Acne Scarring

Understanding Acne Scarring

Cystic and nodular acne can leave horrific scars and blemishes. The discoloration in blemishes can be residual redness and violet color. That violet color is treated with medication and a laser for redness. Likewise, we get blemishes of brown discoloration at the acne spots, that persists for months. The methods to lighten brown spots and Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH) are outlined on our page dedicated to brown spots.

We treat PIH (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation), the brown pigment where the acne was, with laser, lightening cream and sunblock with zinc oxide (zinc blocks the pigment causing sun rays). Learn more by clicking the link above.  

Permanent scar tissue can form at deep acne cysts and nodules, besides discoloration and redness. Permanent acne scars are firm from fibrosis and scar tissue in the dermis. Acne scars can be rolling scars (gentle edges like a sand dune edges), box car scars (wall like edges like a red rock canyon wall) and ice pick scars (deep and narrow in diameter like). These are the medically accepted terms; they are descriptive terms but not very kind in that description.

The approach to improve acne scars with fibrosis and scarring (not just discoloration) is to fill in depressions under the skin if the skin will tent up, to free up the adhesions tenting down the scar, and to smooth down the raised areas (“hills) to the level of the lower, rolling scar areas (the “valleys). When proper, we use an ablative erbium YAG laser to smooth out the hills and valleys of acne scarring. We are very experienced in enhancing the healing after that laser ablation and resurfacing, with excellent results.

The latest breakthrough in acne scarring treatment is to treat with a non-ablative laser, the ICON 1540 nm laser system. This laser bypasses the top skin layer so that healing time is minimal – it is “non-ablative”.  The ICON laser targets collagen, inducing the growth of fresh, new collagen in the scarred area, to lift the depressed areas, and with minimal down time (since it is non-ablative). Non-ablative means that the top layer of skin is not peeled off or lasered off. The laser bypasses the epidermis (top layer) and stimulates the underlying collagen fibers in the second layer, to generate new collagen and to tighten the overlying skin. 

Redness, flushed cheeks and face vessels can be treated with prescription strength creams, gels and pills to decrease the intensity of redness and flushing, and improve our appearance. 

Lasers treat our face veins. Even with creams and pills, the underlying vessels still fill with blood, making is looked aged and splotchy. The Icon vascular laser is the ideal aesthetic treatment to heat and seal up superficial face veins, and have them disappear.