne lesions. The best way to prevent them is to treat acne early, and as long as necessary. If scars form, a number of effective treatments are available. Any of the above treatments should be discussed with a dermatologist. Alternately you might want to consider home treatments to help exfoliate skin and heal the scarring at home.
