Treating Acne Scars

Despite the fact that most of us will suffer from acne at some point in our lives, in most cases, acne can be very effectively treated and will clear up in time without any lasting effects. However, in some cases acne can lead to scarring which can range from very mild and almost unnoticeable to very severe and deep scarring. Fortunately, there are several very effective treatments available today.

The first problem when it comes to acne scarring is that not all scars are the same and it is vitally important to have your scarring professionally assessed by your dermatologist before commencing any form of treatment. For example, two commonly used treatments are dermabrasion and laser resurfacing which can be very effective for mild and shallow scarring. However, if you have deep, steep sided scrars (often referred to as icepick scars) then dermabrasion or laser resurfacing will not work.

The four most frequently used acne scarring treatments today are dermabrasion, laser resurfacing, surgery and drug treatment.

Dermabrasion has been around for many years now and is used to treat a wide range of skin conditions, including mild and shallow acne scarring. After the application of a local anesthetic a high speed brush is used to 'sand' off the top layer of skin. The skin will then regenerate through the natural healing process removing the scarring or making it less obvious. This treatment often needs to be repeated several times over a period of months in order to clear even relatively mild scarring.

Laser Resurfacing is a reasonably new form of treatment for mild acne scarring and works in a similar fashion to dermabrasion, in this case burning away the top layers of the skin. At present there are a wide range of laser treatments available and many of these (for example using different colored lasers) are still very much under evaluation.

Surgery is an option for those people with significant scarring, such as the deep, steep sided scars which are often referred to as icepick scars. In some cases a technique known as punching will be used in which the scar is cut out down to the level of the skin's subcutaneous fat and the resulting hole is repaired either with sutures or with a small skin graft. Another technique employed is subcision in which the scar tissue is lifted away from the underlying unscarred tissue.

Drug treatments are used when scarring will not normally respond to other standard treatment methods. For example, mechanical methods such as those described above can actually cause certain forms of scarring such as keloids to spread further. Drugs are sometimes injected directly into the area around the scar or can be given in the form of a topical cream.

While it is possible to get rid of acne scars this is not something which you should attempt to do yourself and you should always consult either your doctor or a dermatologists to ensure that you get the right treatment for your particular type of scaring.