Pick a language
English flag Italian flag Korean flag Portuguese flag German flag French flag Spanish flag Japanese flag Russian flag Greek flag Dutch flag                               
How to get rid of stuff » Health Problems » How to Get Rid of Acne Scars
 

How to Get Rid of Acne Scars

February 20th, 2007 by admin
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (33)
Loading ... Loading ...
Republish     Print This Guide Print This Guide     Email This Post Email This Post        
 

Acne Scar Treatments

Before committing to any specific method of treatment for your scarring, make sure you do a LOT of research first. Every treatment option has pros and cons, and every treatment option will improve the appearance of some people's scars while worsening the appearance of others. These treatments can also be very expensive, which means you need to be very selective about your dermatologist – sometimes they're in it for their patients, other times they're in it for the money. Here are some tips to help you pick the right skin doc for you:
  • When initially selecting a dermatologist, visit several different ones. Contrast what the different doctors tell you and follow it up with a little research of your own to determine which one is really the best for you. Beware of doctors that pressure you to commit on the first visit and push new and expensive procedures on you. Search for the doctors name (with quotes) in a search engine like Google and see what you find. If you're not comfortable with any of them, move on and keep looking.
  • Get each doctor to tell you very specifically what course of treatments they would prescribe for your scarring, and then get them to explain to you in plain english exactly why they are prescribing that particular course. If you think you may forget, write it down or bring along a voice recorder. Follow up their advice with your own research and if you receive opposing treatment plans, bring them up to other dermatologists and see how well they respond.
    • Search in google Box recording device Showing files of patient
  • Insist on seeing before and after pictures of their previous patients. How many of the people in the ‘before' pictures have scarring that resembles yours? Can you contact any of these people?
  • How long have they been practicing dermatologists? What treatments do they have experience prescribing and performing?
Some people who have had their acne scars successfully treated report that as they age, the scarring gradually returns. Other people who have been unable to reduce their scarring report the exact opposite effect. My point is that everyone is different. Be realistic with your expectations and above all: research, research, research! Try to get in contact with people who have successfully treated scarring that is similar to your own and learn what they did. Sometimes you can find these people through dermatologists, support groups, and online forums and communities. We've added some links to a few online sources at the end of this article. Now on to the treatments: Subcision

Subcision

Cost: Up to $1000 per treatment. Procedure: Subcision is a treatment where the upper layer of skin is detached from the deeper tissue, allowing blood to flood into the opening and raise the skin in the treated areas. This is usually used to treat shallow and rolling scars and often requires multiple treatments.

Punch Treatments

Cost: $50-$150 per treatment. Procedure 1 - Punch Replacement: This method involves physically cutting out the entire scar and replacing it with a skin graft. Procedure 2 - Punch Excision: This method involves physically cutting out the entire scar and then stretching the surrounding skin closed around the wound and letting it heal, thus avoiding the need for a skin graft. Procedure 3 - Punch Elevation: This method is similar to subcision; it involves cutting the scar loose from the deeper tissue below it and then letting it heal. This usually results in the treated area elevating slightly, which can diminish the appearance of certain types of scarring.

Chemical Peels

Cost: $600-$800 per treatment. Procedure: One of many different types of acid is applied to the skin, allowed to sit for a period of time and then removed. The acid removes the top-most layer of skin. This usually results in a slightly smoother end result and is helpful for very mild scarring. Chemical peel

Dermabrasion

Cost: $1200-$2000 per treatment. Procedure: Dermabrasion (not to be confused with microdermabrasion) is a process where the top-most layer of skin is removed mechanically. The skin to be treated is first numbed, and then a rotating abrasive disk is used to ‘sand' off the top-most layer of skin. This is a painful procedure and does require some down time. Many people who have tried this approach have found that it provides only short-term results, and that the scars do grow back over time. Before and after laser resurfacing

Laser Resurfacing

Cost: $2500+ per treatment. Procedure: This is very similar to dermabrasion in that it involves physically removing the upper-most layer of skin to achieve a smoother effect – but instead of abrasive disks or pads, lasers are used. This is very expensive and the results appear to be very similar to those reported by people who have undergone dermabrasion – the scars can return. Acne.org has started collecting people's experiences with the above treatments. If you are considering any of them, you should definitely check them out here: Acne.org's Acne scar treatments section.

Acne Scar Creams

Proactiv acne cream There is certainly no shortage of creams and balms that claim to cure everything from impotence to scarring, but do they work? Most of the reports we have found say “no", however there are always a few who claim success with these methods, so here is a list of the ones we have found that have had at least one reported success story associated with them (and we only found two!).
  • Creams containing cocoa butter and vitamin E help keep your skin soft, elastic and healthy. Regular use of such creams may help scars diminish naturally over time. We would recommend combining this with an overall healthy lifestyle.
  • Apply a 3x solution of medical-grade hydrofluoric acid (or a product which contains it) to the scarred area twice daily for one to two weeks. Do this ONLY under the supervision of your dermatologist because this CAN damage your skin.
Do you have a remedy or tip that can help other visitors to this page? Please share it with them using the form at the bottom of this page.

Offsite Resources


Get rid of acne scars and have smoother skin with Acnezine.
ads

Pages: 1 2




Other Articles of Interest


 

 
Previous Tips »
  1. November 23rd, 2009 at 9:40 am    Randy Says:

    Sheez, for ur info i hav acne and acne scars on my right n left cheek, chin, n forehead!! About medications, basically i seldom replace my maybe-doesnt-work mdcation to prevent the ‘curse’ caused by new products that replace old prodcts. Now i add more products :D :D !! Ahh it’s just a natural thing so i won’t worry. it’s honey. After washing my face with clay soap, i apply my Acnes Sealing Gel frm mentholatum usa, then i apply honey!! I’ve read many sources, they recommended using honey as night cream to assist ur acne medications in slaying the acne ogres…! Scars? Of course i have lah! I just read the info stating bout hypertropicwhat and i feel that i have that… Uuh it makes me feel as if i had perpetual acne and ppl won’t care! They will think i keep on adding more ‘red oatmeal’ but i daresay that my face is clearer coz finally i could get rid of bumps on my right cheek though my left cheek is still red bcoz of the nasty pimples!! Aaaaaaghhh!!

    No, sun ray won’t help! It makes ur skin worse coz the uv ray triggers the redness by creating something n then u’ll have a tomato face :( it’s my exp coz i live in a tropical country, Indonesia whose weather is unpredictable! Sometimes hot, sometimes cool, but mostly hot…

  2. November 13th, 2009 at 1:03 pm    yvonne Says:

    Hey okay I have acne scars. They aren’t soooo baddd. But they are red and uglyyyy ! And just on my cheek area soo plz someone help me I nwant this off my face ! Creams pills anything ! ASAP

  3. November 5th, 2009 at 11:28 pm    ashleigh Says:

    Take accutane if you have severe acne… especially cystic acne… it’s the only thing that worked for me…. and yeah don’t pick at your acne because I have scars now…

  4. October 11th, 2009 at 10:44 am    oh my Says:

    I need help…

    I’m a college freshman and all the girls I know have grown out of their acne stage, I however still look like I’m 16 and have acne… I have to perform on stage and i wash my face every night, and i don’t mind the occasional zit, (it’ll happen) but my scars on my face are embarrassing, I would like for suggestions to regrow skin that will make me feel pretty again :(

  5. September 3rd, 2009 at 10:28 pm    Avalisa Says:

    I swear by a product called Witch Hazel!!! You can even buy it at walmart for about 3-4 dollars. It is a god send. If you have never used it then you really should try it, and its also good for soooo many other things!!! Like cold sores and genital herpes…If you have an outbreak then apply witch hazel to it very often and it does something special to the virus & you most likely wont get another one again or if you do it will be less severe and as time goes by and you age the outbreaks get less and less (I researched that over 80% of people have the cold sore virus..it’s actually a form of the herpes virus..but you can get it just from using utensils or glasses at a restaurant or from touching a surface that someone else touched that had the virus…so what I’m saying is that the cold sore virus is so very common and most people have the virus but don’t even know it because they have not had an outbreak.)
    Anyways, Witch Hazel is a little like rubbing alcohol but it does not over-dry the skin like alcohol does. It is awesome for pimples I swear! When I use it the redness and swelling begin to shrink almost before my eyes!!! Here is what I do: First wash face well using a natural bar soap containing Glycerin..Next-Apply alot of witch Hazel to whole face using a cotton ball and apply more to zits. Sometimes I even pour a little witch hazel in my palms and kinda splash/rub it onto my face, then I let it air dry and then I apply pure aloe vera gel to my whole face. (If you can get a live plant it is the best for is tworks great, and on burns too…also for healing as well so helps with scarring). This helps me tremendously. Don’t wash your face too much because it can lead to over-drying of your skin which then causes skin to over-produce oil…see the cycle there…Anyway I hope this helps! Now if only I could find the miracle cure for my old acne scars from before I found witch hazel but the aloe vera gel does work well for healing…but the best cure for an scar from picking a pimple I think is to just not pick it…which is hard for me to do sometimes because it feels so good in a way…:(…but I would much rather have smooth,soft & blemish-free radiant skin!

  6. July 25th, 2009 at 3:25 pm    Amanda Says:

    I used to have chronic cystical acne…like it was acne that would start out as knots under my skin…I went to see a doctor and he told me antibiotics work and will probably be the only thing that could work for me and when I planned to go to my next appointment to get the meds things came up which forced me not able to go and then shortly after i moved. When i moved i met this girl who had scars on her face i could tell it was from acne so i asked her “how is your skin so clear” and she told me about this medication you can get at walmart.Its called Natures Cure. Its about 8$ a box and it comes with a 30 day supply of pills that you take one in the morning and one in the evening and a tube of cream to put on aswell. Theres 2 kinds one for women and men. Days after i bought it and began to use it my acne was almost gone….it was truely a miracle worker.

    Before then i had acne from 7th grade till the end of my freshmen year. Like others ive tried it all proactive and all that did was make my skin waaaay worse and red. Acne free andything you can think of i for sure have bought and used.
    Hope anyone with the same problems buy it and get the same results!

  7. July 12th, 2009 at 11:09 am    anna Says:

    DO NOT PICK YOUR PIMPLES!!! although it seems as if your helping, or its a habit of yours, dont do it! i made that mistake and now, even though my acne is gone from accutane (i reccomend it) i still have scars from picking and popping. dont do it, take it from a girl who had acne for 4 years!

  8. July 6th, 2009 at 9:38 am    elizabeth Says:

    To anyone suffering from acne, I recommend roacutane strongly. There has been a lot of bad press about the drug and the side effects sound horrific but i was on the medication for 6 months and it completely cleared my skin with occassional dry skin being the worst side effect. 100% worth it and you will feel so much happier.

  9. June 21st, 2009 at 1:20 pm    kelly Says:

    i had back acne and i worked really on getting rid of itand know that it is gone i can see the scars from all the times i itched it. so help me

  10. June 17th, 2009 at 1:44 pm    Danail Says:

    I’m only 16 but i have had acne for like 3 years now and it stresses me soo much…. it’s difficult to explain, so i started taking “Oxytetracycline” Tablets (250mg) since i got them perscribed from my doctor and i take Two Twice a Day (so 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening) & you know what? I think they actually work (they take 2 months or more) but the only problem is the fact that i used to pop my spots and play with them so now i have like dark scars or something and im scared that they will not go away. I seriously suggest that as stupid as this might sound: if you can you should take a holiday to a hot country by the beach because salty water & sun are REALLY REALLY good for the acne and im not kidding but then again 2or 3 days are not going to make that much difference.

Previous Tips »


 






Copyright © 2007 by howtogetridofstuff.com