Some Factual Information on Scars
In a prior blog titled “Types of Acne Scars”, information on the types of Acne and what type of Acne scars can form and why, may be referred to. In continuation with that blog, in this blog information on how acne scars can be treated, will be presented.
Before we
get down to the actual treatments, let us first get familiar with certain facts
about scars and what the implication of such scars are.
Ø Skin
tissue when seriously injured has the ability to produce more collagen to
repair the damaged skin. The new skin forms the scar
Ø An
inevitable outcome when the layer or layers of skin are injured and there are
changes to the physical construction of the normal skin
Ø Either
physical injury or a disease process can cause the occurrence of scars
Ø If
the injury has not been properly treated then the symptoms cause thick,
unpleasant scars to form
Ø Keloid
type of scars, that are very thick, itchy and enlarged, are prone to occur in
certain populations with a genetic predisposition
Ø Scarring
also happens on parts of the skin where there is plenty of skin tension or
movement. These type of scars are also unsightly
Ø
Where there have been surgical incisions, surgeons utilize
techniques in order to contain the scarring to a bare minimum
All is Not Lost
With the quantum leaps
of progress in Medical Science and Technology, truly all is not lost and
neither have you to resign yourself to living with the scars occurring due to
an affliction of acne. There are several treatments and options available and
they are:
Ø Soft
Tissue fillers
Ø Chemical
peels
Ø Dermabrasion
Ø Microdermabrasion
Ø Laser,
Light source and Radiofrequency Treatments
Ø
Skin surgery
Soft Tissue Fillers
This procedure helps make the scars less noticeable. The fillers comprise of either fat or collagen which are injected into the damaged skin to fill it out and to stretch it. A temporary respite that requires frequent visits, periodically.
Chemical Peels
This procedure employs the use of high strengths of acid which peels away the top layer of the damaged skin and curtails the deeper lying scars. Sometimes some peels can even penetrate deeper into the skin.
Dermabrasion
Dermabrasion is commonly used to remove severe acne scars. As the word suggests the damaged skin is scraped to remove the top layer of the scarred skin using a rapidly rotating wire brush to resurface the skin. A side effect of Dermabrasion particularly in dark skinned people is a possible change in pigmentation.
Microdermabrasion
A gentler technique than Dermabrasion, wherein crystals are sprayed on to the damaged or scarred surface of the skin, through a handheld device whereby these crystals help gently abrade or polish the skin and resurfaces it. In this procedure only the surface skin cells are removed when a vacuum tube removes the crystal and skin cells. However, it is not very effective on removing scars.
Laser, Light Source and Radiofrequency Treatments
Acne scars appear to be very subtle when laser, light source and radiofrequency treatments are used. In this procedure, the pulsed sources emanating from these devices razes the epidermis and heats up the underlying skin layer to help formation of new skin.
Skin Surgery
Is of two types – Subcision and Punch Excision
In
the first procedure, the skin area where the acne scars are present will be cut
out and as it heals better looking skin will form on par with the rest of your
skin. In Punch Excision, the scars are sewn together using stitches or
sutures.
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