How to get treatment for acne scar

There are various treatments for acne scar removal. This guide will explain some of these options.

Acne! A nightmare for many people between 11 and 30 years old. Caused by a bacteria that is on the skin, acne consists of outbreaks of lesions usually called pimples or zits.

Physically it is not a disease that can jeopardize your health, but emotionally can produce enormous torments. And it is even worse when having severe acne because that leads to permanent scars.

Prescription medication

These often need to be used on a daily basis over a sustained period of time to attain desired results.

Acne treatment can be prescribed by the general doctor, but if acne gets worse a dermatologist should be consulted. Some of the medicines are to be taken oral - antibiotics, oral contraceptives, a ntiandrogen drugs such as spironolactone (Aldactone) , others are to be applied topical -vitamin A derivatives- retinoids, Benzoyl peroxide , Salicylic acid, Sulfur (they are available as soaps, creams, gels) .

Warning ! Most of the above acne scar removal treatments should be used in conjunction with sun protection creams.

Regarding acne scar treatment it depends on what type of scars you have:

• “Pseudo-scars” or macules; these red spots are not really scars and disappear in time with the help of creams

• Post-inflammatory pigmentation (the pigmentation is changed on small skin surfaces) can persist up to 2 years and can be removed with chemical peeling

• Ice-pick scars (leave superficial or deep small holes on the skin) are treated with dermabrasion or lasers

• Depressed fibrotic scars look like deep chicken pox scars; they have sharp margins and steep sides

• Keloids are increased tissue formations; you have to have a genetic predisposition to form them.

Of course the best way is to avoid forming acne scars is by treating acne as early as possible. But if the inevitable has happened and you do have them, there are several ways to remove acne scar:

Chemical peel

•  Chemical peel - a chemical solution that peels off the old layers of skin; these procedure works only for superficial scars;

•  Dermabrasion – can remove deeper layers of skin than the chemical peel. It helps in removing ice-pick and depressed fibrotic scars and it is made under local anesthetic.

•  Soft-tissue augmentation – consists of injections of collagen or subcutaneous fat (taken from other parts of your body); the injections are made beneath the scar and the ones with collagen have to be repeated every 3 or 6 months, the others over a period of 6 to 18 moths.

•  Skin surgery named also “punch excision” is made under local anesthetic and consists of removing the scar with a punch biopsy tool. Then the edges of the skin are sutured together or attached with steri-strips or skin glue called Dermabond.

Laser treatment for acne scar

•  Laser treatment for acne - is the newest technology based on power waves that works by burning the top layers of skin; the dead skin will be replaced with newer layers. The most well-known are carbon dioxide (CO2) and erbium (YAG) lasers.

To treat keloids is a bit more complicated. They can not be removed by surgery because if the skin forms keloids after acne, will definitely form new ones after surgery. So what you can do is:

•  Use injection with steroid drugs beneath the skin around the keloid.

•  Apply a retinoic acid topical (direct on keloid)

•  Or just get used with it.

Acne scars can give you a hard time because of their aspect. If you don't want to live with them, you have to talk first with your dermatologist and choose together the best way to remove them.