Acne Scar Removal : Various Methods and Treatments

Acne sometimes leaves life-long scars on the skin. Acne scars look like “ice Pick” pits. Scars can appear on face, arms, buttocks and back. Proper treatment can help reduce the scar. You can take the help of dermatologists to get the scars removed. There are many methods and techniques for acne scar removal.

Your dermatologist will recommend the method of treating the scar depending upon your age, your normal health and the medical history. It also depends upon, what kind of scar is it, severity of scar. Before starting treatment with any medical procedure, your tolerance for specific procedure, medication or therapy has to be taken care of.

You can take the help of one of the following methods of acne scar removal in accordance with the recommendation of your dermatologist.

Various Methods of Acne Scar Removal

Dermabrasion :

In this procedure, doctor uses an abrasive instrument to remove the topmost layer of the skin. This instrument resembles an electric sander. At the time of treatment, skin becomes red but once it gets healed, skin surface looks smooth and robust.

Chemical Peels:

When scar is not very severe or deep, chemical peels are recommended by the doctors and preferred by the patients. In this method, a chemical is applied over the scarred area and for several minutes, it is left there. This chemical peel reacts with the scar tissue and it peels off the top layer of the skin. Further skin gets smooth by regeneration of newer skin cells which are healthy.

Collagen Injections :

People are opting for collagen injections if the scar is not deep or severe. Collagen is injected below the skin surface to replace the severely damaged or destroyed cells or pores.

Punch Graft Method:

This method of acne scar removal is used for deep scars. In this method small piece of skin layer is removed from any part of your body and is implanted on the deep hole like scars. Skin for grafting is taken from body parts where there is soft tissue like ear lobe. If more skin is needed, skin from inner thigh may be taken.

Laser Treatment:

Now days, laser treatment is getting popular because of its long-lasting results. Doctors are recommending it over all other methods. Another advantage of this method is there is less chances of reoccurrence of the scar. In this method, a high-intensity beam of light is directed in small amounts over the scar. It is done very carefully to remove scarred tissue.

For some selected patients, steroid injections are given directly into the scar. Mostly doctors use steroid injections with surgery for acne scar removal.

Autologous fibroblasts:

There is another method which is quite expensive and difficult and is called cultured autologous fibroblasts. This is recommended for some specially diagnosed patients. Some living cells from robust tissues of body are taken and developed in the laboratory. When they grow up, they are injected into the scar. When they stick to the tissue, they start growing and filling up the scar. It fills up the hole to make the skin smooth. It takes minimum three sittings. If you respond well to the treatment, there are long lasting results of this treatment.

Plastic Surgery :

If none of the method works, you can go for a plastic surgery; it is the final solution for skin smoothening. But this method has drawback that it make the skin thin and in case of reoccurrence of acne, it can create problems in their treatment.

Topical Applications:

You can make use of topical applications as alternative to remove mild scars. There are UV sun lamps and peels to help acne scar removal. A good substance for acne scar removal is Retin-A.

Topical applications are an alternative.

There are a few over the counter applications that help remove scars if they are mild. There are peels available and UV sun lamps, just to name a few. Retin A is also good for healing.

However with all these medications and treatments, you can not get the skin once you had when you were a baby. But yes, these treatments can reduce the severity of scar and make the skin smoother by minimizing the scarring.