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Question: I have scars caused by acne. How should I treat them?
Answer: The first thing to confirm is that we’re talking about the same thing when we talk about acne scars.
True acne scars are pretty much the same kind of thing that you’d get from a healed cut of your skin. When the deeper layer of your skin (dermis) is damaged, whether by a cut or a severe acne lesion, scar tissue forms to replace the damaged area. In the initial phase, the area where the scar is developing has a deep redness to it, but this fades over time.
Thus, keep in mind that the final appearance of a scar is an area of skin that is paler than the surrounding tissue. One of the major frustrations of acne is its ability to cause permanent scars. We’ll talk about what you can do about it in a moment.
Here’s the important point, though. Acne can cause a deep redness in the tissue around an active – or recently active – lesion, even if there is no scar developing there. But, because we tend to associate that appearance with a scar, sometimes I will hear people with acne talking about areas with this appearance as ‘scars’, even though they are not actually scars.
What’s the point? A scar is a permanent thing, but the redness of active acne isn’t. As a result, we’ll often hear from people who use AcneRecovery, thanking us for helping get rid of their ‘scars’ – but good as it is, AcneRecovery (or any other acne medicine) can’t make scars go away.
If the areas you’re concerned about are part of an active acne situation, I would encourage you to get serious about getting control of the acne process itself. Even if you have some true acne scars that have already developed, it’s critical that you get control in order to avoid developing any further scars. And, if the areas you’re concerned about are actually the deep redness of active acne, getting control of that acne may well take away much – or all – of what you’ve thought of as ‘scars’.
How can you get control of your acne? If it’s severe enough that you’re concerned about scarring, I’d strongly encourage you to see a dermatologist right away. The doctor can tell you if what you have is true scarring – or simply the redness associated with active acne. She can also recommend a good treatment approach that will help get things controlled, very likely with a prescription medication.
If you don’t consider your acne severe and aren’t quite ready to see a dermatologist yet, you may want to consider trying the AcneRecovery System for 60 days to see if it resolves the problems you’re concerned about.
Finally, what are your options if the problem you’re concerned with is true scarring from acne? First, it’s important that you recognize there’s no medication that you apply to your skin that is proven to lessen or remove scars. Don’t spend your money on products hyped as treatment for true scarring.
That said, there are some treatments that you can get at a dermatologist’s office that do have the ability to significantly improve the appearance of acne scarring.
They include:
• Dermabrasion: A more aggressive ‘sandpapering’ of the skin than microdermabrasion. The acne scar is sanded down, allowing the surface layer to regrow, minimizing the appearance of the scar.
• Chemical Peel: Application of acid or other chemical agent to remove the superficial layer of skin, thus stimulating the skin to replace the surface skin with new tissue. Can be good for mild scarring, but may need multiple treatments.
• Laser resurfacing: Like the chemical peel, the superficial layer of skin is removed, but by more controllable laser tool. The surface skin then regrows more normally.
• Punch Removal: A hi-tech ‘cookie cutter’ is used to cut out the acne scar and then either left to fill in naturally, or the missing tissue is replaced with a punch of normal tissue taken from another location (behind the ear, etc.).
• Subcision: A technique to help resolve pitting by loosening the scar tissue from being anchored to deeper tissue. As it heals, the surface is smoother.
• Augmentation: the injection of collagen or other material into a pitted scar in order to ‘fill in’ the pit. Needs to be repeated every 6 months or so.
Although these techniques generally don’t completely remove all evidence of scarring, they do substantially improve the appearance of the skin. Their two main downsides are:
• Cost Because these techniques require the skills and time of trained physicians or technicians, they tend to be expensive. Some of them may need to be repeated, adding to the cost. But, if you can afford the procedure, it may well deliver what you desire.
• Temporary damage Each of these techniques involves causing some damage to the skin and relies on the healing process to refresh the skin. As a result they involve a certain amount of discomfort or pain, followed by the healing process. |
