Acne Scars & Blemishes

Health Articles > Acne > Acne Scars

Often teens and adults, who have already put up with acne and all that that entails, have further problems when, after the acne outbreaks have ended, they find that their acne has left some scars behind.

The most serious scarring is caused by more severe types of acne which causes nodules (painful, pus-filled cysts or lumps) to erupt under the skin. To prevent scarring, it is wise to commence treatment while at the same time taking good care of your skin, and making certain lifestyle changes, as soon as possible after the acne starts, so that it does not develop into severe acne and then scarring.

If your acne scars are confined to a few red or brownish colored marks on your face, these will most likely fade away in a matter of months. Acne vulgaris is the most common form of acne and produces those blackheads, whiteheads, papules, pustules, nodules and cysts.  It is the papules that you have to be most careful of for scarring.   You must resist the temptation to squeeze them as this is a sure way to ensure some scarring.

Cystic acne is one of the severe types of acne and almost always leaves some degree of scarring behind.  And when it does, a cystic acne scar can take a long time to heal and at worst can leave behind a permanent reminder in the form of pits and marks which in some cases can stretch across a wide area of skin.  Prevention is the best course of action with this type of acne.  Avoid touching or picking and follow a healthy lifestyle so that the skin has the very best chance of rejuvenating and healing itself.
But if you do end up with acne scars, there are ways to remove both current and old acne scars.

• Laser resurfacing is one such method where the doctor or dermatologist uses laser technology to remove the damaged and top layer of skin while make sure the middle layer is firm enough to ensure that the whole look afterwards is smoother.  Healing and recovery takes approximately 10 days.
• Another method is demabrasion where a rotating wire brush or spinning diamond instrument is used to wear down the damaged surface of the skin, revealing a smoother layer below.  There is a healing and recovery period of some 3 weeks after this procedure.
• Healing natural oils with the use of pure essential oils can also be used to heal acne scarring in a safe, gentle and natural way.

There are three main types of acne scars and they are:

• Icepick scars which are the most common and look like deep narrow pits in the skin.
• Boxcar scars which as their name suggests are angular shaped scars with well defined sides.  They usually appear on the cheeks or the temples.
• Rolling scars which are wide and shallow scars rather like waves in the skin.

Acne scars are caused when the healing process results in too much collagen in the place in the skin where the wound (ie the acne) was  Unlike other scars, acne scars are within the skin and not on top of the skin.  This makes them more difficult to treat.