How to treat Acne scars
There are number of effective procedures that help in diminishing the acne scars. However, these procedures should be done in the licensed dermatologists’ office only. Here you would find a brief explanation of each procedure.
Fillers: In this procedure, a dermatologist would inject collagen or fat fillers under the skin and into depressed scars to fill out or stretch the skin. This can make the scar less noticeable. The biggest drawback with this procedure is that the results are not permanent and the patient has to get the procedure done occasionally. The side effects are not severe, rather short term swelling, bruising and redness.
Chemical Peels: These are high concentration acids that are applied on the skin to remove the top layer of skin called epidermis and it helps in minimizing the deeper scars.
Dermabrasion: This procedure should be done if there is severe scarring. It does a superb job in smoothing out certain kinds of scars and bumps along with wrinkles. This can be done only under local anesthesia. If you get this procedure done, make sure you are on holidays as your face would be bandaged for at least three to five days. Your face can be red for a week. Be prepared to endure some pain and most probably would be prescribed pain medicine by your dermatologist.
Laser Resurfacing: This is a procedure with a laser which helps in improving the appearance of the skin. It uses an intense light beam that treats surface of the skin which is damaged. This procedure is not only popular in treating acne scars but it is widely used for wrinkles, age spots, hyperpigmentation and sun damage skin. The most popular laser used for these procedures is called Fraxel laser.
Light Therapy: There are treatment options that do not injure the top layer of the skin and can be effective in treating the scars. These are certain kind of lasers, pulsed light sources and radio frequency devices that heat the lower layer of skin called dermis and as a result new skin is formed. These treatments may not completely erase the scars but they appear less noticeable. The best thing about this procedure is that the recovery period is very short.
Skin Surgery: In this procedure, a dermatologist would cut out acne scar individually and stitch or skin graft the hole at the scarred skin. This procedure is best for ice pick-type of deep acne scars. To put it simply, punch grafts are small pieces of normal skin which are used to replace skin with scars. The procedure involves a small circular cutter which is used to cut a hole in the skin and remove the scar. The area is then filled in with a possibly matching piece of unscarred skin.
