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It seems like nothing is worse than dealing with acne, especially if you’re dealing with it more than a couple of times a month. Acne has the potential of ruining nights out, your self-esteem and your skin if you’re not careful. Over 96 percent of people who suffer from acne will obtain acne scars in their lives.
Acne scars may seem like a permanent problem that you’ll have to live with, but there are excellent treatment options that will either fade your acne scars or get rid of them altogether.
In this article, we’ll go over the different options and products available to help completely get rid of your acne scars and what you can do to further prevent more from surfacing.
Why Do Acne Scars Appear?
Pimples will eventually fade away back into the healthy looking skin if left alone, however larger blackheads and pimples that rupture from an attempt to make them disappear will leave crevices and scarring where those pimples were when the skin finally heals.
These scars can appear in many shapes, forms, and colors when they arise.
Tissue Damage
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Depending on the scarring that you have to work with, you’ll have different treatment options that will take care of each type.
There are many different instances that we call acne scarring, but there’s only two main types of scarring that occurs, atrophic scars which are caused by a loss of tissue and hypertrophic scars which are caused by an excess of it.
Within these two categories of scarring are four different types of acne scarring that occur after you’ve had a pimple.
- Ice Pick Scars
- Boxcar Scars
- Rolling Scars
- Keloid Scars
Ice pick, boxcar, and rolling scars are all atrophic scars while keloid is hypertrophic. Not only do each of these forms of scarring look different, but they also have various reasons for occurring.
Unfortunately, acne scars are hard to treat no matter what type that they are and usually require professional help in pushing for real results. Finding a dermatologist who works on scarring like this won’t be hard to do, and they may take different approaches depending on the severity of your scarring.
Ice Pick Scars
These scars look similar to a large pore or even like someone punched out a bit of your skin. Ice pick scars commonly form when you’ve gone through an inflammatory breakout where deep cysts that formed before working itself up to the surface of your skin which damaged the surrounding tissue structure.
The result is a long column that could be several millimeters deep.Treating ice pick scars can be tricky thanks to the potential depth that they extend. What most dermatologists recommend is using methods like punch excision and punch grafting to fix the look of your scars.
Punch excision is a process in which a small cookie cutter like the device is used to cut out the scar and then the remaining skin will be glued or stitched together. Doing this may result in a small scar; however, its shape and color will make it hardly noticeable once it’s healed.
Punch grafting is a more commonly considered operation for ice pick scars where, like punch excision, the scarred tissue will be cut out, but instead of gluing or sewing the skin together, the skin will need grafting in its place.
Usually, the surface used for grafting will come from a place like right behind the ear or from other inconspicuous places.
The scars from punch grafting are usually more severe than with a punch excision, so follow-up treatments may need to be scheduled to reduce the appearance of the new scar tissue that forms. Ultimately your dermatologist will be able to provide options based on your healing and the severity of the graft.
Boxcar Scars
Boxcar scars are a more severe form of scarring that gives your face a pitted look to it. These types of markings are much broader than the ice pick scars and have the potential to be deeper than some of them. These scars are a result of collagen damage due to a severe inflammatory breakout.
When new skin heals over, the lack of collagen in the damaged area allows little to no support for the surface which results in a pitted appearance. This form of scarring can be superficial or severe, and a dermatologist will have to determine the best course of action to treat them.
While punch excision and punch grafting are standard treatments used on people suffering from boxcar scars, a more likely solution that your dermatologist will take are dermal fillers. Dermal fillers can help fill in where the collagen was damaged. Some of the newer dermal fillers out there can last up to two years between injections.
Another popular method is laser resurfacing. There are different lasers at different intensities, and the results change too including the downtime it may require to recover from the procedure.
Rolling Scars
Rolling scars are rolling depressions along what looks like normal looking skin. Unlike boxcar scars which have more defined edging, rolling scars look more uneven across the affected areas. They’re developed when fibrous bands of tissue manage to grow between the skin and the layers below it.
These fibers bind the epidermis into deeper areas of the skin, and that’s the reason that your skin has a wave-like pattern along it. The best way to treat this form of acne scarring is to perform a subcision which is a simple surgery that has a dermatologist take a scalpel that’s used to cut at the bands pulling down the epidermis layer.
Once successfully severed, the skin will recover some of its smoothness, effectively relaxing the rolling scars.
Keloid Scars
These are scars that are firmer and don’t sink into the skin. Instead, sitting on the top of the skin. When these forms of acne scars appear, more commonly they appear on the torso, but they can surface anywhere.
Keloid scars are a result of a deep wound and regarded as a form of rigid scar structure that sends lateral shoots that extend beyond the initial injury. Due to an overproduction of collagen creating the primary source for a keloids growth, finding a way to get rid of it will strictly be influenced by your dermatologist’s recommendation.
Regardless of what procedure you choose, you must take extra precautions to reduce any aggravation that could force more collagen to grow there.
Pigment Changes
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If you’re dealing with discoloration that formed thanks to acne, you’ll thankfully have a much easier time dealing with these problems at home rather than hiring a professional to do it for you. Two types of discoloration occur that people sometimes mistake as acne scarring.
- Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation
- Post Inflammatory Erythema
- Macules
Hyperpigmentation is brown discoloration that appears after a pimple or inflammation from an acne outbreak occurs while erythema is the red spots show up look for the same reason. Macules are flat red spots where acne once resided before clearing up.
While these marks do fade over time, someone can suffer from these ailments for months or even years.
Products For Skin Pigmentation
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Instead of dealing with them for months, we’ve found highly rated products that will help deal with these discolored pigments instead of investing in costly procedures. Applying these products regularly with good skin hygiene will maximize the effects of the products used.
The main things you want to look out for when you’re searching for a product that lightens pigment on your skin are things like Hydroxy acid to clean away acne and vitamin C and E to help repair the skin.
Ambi Skincare Fade Cream
Ambi skincare fading cream helps to remove dark spots and provides a protective layer on your face to prevent further dark spots from forming from damaging UV radiation. The hydroxy acid implemented in the ingredients helps lighten the darker spots while the vitamin C and E help to protect and replenish your skin’s natural healing ability.
Simply apply this product twice a day, and you will start seeing results. You can find this product on Amazon.
TruSkin Naturals Vitamin C Serum
This product is a plant-based ingredient serum who’s main selling component in vitamin C for skin rejuvenation. TruSkin’s product also contains plants like aloe vera and witch hazel which are both known for their beneficial properties to the skin.
As it is a highly concentrated product, we recommend that you perform patch tests on your skin first before applying regularly. Apply three to five drops a day followed by your choice of a moisturizer. Doing this will lighten dark spots where they are no longer visible. This item can be found on Amazon.
Preventive Care
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Using a moisturizing sunscreen while you’re out and about through the day will help keep dark spots from appearing later on. It’s also important to keep up with a healthy skin care routine in order to contain inflammatory infections.
If you are prone to severe episodes of inflammation, we recommend talking with your dermatologist to discuss options for skin care.
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