Fade Acne Scars with Microdermabrasion Cream

Having acne is bad and it can be a humiliating experience. But having acne scars long after the acne is gone is a condition that can be even worse than the acne itself.

The good news is that acne scarring mostly results from only the most severe form of acne; the type where cysts full of pus actually form beneath the skin and cause extensive damage to the underlying layers.

Scars do fade, and if you’ve ever cut yourself as a child you know that while it may linger in your memory, the physical appearance doesn’t. Blood vessels and collagen eventually return to normal making the scar no longer (or minimally) visible.

Most acne damages only the upper layer of skin. When a scar appears in the upper layer of skin, new tissue formation makes it disappear relatively easily.

It’s the damage done in the deeper skin layers that can’t always be returned to “normal” especially when sweat glands and hair follicles don’t grow back.

If acne scaring is extreme, laser surgery may help by changing the shape of the scar or its position so that it’s less noticeable.

There is a trade off to such an extreme measure because it causes additional scarring that can take up to 2 years to fade.

Collagen injections are another option for acne scars. Collagen is injected into the scar where it works to “fill in” the damaged area.

It's a relatively painless process, but it’s something that must be repeated every 3 to 6 months. A similar option is to take fat from another part of the body and inject it into the acne scar, much like collagen treatments.

Even though most acne scars will fade over time, scarring rarely will ever completely disappear. Most people simply opt to camouflage scarring by using the right shade of make-up.

The best advice however, is to prevent acne flare-ups in the first place by practicing proper skin care.

An Ounce Of Prevention

Prevention may sound like a glib answer to how to handle acne scars. But since an estimated ten million Americans become scarred to some extent by acne each year, prevention is the absolute best solution.

Who will develop acne scars and how severe will scarring be? Short of a crystal ball, much of that is left to chance.

What we do know is that genetics plays a definite role in the likelihood of acne severity and consequent scar formation. Also, acne severity has been linked to more severe forms of scarring later in adolescence or adulthood.

Because 95% of people who have acne will develop scarring to some degree, the earlier the appropriate treatment for the severity of the outbreak is initiated, the better the odds are that scar formation will be mild.

Delaying acne therapy by 3 or more years is likely to increase one's risk of more significant acne scarring.

For the lucky majority, acne scarring is a minor annoyance, difficult for others to visualize. For others, acne scarring can cause devastating long term emotional suffering.

Teens may deal with depression, become withdrawn and a loss of self confidence.

All acne scars are caused by acne, but not necessarily everything on your face that looks like a scar is an acne scar!

Scars are caused by destruction and lack of new collagen which is the substance that lies under the surface of the skin and keeps it smooth and at the same level.

After acne pops and goes away, the surface tissue has no collagen to rest on so it gets depressed into a deeper layer of skin where it heals.

The skin surface heals by binding itself onto deeper layers, and once this is done collagen can’t get back into that area, leaving behind an uneven scar, otherwise known as an ice pick scar.