Posted on January 30, 2018 by Paul A. Boulos When you suffer from severe acne scars, it can create a serious impact on your self-esteem. They’re difficult to cover up and will completely change the texture of your skin. While some over-the-counter treatments and in-office procedures can help to reduce the appearance of acne scars, do they provide the same or better results as laser acne scar removal treatments?
Let’s break it down.
What Causes Acne Scarring
When blemishes or cysts develop and create a wound on the skin’s surface, a healthy body will be able to naturally cure itself over a short period of time. When the body is unable to heal itself, however, severe acne marks will appear in the form of either atrophic or hypertrophic scars. Hypertrophic scars will form when there’s an excess of collagen produced during the healing process, resulting in scars that appear on the skin like waves or keloids. Caused by the opposite healing issue, atrophic scars will form when there is not enough collagen produced during the healing process. The result is a variety of scars that can appear as pin-sized divots, rounded depressions, or squared depressions depending on how it healed.
Over-the-Counter Acne Scar Treatments
Anyone who suffers from severe acne scars has likely tried a number of over-the-counter solutions that promise results, but the truth is that most products you can buy at your local drugstore will require months of dedicated use before you notice any difference in your scars. When searching for a product to help reduce the appearance of atrophic scars, it’s important to use one that hydrates the skin. Here are a few of the most popular options:
- Topical scar gels
- Dark spot correcting serums
- Coconut oil
- Vitamin C
- Lemon juice
- Tea tree oil
While many of these treatments can help to reduce redness and promote healing of current blemishes, they’re unable to treat the texture issue that is often most frustrating for those who suffer from severe acne scars. To treat these atrophic and hypertrophic scars, it will require an in-office visit to a specialist.
In-Office Acne Scar Treatments
Many of the more advanced acne scar treatments that you can only get from a professional focus on eliminating several layers of skin at a time. Chemical peels, for example, will remove the damaged layers of the skin in a variety of degrees. The degree of your scars and what type they are will determine what level of intensity the mixture is, as some are able to penetrate the deepest layers of the skin.
Microdermabrasions are another option that will remove the surface layer of the skin, and can even be found over the counter if you’re looking to save yourself a trip to the spa. Dermabrasions are a similar procedure that removes more layers of the skin, resolving deeper issues.
The problem with these types of treatments is that they’re slow to see results, as the root of most acne scars rests deep in the layers of the skin. They’re also irritating to the skin, and depending on how intense your treatment is, will leave your face raw and sensitive.
Surgical Acne Scar Treatments
One of the oldest methods used to get rid of acne scars is to surgically cut it out and allow the skin to heal naturally. There are several punch techniques that can be used to remove the scars as well as the skin around them, including those that combine skin grafting. The results are often reduced textural irregularities, but it doesn’t provide complete acne scar elimination.
Fat injections can sometimes offer better results, as they are a natural solution that doesn’t require much interruption to the skin around the scarred area. They do, however, require extraction of fat from another area of the body and take two procedures to complete.
Laser Skin Rejuvenation for Acne Scar Treatment
As laser technology has advanced, laser skin rejuvenation has become the ideal treatment for acne scars. Using a fractional laser, a licensed medical laser technician targets the damaged skin cells that have formed your acne scars deep in the layers of the skin. By then creating microscopic wounds, the skin will take action to heal itself by producing collagen to create new skin cells. This will help to eliminate the appearance of any acne scars you might have and will continue to improve the texture of your skin with each laser treatment.
Some of the benefits of laser skin rejuvenation are:
- It’s a noninvasive procedure
- There’s little to no downtime required after treatments
- Side effects are rare and mild
- Treatments are quick, taking 20 minutes on average
- Results can be seen after just one treatment
- Increase in collagen production
- Improve skin texture and appearance
Find a laser clinic who uses the most advanced laser technology, such as the Picoway Resolve laser, for laser skin rejuvenation and who only employs licensed laser technicians who are highly qualified at this procedure. They’ll be able to compose a custom treatment plan for your acne scars so that you’re guaranteed to see the best results. Stop hiding your face and schedule a treatment today.
