Acne Scar Treatment - How A Dermatologist Can Help You Improve Your Skin
If you are a woman, you might have a voluptuous figure, sparkling eyes and gleaming hair, but if your skin is disfigured by acne scars, you will never feel beautiful.
If you are a man, no matter how lean and trim the figure, or how well developed the six-pack abs might be, if crevices and holes are present on your skin due to acne scars the self-confidence is just not there.
The good news is that Acne Scars treatment can be improved or removed. However, no single treatment is best for everyone and a variety of procedures have to be considered to improve your complexion.
The destruction and tissue injury that leads to acne scars leads to a spectrum of changes that show up on the skin. Pitted holes similar to ice pick marks, saucer like depressions, red blemishes, dark brown spots, and puffy thickened keloid tissue all represent changes that can be due to acne scars.
A dermatologist can examine your skin and evaluate the acne scars to come up with the most appropriate treatment plan. Here are some of the procedures that might be used to correct the scars and improve your skin.
First is a procedure called "punch grafting". This procedure is used to correct deep pitted scars by using a dermal punch to remove the damaged tissue and replace it with a tissue graft similar in size that is collected from skin behind the ear. After a 4 to 6 week period, a resurfacing procedure might be used to smooth out the edges and help the punch grafts blend in with the surrounding skin
Another procedure that can help improve saucer type acne scars is called dermal subscision. This procedure is performed by anesthetizing the skin and using a wedge shaped needle to pass horizontally under the skin like a windshield wiper to release the fibrotic bands that are pulling the skin surface down as part of the scarring process.
One of the simplest techniques to help acne scars is a series of saline injections done every few weeks for 4 to 6 visits to help stimulate the bodies wound healing process and generate natural collagen production.
Laser treatments are used in a variety of ways to improve acne scars. Nonablative lasers are non-invasive and use light energy to stimulate collagen production in the dermis to help improve saucer scars. With these treatments the epidermis isn't injured so there is no downtime after the treatments. Laser resurfacing with or without fractionated energy uses ablative light energy to vaporize the outer layer of skin and heats the underlying tissue to generate tissue contraction, tightening, as well as create a smoother surface and decrease the sharpness of the edges of acne scars.. As the treated area heals, new skin cells populate the surface creating a radiant new look.
Dermabrasion uses a rapidly rotating wire brush to remove the top layer of skin. This results in completely removing surface scars, while scars that are deeper may not be as noticeable. This is a more classical procedure and while popular years ago, it is used less frequently due to the risk of tramsmission of blood borne viral diseases such as hepatitis C and human immunovirus deficiency.
Tissue fillers which call for injecting hyaluronic acid and other compounds under the skin to elevate the acne scars to make them less noticeable. This procedure can help saucer type scars and needs to be repeated every few months since the body can absorb the filler.
This is certainly an excellent way to improve skin texture and decrease the appearance of scars. In addition, there are other laser and light therapies, such as:
Photodynamic therapy, which combines topical photosensitizing medications and light-based treatment to help with stubborn acne. Some individuals who have received this treatment have also noticed some improvement in their acne scars, so this is worth keeping in mind.
Steroid injections, are most often used to treat acne nodules and cysts rather than scars, but they can help to improve thick keloids or hypertrophic scars that develop from acne, especially on the chest, back, and sometimes the cheeks.
After treatments, the acne scars may appear less noticeable however it is not realistic to expect them to disappear 100% and have perfectly normal skin.
If you have a need for acne scar treatment set up a consultation with your dermatologist who can recommend those that would be best for you.
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