Tips for Handling Acne Scars
Having acne at any stage of your life can be extremely annoying. But what’s even more frustrating is when that acne leaves behind acne scars. Scarring occurs when breakouts affect the skin deeply enough to damage the tissue below. The scars look like divets, or holes, in your skin and can be just as annoying to treat as acne is.
If you’re battling acne scars, keep reading below to learn more about the best tactics for treatment.
Three Main Types of Acne Scars
Atrophic or Depressed Acne Scars
This is the most common type of acne scar. They occur when not enough collagen was formed when the acne wound was healing.
There are three types of atrophic acne scars. Boxcars are wide, u-shared scars that can be shallow or deep. Ice pick scars are narrow, v-shaped scars that usually go deep into the skin. And, finally, rolling scars are wide, deep acne scars.
Hypertrophic or Raised Scars
These are most commonly found on the chest and the back. These happen after too much collagen is created during healing, giving the acne scars a raised appearance.
Dark Spots
Dark spots are discoloration spots on the skin left behind after acne has disappeared. These are pretty common across all skin types and can be caused by other things. They can be purple, red, or brown. Usually, these fade over time and with the help of treatments.
Best Treatment Options:
There’s a lot of options to explore for treatments. Here are the most common types:
- Soft Tissue Fillers: Given by dermatologist, these fillers inject collagen or fat directly under the skin to fill out the scars. While the results are positive, they are temporary and require multiple treatments to keep them invisible.
- Lasers: This type of treatment is very common and also given by professionals. Certain lasers or other light sources treatment are able to treat the scars and reduce their appearance.
- Chemical Peels: Many medical spas and dermatology offices offer medical peels, sometimes even scrubs, that can reduce the appearance.
- Botox: Botox relax the areas of skin where acne scars are, thus improving the appearance of the divets and scars.
- Needling and Rolling: Another common procedure at many dermatology offices, needling or rolling uses a device that has small needles on a rolling bar. While this may sound painful, it’s extremely safe and your skin will be numbed before the procedure begins so the pain will be minimal.
- Home remedies: There are lots of home remedies that countless people have used to help reduce the appearance. Masks made out of aloe vera, coconut oil, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar have been proven to have positive effects on only superficial acne scars. Do some research and try out your favorite options to see if it helps to reduce the appearance.
The best way to handle acne scars is to speak to your trusted dermatology professional. The experts at Avail Dermatology are here to help. Click here to schedule an appointment with any of our expert team.
