Acne Scars

Acne scars are marks left behind after the acne itself has gone away. It’s really common.

About 1 in 5 people have acne scars on their face, chest, or back. If your goal is to make your scars less noticeable, we can help. Some service options available for these types of concerns are not as aggressive as a laser resurfacing treatment. They help to slightly improve damage; however a deeper more aggressive treatment option can be performed to safely and quickly repair the skin with minimal downtime.

Over time, the discoloration usually goes away. However, the scar remains. If you see a flat spot of color on your skin when acne clears, this usually isn’t an acne scar. It’s likely post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH).

• Home skin care. Using sunscreen can help limit the contrast between unscarred skin and a scar.
• Soft tissue fillers
• Steroid injections
• Laser resurfacing.
• Dermabrasion
• Chemical peel.
• Microneedling

Even with treatment, acne scars are difficult to heal. There’s no 100% guarantee that the acne scars will be completely gone. But most treatments reduce the size of the acne scars and make them less visible.

It’s tempting, but popping or squeezing a pimple won’t necessarily get rid of the problem. Squeezing can push bacteria and pus deeper into the skin, which might cause more swelling and redness. Squeezing also can lead to scabs and might leave you with permanent pits or scars.

Stronger concentrations of retinol may help fade the appearance of some acne scars, but in general, retinoids are used to treat active acne to help prevent scarring or reduce its severity. These stronger retinoids include tretinoin, isotretinoin and adapalene.

Every patient’s experience is different: it depends on how aggressive the treatment is. Most patients tolerate this treatment very well. Our medical aestheticians can apply a numbing cream to help with the discomfort. Multiple sessions are needed for optimal results. One should notice an improvement one month post each session. Our patients love how effective this treatment is, and that it only requires minimal down time. Most of our patients have described the after treatment time as a sun burn sensation accompanied with minor swelling for 24-48 hours post treatment. The treatment takes approximately 30 – 60 minutes to complete and typically you can resume your regular daily activities.

If you are prone to acne scarring, sun exposure can also darken scarring: this reaction is called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH). To avoid it, wear a high SPF and a hat when you’re in the sun, especially while your skin is actively healing, so you won’t have discoloration left behind after your acne clears up.

There is little clinical evidence that vitamin E oil or supplements can help reduce the appearance of scars. There is some anecdotal evidence, but the positive effects people notice may result from moisturizing or massaging the scar, rather than from the vitamin E itself.

Unlike acne marks, which are flat and discoloured, acne scars have a rough texture and form visible dips in the skin’s surface. Since they’re the result of changes to the skin’s collagen structure it can be more challenging to reduce their appearance.