Spotlight: Acne Scars are Battle Marks I Do Not Intend to Keep

Updated March, 2020

Remember the time you battled pimples and acne? It seemed like every day is a brawl with yourself and the world. Many teenagers and acne-sufferers dealt with pimples head-on knowing that they couldn’t do anything to make their pimples disappear overnight.

Sure they experimented on different products, followed beauty rituals, modify their diet, scratch off zits and whip up something from the pantry in the hopes of curing their pimples. The struggle is real, removing pimples is a pain in the ass.

After the stressful phase of swollen, tender, and sometimes pus-filled pimples, another problem is prowling in the corner. Acne scars are worse than having acne itself.

Those who experience this felt like trapped in a horror movie in auto-replay. Most suffer from depression of having to face the mirror and see the ugly reminder of a traumatic acne experience. What makes it harder is that removing acne scars is tough and seems impossible.

There are different kinds of acne scars and each may require a different treatment. The goal is exfoliating the skin to allow for a fresher skin to surface. This is not an overnight process. It may take months, even years, before acne scars become less pronounced.

Depressed acne scars include icepick acne scars, rolling scars, and boxcar scars. These type of scars form a hollow or pits in the skin and are usually hard to treat due to the extensive tissue damage caused by acne.

Laser resurfacing, chemical peels, intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy, microdermabrasion and red light therapy can result in improving the look of rolling scars. Cosmetic fillers are also used especially on boxcar acne scars.

Mild surgical procedures, such as needling are also used. Punch-out excisions are an effective management technique for icepick acne scars.

Raised acne scars are formed with keloid scars and hypertrophic scars. It is made due to excessive tissue formation at the site of inflammation.

This type of scarring is more responsive to microdermabrasion and laser ablation. Trophy Skin offers quality at-home microdermabrasion devices. Choose among MicrodermMD, RejuvadermMD, and MiniMD and buff away those pesky hypertrophic scars.

Some scarring is formed due to pigmentation and discoloration. Hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation, and erythema are examples of this type of scarring.

Choice of treatment for this type of scarring includes Argon and pulsed Dye lasers, IPL therapy, KTP lasers, hydroquinone and topical retinoids.

You have to remember that the key to treating acne scars is a faster cell turnover rate. You need to slough off, buff away, and exfoliate the dead skin cells to allow for a fresh layer of skin to surface.

Although these tips and techniques offer a solution to acne scarring, there is no overnight remedy to make acne scars disappear. But don’t worry, whatever technique you use, keep in mind that you are a step nearer to vanishing your scars to oblivion compared to doing nothing at all.