Getting rid of acne scars can be a tricky topic because what works best for someone else may not be what works for you. It usually starts by getting a consultation from a dermatologist to figure out what will personally work best for your skin type and specific scars.
An acne scar is really just trauma to the skin that causes damage to your skin tissue. It can be seen as an indentation in the skin, red or raised scar, brown spot, discolored spot (makes your skin look patchy), or white bumps that won't go away.
Step 1: Scar Prevention
The best acne scar treatment starts with prevention. You can prevent acne in the first place by seeing a dermatologist early in the game (soon after you start getting acne, which would usually be in your preteen years), so they can treat it before it cause scars.
It can also be prevented by not using products that irritate your skin because this contributes to inflammation which is part of what causes acne. This means not using skin care products with harsh chemicals (like acids, alcohol, menthol etc.) or piling on multiple products at one time.
Most importantly, don't pop your pimples. This is the most common and surest way to cause a scar.
Step 2: Treatment
There are a variety of treatments, depending on the type of acne scar. Your Dr. may not be able to completely remove your scars but in most cases can improve them. Also, many of these treatments are very expensive.
If your scar is raised above your skin then a Dr. can do something to smooth the skin texture like prescribe a retinoid cream or gel to put on your skin (speeds up skin cell turnover), perform a chemical peel, perform microdermabrasion, or perform a laser resurfacing. They can also inject the spot with hydrocortisone that will shrink the blemish. Many of these techniques involve more than one session.
If your scar is like a crater, the Dr. can use a laser to fill in the scar. The laser work by increasing your body's ability to build collagen there. Collagen is a tissue that is used to repair and strengthen the skin. They may also inject some sort of filler into the crate (like hyaluronic acid). This treatment only last a year and then your skin will absorb the filler. Lastly, you can get surgery to remove the scarred skin.
If your scar is pigmented (darker than the rest of your skin), a special kind of laser can be used to burn away or vaporize the color. You can also use a bleaching agent to fade the color.
As you can see, probably the best acne scar treatment is to get professional help from a dermatologist and to get it early before your acne gets out of hand and causes scars.
Rozalyn Woods is author of a website for teen girls on puberty located at www.female-puberty.com www.female-puberty.com It covers all the physical changes that happen during female puberty as well as sections on self esteem, relationships, and other mental and emotional changes. A unique perk to the site is that it also includes a special feature that allows you to write Rozalyn with any specific questions you have and she will respond back personally to your questions and answers are then posted to the puberty blog.
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