There are several treatment modalities available for Acne scar removal. As a general rule skin needling is the most effective across a broad range of acne scars, however this is not universal.

Acne scars are a persistent defect of the skin left after injury from acne. They never disappear completely, although some improve with time, most will worsen. What are the different types of acne scars and what treatments are available to improve your skins appearance?

What are the different types of acne scars:

1. Macular scarring - is not really a scar, but a flat area of increased or decreased pigmentation that occurs after the acne lesion has healed. If left alone this type of acne scarring generally will improve or even disappear all by itself. However this can take months or even years.

To speed up the removal process skin needling is very effective in combination with prescription skin treatments.

2. Boxcar scars - are surface punched out acne scars that appear oval or round.

This type of acne scarring can be effectively improved with skin needling

3. Rolling scars - are caused from tethering of the skin to deeper structures. These acne scars cause the skin to undulate in appearance (hence the name).

skin needling is the preferred method of treating these scars.

Subcision is another technique that is suitable for treating depressed acne scars. It involves putting a special needle under the depressed scar to help release it from the underlying structures. It is often combined with skin needling.

Other treatments for removal of rolling acne scars include plasma regeneration treatment.

Laser acne scar removal is rarely used.

4. Deep divots/Ice pick scar - both result from deep scarring and loss of tissue under the skin. Ice pick scar appear as small holes where as the divots are a larger hole.

Skin needling can help improve some deep scarring

Deeper scarring may also require filling with dermal fillers.

Subcision is used to release deep tethering

5. Hypertrophic scarring/keloid scars are similar in appearance, both are thick lumpy scars and often have increased pigmentation.

Injection of steroids

Silicon gels may aid in healing of raised scars.

Acne scar removal summary

1. Skin Needling.
Skin needling uses a medical roller or tattoo gun (without the pigment) to puncture the skin and stimulate collagen production and lift up indented acne scars and flatten raised acne scars. Advantages:

cost effective treatment

used safely on darker skin types

penetrates deep enough to improve even deep acne scars

minimal downtime -two to three days

improves overall skin collagen health

2. Laser acne scar removal
Because of the downtime (months) and risks of scarring ablative laser treatment is not generally considered the best option for treatment of acne scars.

3. Plasma regeneration treatment is considered a more viable treatment for acne scar removal. There is no downtime, no risk of scarring or pigment changes to the skin.

4. Subcision

used to treat deep depressed acne scars often used with skin needling.

5. Superficial Chemical peels

can achieve some improvement with milder scarring.

6. Microdermabrasion

generally not the most appropriate treatment for acne scarring.

Sometimes with very mild acne scarring some improvement can be achieved with multiple treatments, however other methods are considered more appropriate.

7. Cortisone injections

useful for treatment of thickened raised hypertrophic and keloid scarring

silicon gel treatments have been used alone or combination with cortisone injections.

The effectiveness of silicon gels is anecdotal at this point however considering it is relatively inexspensive and safe treatment it is worth trying.

8. Dermal fillers

very effective for some forms of acne scarring to improve cosmetic appearance.

generally used for isolated lesions

Acne Scar Assessments Are Claimable On Medicare

Call 33505447
For A Consultation For Acne Scar Removal.

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