20 July 2018 Tweet  

Acne Scar Treatments

Even after the active acne has subsided, post-acne blemishes may remain, including redness, pigmentation and scarring. These are more pronounced in poorly treated acne or after self-manipulation like picking and squeezing. Here are some treatments to help reduce the appearance of your scars.

Medicated peels: These are a combination of peels containing glycolic acid, lactic acid, mandelic acid, Trichloroacetic acid, retinol etc peels . During a peel procedure, the peeling agent when applied on the skin exfoliates the top layers. It is a simple procedure and can be done on full face or only affected areas (spot peep). This helps hasten skin cells turnover, improving acne scars and marks. These require many sessions but results are very satisfying.

Microneedling: In this process, a dermaroller which is a sterile roller made of pure stainless steel with a series of fine sharp needles is used to make small micro punctures in the skin. This acne scar treatment is an collagen induction therapy which helps to stimulate the body’s own production of collagen. This is a minimally invasive treatment and it leaves the skin red for 2-3 days and thereafter leaves the skin smooth and softer.

Microneedling Radiofrequency: This uses minimally invasive micro-needles to deliver controlled RF energy directly into various depths of the skin specifically on the depressed acne scars . This helps to release the skin free from the fibrous bands and reduces the acne scars, over multiple sessions.

Subsicion: Subcision is a simple and safe procedure for the really deep kinds of acne scars that leave depressions in the skin. In this procedure, a bevelled hypodermic needle is inserted through a puncture in the skin surface and its sharp edges manoeuvred under the skin. This helps to break the fibrotic strands, which tether the scar to the underlying tissues, helping to lift the scar.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP): This involves taking some of your blood, isolating the platelet-rich plasma, which contains proteins and other growth factors, and injecting it back into the scars. This helps to build up the collagen layer under the depressions in the skin raising it to the level of the surrounding skin. need multiple treatments, but the results are worth it.

Laser Assisted Skin Resurfacing: This treatment involves an intense light beam to improve severe, old standing acne scars, not responding to other modalities of treatment. These lasers may be ablative or non-ablative. Ablative lasers are invasive, and remove the top layer of your skin. This will cause your skin to appear red as it tries and repairs itself. These require some downtime for skin to heal completely (4-7 days) but give excellent results. The non-ablative lasers are less invasive and use heat to stimulate the cells which leads the underlying collagen to remodel, improving acne scars. These require no downtime but one needs many sessions to see results.