Acne Scarring Treatment
The worst outbreaks of acne can leave permanent,
disfiguring marks on our skin, which cannot be treated through creams and
ointments. Any discoloration or
defect that lasts longer than one year is considered a permanent acne scar.
Most acne scarring of this type can only be eradicated or reduced
through cosmetic procedures of differing invasiveness and intensity.
If the scarring is not deep and is only present on the
surface, doctors will typically prescribe some form of dermabrasion, a
technique where the upper layers of skin are removed to allow new skin to
regenerate without the defects.
Dermabrasion used to be rather painful, utilizing a sterile electric sander
and requiring the patient to be sedated while undergoing the procedure.
Moreover, the patient usually needed several months to heal as his
raw skin slowly grew back.
Modern methods, however, are reducing the need to
resort to this excruciating procedure.
Microdermabrasion, a form of the procedure that uses abrasive
crystals or an exfoliating machine, is used for minor scars and produces
decent results without the associated pain.
Laser dermabrasion is also becoming more common, utilizing tiny
pulses of laser light to puncture the affected skin area, allowing it to
regenerate from the damage gradually as fresh, unscarred skin tissue in a
relatively short period of time.
Any of the aforementioned treatments may require
several sessions if the scarred area is rather large, or to further reduce
the scar remnants if some faded traces remain.
More severe and deeper scarring cannot be treated with
conventional skin resurfacing methods.
Icepick scars, for example, are called that because they give the
impression that the skin has been stabbed with an icepick.
These deep scars require a technique called punch excision, whereby
the affected skin area is sliced out with a device resembling a cookie
cutter tool, and the skin edges are sutured together.
Sometimes, a skin graft may be needed to replace the removed skin,
and this is normally taken from behind the ear.
These two methods produce minor scarring from the wounds, but can
then respond well to treatment through normal resurfacing.
A third punch treatment involves using the same tools,
but instead of excising the scar, its base is merely dislodged from the skin
and elevated to the surface, where it can be smoothed out.
This method is called punch elevation.
Other types of deep or complex scars are boxcar scars,
so named because the scar looks like a tiny compartment lodged in the skin,
and rolling scars, which are caused when surface skin tethers itself to the
subcutaneous tissue beneath, giving the skin a wave-like appearance.
Boxcar scars may be treated in the same manner as icepick scars.
Rolling scars, however, are more responsive to a process known as
subcutaneous incision, whereby a needle is inserted and retracted in a
piston-like movement under the skin.
This procedure severs the bonds between the skin and the subcutaneous
tissue, allowing it to be stretched and settled.
Subcutaneous incision causes bruising that disappears in about a
week, and may involve the injection of corticosteroids in the affected area
to prevent the formation of nodules.
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