To help our patients achieve a more even complexion, California Skin Institute practitioners offer a variety of treatments to get rid of acne scars. This is a vital step in acne treatment, because it reduces reminders of previous breakouts, and may even prevent acne in the future. For example, it is not uncommon for patients to become so concerned with the appearance of acne scars that they begin to use too much makeup to cover up the blemishes and rough texture. This, unfortunately, leads to pore clogging and more breakouts in the future. By utilizing their expertise and state-of-the-art technology to get rid of acne scars, California Skin Institute practitioners can help you in working toward your aesthetic goals with minimal side effects or downtime.

How Acne Scars Form

When discussing acne scars, it’s important to keep in mind that this skin issue can come in many different forms. For example, some scars are characterized by strong pigmentation, while other scars physically alter the surface of the skin. Further, scars can vary widely in their severity.

The formation of acne scars is caused by several factors. In some cases, scar tissue forms due to prolonged breakouts which cause significant damage to the skin. In other situations, acne scars form due to improper acne extraction techniques.

Acne Scar Treatments

Before choosing the appropriate acne scar treatment in your situation, a California Skin Institute provider will first make a careful assessment of your skin. This is essential because different types of scars call for different treatment options. Here are just some of the solutions used by California Skin Institute practitioners to help patients get rid of acne scars:

• Topical Treatments: For mild scarring, topical treatments may be a viable solution. In such cases, there are several options your provider may suggest. For example, a glycolic facial cream, an exfoliating scrub, or a glycolic cleanser, to name a few.
• Chemical Peels: Another option for patients fighting acne scars is a chemical peel to remove damaged skin cells and improve texture. California Skin Institute practitioners can create customized chemical peel treatments depending on the severity of the scars and the patient’s unique needs. For example, some patients may opt for a series of glycolic acid peels, while others may benefit from the more aggressive TCA peel to improve skin texture.
• Microdermabrasion: Here at California Skin Institute we work hard to bring the latest exfoliation technologies to our patients. This allows us to offer several distinctly different microdermabrasion treatments that can be custom-tailored to your needs. For example, if your skin can benefit from significant exfoliation, your provider may suggest crystal microdermabrasion to treat acne scars. In other cases, a DermaSweep microdermabrasion treatment may be more appropriate to achieve long-lasting acne scar treatment outcomes.
• Laser Skin Resurfacing: For patients with severe hyperpigmentation, laser skin resurfacing may be an appropriate treatment option. Although this treatment is more aggressive and requires more downtime, it can yield dramatic improvements in pigmentation and texture
• Dermal Fillers: Patients with very deep scars may benefit from special dermal fillers that can decrease the depth of skin indentations. One such dermal filler used by California Skin Institute practitioners is Bellafill; a dermal filler that uses bovine collagen and PMMA molecules to add volume and support under the skin.* In addition to nearly immediate effects, Bellafill is also long-lasting, with outcomes appearing for up to five years.⁽¹⁾

Combination Treatments

Although California Skin Institute routinely invests in cutting-edge technology and treatments, the true force behind our successful acne treatments are the practitioners who work in our practices. Our practitioners are highly experienced and receive ongoing training in the latest skin treatment techniques.

This vast knowledge and extensive hands-on expertise makes California Skin Institute practitioners highly adept at creating custom treatment options for our patients. For example, in some cases deep acne scars might first need to be “raised” with chemical peels before laser skin resurfacing can be effective.

In other cases, a patient may have severe scarring but cannot take time off work for an aggressive procedure. In such situations, our practitioners will work hard to find the best custom solutions that account for a patient’s unique needs.

If you’d like to learn more about acne scar treatment options at California Skin Institute, please call a practice near you, or find a location near you and request a consultation!

References: 1. Gottfried Lemperle, et. al., ArteFill^® Permanent Injectable for Soft Tissue Augmentation: I. Mechanism of Action and Injection Techniques., Aesthetic Plast Surg. 2010 Jun;34(3):264–72.

Disclaimer

This is to be only used as an educational piece and individuals should not use it to self-diagnose a skin condition or problem.

Treatments for Acne Scars

• Clear + Brilliant® Laser
• Excel® V
• Fraxel® Dual
• Fraxel® Repair CO2
• Gemini Laser
• INTRAcel® RF Microneedling
• N-Lite Laser
• Q-Switched Nd:Yag Laser
• TCA Peel
• Ultrapulse® CO2 Laser
• Versapulse®