Acne scars left over from teenage breakouts or episodes of more recent adult acne can affect how you look and how you feel about your appearance.

Board-certified physicians Martin Pakideh, DO, and Soudabeh Ahabdi, MD, understand how acne scars can interfere with your personal confidence and self-esteem. They offer the following guidance to help you reduce the visibility of your acne scars while boosting your overall skin health. 

Why you have acne scars

Acne scars result when your body produces too little or too much collagen, a protein necessary for healthy skin. Your natural healing response to the inflammation of acne is to make new collagen to treat wounds.

Too much collagen results in noticeable, raised acne scars, while too little collagen causes you to have depressed scars.

Tips for getting rid of acne scars

There are a variety of nonsurgical and minimally invasive treatments available for reducing the appearance of acne scars. Ideally, you should start with a good skin care regimen at home to reduce the occurrence of acne breakouts and the formation of new scars. Home care is also important for maintaining healthy, flexible skin.

Outside of home care, there are several professional services that can address acne scars. Depending on the severity of your acne and skin health, you may be a good candidate for treatments like:

Chemical peels

Chemical peels involve the application of special chemical agents to the surface of your skin that gently eliminates the surface layer of your skin.

Chemical peels can be tailored to your specific needs and the severity of your acne, reducing the appearance of both raised and depressed scars in just one treatment.

Microdermabrasion

Microdermabrasion is a treatment that can address moderate to severe acne scars by gently removing the top layer of skin with a specialized hand tool that rotates.

This treatment exfoliates dead skin cells and excess skin fibers that make up raised acne scars, making them less noticeable. Treatment also allows the healthy skin underneath to shine through, giving you a more vibrant, youthful look.

Microneedling

Microneedling is a procedure that uses a rolling hand tool to create microscopic puncture wounds on the surface of your skin.

These wounds trigger your body’s natural healing response, stimulating the production of new collagen that fills in areas of depressed scars, improving the overall texture of your skin.

Laser resurfacing

Laser technologies are available to remove the top layer of your skin and reveal the healthier, firmer skin underneath.

Many laser systems also trigger collagen production by heating up deep skin tissues and stimulating your body’s natural healing response. New collagen fills in recessed scars and boosts the overall vitality of your skin.

Dermal fillers

Dermal fillers are a treatment option for enhancing the natural contours of your face and filling in areas where you’ve lost volume.

In addition to instantly adding fullness to your cheeks, lips, and other areas of your face, dermal filler injections also stimulate your body to produce more collagen. As new collagen develops in the weeks after treatment, you can see a noticeable difference in your skin’s health and a reduction in the severity of your acne scars.

If you’re interested in learning more about options for treating acne scars, call Monroe OB/GYN today or request a consultation online now.