How to prevent and Treat Acne Scars

If you are suffering from acne, please dont worry.

Acne is a treatable and not life-threatening condition; the key to acne is seeking early help.

Because the damage that acne can cause should not be underestimated.

It can lead to scarring or dark marks on your skin.

In addition to having profound effects on your self-esteem.

As part of our series on scars

In this article, you’ll learn how to nip acne scarring in the bud,

And the treatments that can help to treat your acne scars.

Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH)

A dark, flat patch left behind by a breakout is not an acne scar; this is post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH).

PIH is, in fact, your body’s natural response to skin trauma, which is why you should not scratch or pick your skin.

These marks will often fade on their own, providing the trauma does not sit deep in the dermis.

A true acne scar will have an irregular texture, not just hyper-pigmentation and will appear like small indentations in your skin, but they can also be slightly raised in some instances.

Acne scars Treatment

If this sounds like what you’re dealing with, you likely know from experience that acne scars can be challenging to treat.

Several treatments can help significantly to reduce acne scars that don’t require surgical intervention.

Topical treatments are excellent for mild to moderate acne scars and many types of abnormal pigmentation.

Retinoids

Like the kind found in our A+ complex is an excellent way to stimulate cellular turnover at the skin surface and the growth of new tissue and collagen in the dermis whilst also balancing sebum production on the skin’s surface.

Microdermabrasion

This is an excellent treatment for smoothing an uneven surface, which involves using fine crystals directly applied to your skin.

The crystals help to lift dead skin cells from the surface of your skin whilst stimulating new cells and collagen production.

Because this is mechanical exfoliation, the therapist has greater control when targeting areas of concern; a course of microdermabrasion treatments is usually recommended.

Medical Dermabrasion

This treatment is not to be confused with microdermabrasion, the non-surgical treatment performed by aestheticians.

Medical dermabrasion is an intense form of surgical skin planing that must be performed under anaesthetic and can only be performed by medical professionals.

It is a successful treatment for facial scarring because it reaches living tissue in the dermis; however, with the advent of new technology, this treatment has largely been replaced by lasers.

The following article on laser treatment for acne scars is a question-and-answer guide that you may find helpful.

Glycolic Peels

This ingredient comes from the acid found in sugar cane, making it one of the most natural acne scar treatments.

These peels gently remove dead, dull, pitted skin from the skin’s surface; it slouches away dead cells to encourage cellular regeneration, revealing smoother, brighter skin underneath.

TCA Peels

We recommend using this excellent treatment for acne scars as a spot treatment.

Used in this way, you can get great results by treating scars and uneven skin texture, which may have occurred due to acne.

We don’t recommend using this treatment if you have acne inflammation because it can also be too harsh for delicate skin tissue.

Phenol Peels

Phenol peels are the deepest chemical peels for acne scars and can have dramatic results on your skin, sometimes even after one treatment.

Because this treatment has side effects, these peels are not often used; you can read more about these phenol peels here.

Severe Scarring

Your dermatologist can perform some procedures.

They can be treated with a combination of subcision, where a needle is inserted underneath a depressed scar to manually break up the scar tissue.

Some indented scars can also be lifted with a small hyaluronic acid injection.

Deep scars, known as ice pick scars, can be removed with punch excision.

Thick scars can be treated with scar gels or injected with cortisone which will help to flatten them.

To Conclude. The naked truth

The type of exfoliation used on acne scars will entirely depend on the severity and grade of acne.

It is important to note that surface exfoliation modalities, such as microdermabrasion and light peels, will only provide mild improvement in acne scars.

They don’t reach deep enough to stimulate complete skin regeneration.

Before embarking on any treatment, you must get any skin sensitivity treated to bring inflammation under control.

Many prescription treatments leave the skin photosensitive, dry, and fragile.

If you are on prescription treatments, then no exfoliation should be performed for at least six months following the completion of the internal medicine.