Acne Scar Treatment & Prevention
Posted on 04. Apr, 2009 by admin in Acne Treatments
Has Acne Left Embarrassing Scars On Your Skin? – There Are Treatment Options Available That Can Help
There are as many as 99% of both teens and adults who are affected with the bothersome symptoms and scars that acne can cause at some point in their life. When acne is left untreated it can ultimately cause a large amount of dyspigmentation and scarring on individuals who suffer from this frustrating problem for a couple of months, a couple of years, and in some cases for a lifetime. Acne is a problem that is generally temporary, but the scarring that is often left behind can be a serious problem that affects a person’s entire life. This is one reason why it is so important to find a treatment that works right for your skin as soon as you possibly can.
When you have noticed that you already suffer from scarring on your skin due to acne outbreaks, there are a variety of treatments that can provide a great deal of improvement in the look and feel of your skin. These treatments would include laser phototherapy, conventional surgery techniques, as well as filler substances for the skin. These items can also be used either alone, or in a combination with one another.
Classifying The Type Of Scarring On Your Skin
Your physician will need to make the proper determination on the exact type of scars from acne that you have before the proper treatment can be selected.
- Boxcar Scars – This type of scarring is very similar in appearance to scars caused from chicken pox, and they are generally 3mm in diameter.
- Ice-Pick Scars – This type of scarring is generally from 1 to 2 mm in diameter.
- Rolling Scars – This type of scarring received their name because of how it looks on the skin. The cause of this scarring is from fibrous bands that are abnormal and they are generally between 4 and 5 mm in diameter.
Another problem that frequently occurs after acne has developed is reddened skin that is persistent and an increase or decrease in the skins pigmentation.
Your Options Of Treatment
The treatments that are available would include fillers for the skin, resurfacing of the skin done by laser treatments, and subcision surgery. Before any of these procedures are performed your physician will need to do a thorough examination of the skin first.
Subcision surgery is performed after you have been given a local anesthetic. The doctor will then carefully locate and cut the fibrous bands that are held within the deep layers of your skin. This is also a technique that is commonly used on individuals who have rolling scars or shallow boxcar scars.
The technique that is commonly used for boxcar scars that are deep would be a combination of both the punch elevation and the punch excision, and for these procedures you are given anesthesia. A special instrument is first used to remove the entire scar, however punch grafting is a technique that is often also used for the more successful results. During this procedure the tissue is lifted instead of the scar being removed. Boxcar scars that are shallow can also be treatment using this method. Tissue normally sits just above the surround areas of skin, and then it retracts as the skin begins to heal, which causes it to level out with the rest of the skin. Resurfacing the skin is a method that can be performed in using either laser techniques or chemical peels.
Resurfacing The Skin Using Lasers
Using this technique the epidermal layer of your skin along with a portion of the dermal layer that is beneath the top layer. The results leave your skin feeling much smoother after the healing process has completed.
Treatments Used In A Combination Of One Another
Generally the surgical methods along with therapies that are used for resurfacing are used in combination with each other. If you are an individual taking Accutane, you will need to wait approximately 6 to 12 months to avoid any type of complications before using a laser or surgical method of treatment.
If you are contemplating the idea of trying any of these treatments, you need to keep in mind that before improvements are noticed you will need to be well equipped with a great deal of patience and time. If a patient receives anywhere from 30 to 60% improvement in the amount of scarring they started with, these results are considered to be reasonable and successful.
Leave a reply