Imagine you asked the hottest girl in your college out for a date and she agreed. You are in seventh heaven and went to sleep thinking about the next day and things you would do to impress her. But, all your planning went for a toss as you wake up in the morning with your clean-shaven face ravaged by pimples. Bummer!
Dermatologists are of the opinion that acne is one of the most common skin condition affecting young adults. "Acne (pimples) can leave either red or brown marks on the skin. While many people recover from acne without any permanent effects, some are left with scars on their faces which is one of the most distressing side effects of it", says Dr. Deepika Narra, consultant dermatologist and trichologist. Acne occurs due to improper healing of the skin. Depending on the skin healing of the skin. Depending on the skin healing, scars may be either depressed or elevated. Depressed scars (atropic scars) are due to inadequate production of repairing substance called collagen in the skin whereas elevated scars (hypertropic scars and keloids) are due to excessive and haphazard production of collagen, says experts.
Though some tropical creams can improve mild scarring, most of the acne scars need individual or a combination of treatment modalities for optimal therapeutic outcome. The therapeutic options that are currently available to treat acne scars include subcision, chemical peels, TCA cross, ablative lasers, fractional lasers and dermal fillers.
"Fractional resurfacing (pixel) laser is one of the most effective treatments for acne scars. It is a minimally-ablative technique that creates microscopic zones of injury in a grid-like pattern in the deeper layers of the skin to stimulate proper skin healing. This helps in collagen remodelling thus leading to scar improvement without any damage to surrounding structures in the skin. This also causes to some extent skin tightening, reduction in fine lines, improvement in texture, tone and colour of the skin", explains Dr. Deepika adding that a series of four to six sessions are usually needed for optimal results. "Each session lasts for one hour and is performed at monthly intervals", she says.
Certain types of scars such as the ice pick scars are treated with TCA cross technique whereas rolling scars may need pixel laser combined with subcision. In addition, punch excision and softening of margins with laser can be done for box scars. All the above mentioned procedures are well-tolerated with local application of anaesthetic creams before procedure. Lately, injectable dermal fillers are being used for correction of acne scars, giving it a smoother appearance. This is a semi-permanent treatment and needs to be re-done as and when required.
Timely treatment of acne is necessary to keep both post acne marks and scars at bay. So, get rid of your scars and make the dream of blemish free and smooth skin come true.
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